Stop working so much

(Traditional format)

Sat Dec 4 19:44:27 2004 Stop working so much
Posted by Tony Lawrence
Referencing: http://www.simpleliving.net/timeday/

The Take Back Your Time Initiative is promoting awareness of the insane amount of time Americans and Canadians spend working. They point out that (from their site):

• We're putting in longer hours on the job now than we did in the 1950s, despite promises of a coming age of leisure before the year 2000.
• In fact, we're working more than medieval peasants did, and more than the citizens of any other industrial country.
• Mandatory overtime is at near record levels, in spite of a recession.
• On average, we work nearly nine full weeks (350 hours) LONGER per year than our peers in Western Europe do.
• Working Americans average a little over two weeks of vacation per year, while Europeans average five to six weeks. Many of us (including 37% of women earning less than $40,000 per year) get no paid vacation at all.

Computer geeks are as aware of this as anyone. And we certainly understand stress, too.

I've been preaching this (and practising it) for a long time now. We work too much, and it doesn't do anyone any good. When people are tired and stressed, they make more mistakes, get less done, and make themselves even more tired, thus deepening the problem.

Four day work weeks and shorter work days would probably result in increased productivity, reduced sick-time, and lower insurance costs. And a few less messed up computer systems.

Take back your life.

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