“Numerous studies show that long working hours are associated with increased drug and alcohol use, not to mention higher stress levels. It seems the more time you spend working, the less time you have to take care of yourself.”
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How to Keep Your Job From Literally Killing You | BigThink.com | 4.14.12
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“Known for their work ethic, Swiss citizens appear to be…rejecting a minimum six weeks paid holiday a year. [This] means vacation time will remain at four weeks.”
Source:
The Washington Post Express, Page 9 | 3.12.12
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“Researchers who followed 2,123 British workers for six years found that those who put in long hours on the job were more likely to develop signs of depression. Those workers who put in an average of 11 hours were more than twice as likely to be depressed as those who put in seven or eight hours.”
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Study: Working late increases your risk of depression | PRDaily.com | 1.31.12
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“83 percent of American adults own some kind of cell phone and…a lot of people find it difficult to switch off once they’re at home.”
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Have you stopped and smelled the petunias lately? They’re probably not around anymore, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take a couple minutes to stop and just be…to do something – no matter how small – for you. Sometimes, it’s the little things that make our day great. Profound. Awesome. Just fabulous.
I recently watched a video by Scott McKain (awesome fella) who reminded viewers to take the time to make each day count. From the looks of things, he added an extra day to a business trip and spent some time at the beach. Nothing special. Just a beach. But, I’m sure there was a whole lotta relaxation that worked wonders for his well-being. Which means that if he’s happy, then everyone around him will be happy, too.
Here’s a snippet of what he had to say…
“Just do what it takes to not miss the good stuff in life. To find little things that you can do along the way…that make an incredible difference that helps center you, that helps get you back on track…that helps remind you of the things that are really important…”
…and for the rest of his message, check out his video…
“In the age where keeping up with Facebook and Twitter have become tasks in and of themselves, we loose [sic] sight of the fact that we choose to spend our downtime in certain ways. It’s not that we don’t have “me” time, it’s that it comes in very small increments, sometimes so small that we don’t notice we have it, or how we’re spending it.”
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Why You Have More Time Than You Think | HuffingtonPost.com | 10.8.11
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“Men actually experience more work-family conflict than women, according to a 2008 survey from the nonprofit Families and Work Institute. Traditional pressures men feel to be breadwinners, combined with new pressures to be more involved in family life and workplaces that don’t fully support those dual roles, has resulted in what researchers termed the “new male mystique.”
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Balancing between love and work | ChicagoTribune.com | 9.6.11
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Did you know that Anderson Cooper has a new talk show gig? Did you also know that one of his first guests was SJP? For those of you who don’t know, that would be Sarah Jessica Parker of Sex and the City fame (and Square Pegs…yes, I know I’m dating myself).
It turns out that SJP has a new movie out called I Don’t Know How She Does It. It’s all about the struggle that SJP’s character goes through to balance her work and family responsibilities. Just in case you don’t already know, there is no such thing as work-life balance.
It’s hogwash. Baloney. Malarkey. Impossible. Simply because for you to get <insert air quotes here> balance, something has to come off your plate. You can’t have it all. You can try but you’ll fail more often than not.
“I found that really interesting…the competition or resentment between moms how who work in offices and moms who work inside the home.” ~Anderson Cooper
I’m off on the teeniest of tangents so let me circle back around.
I discovered while watching Anderson (who I think is awesome but awkward in this new talk show role) that there’s a war going on between moms who work in the home and those who work outside the home. One audience member (with a job at the NYFD) said that she thinks moms who stay home are a bit “clicky.” She went on to say that “sometimes it’s difficult for them to open up the ‘Mommy’s Club’ to people who are unlike themselves.”
Really? Are we back in high school here, ladies (and gentlemen reading this)?? Aren’t the struggles, though somewhat different, really the same? Not finding enough time in the day to check everything off the to do list, whether that’s laundry or finishing the all important report?
I don’t get it. Where’s he solidarity?! Or, does this mommy battle only exist for just a select few? And, what about you stay-at-home dads. Are you embroiled in this battle, too?
No matter what you’re juggling, you have to make choices. The choice to stay home with the kids. The choice to go back to work. The choice to try to have it all. Or, the choice to get help and support when you need it.
Ok, so I’ve made my way back to my soap box.
Really, instead of bickering about who has more work to do, maybe the fightin’ moms should take a gander at their lives and decide what’s important to them. What’s most important them. And only fill their plates with those things. I would venture to say that one of those things would be their sanity.
Now that we’ve all agreed that sanity is important, I have to ask:
Do your kids really have to be involved in every available extracurricular activity? …and go to schools on separate corners of the earth? Are you trying to be the parent who’s fulfilled and really well regarded at work and taking care of everything at home?
And, if you’re having such a hard time juggling work and life stuff, how do you find the time get high and mighty with another parent who’s made different choices than you did?
Seriously, is that a priority??
Yes, I hear you – <insert sarcastic tone and eye rolling> “But you’re not a mom, Deb. You don’t understand.”
Yeah, you got me there. I’m not a mom yet, but I would like to think that I’d spend more time figuring out what side my bread was buttered on (borrowed that saying from my mum), than being “clicky.”
What side of the fence are you on? Leave a comment and check out the trailer for SJP’s new movie.
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“Women who did not take a vacation were up to eight times more likely to suffer from heart disease than women who took two vacations per year, according to Intuit. Men who take vacations were 32 percent less likely to die of a heart attack.”
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‘Independence’ away from business leads to innovation | InsideTusconBusiness.com | 7.8.11
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“The best ideas most often come when you are away from the office. Without the pressure of responding to “every crisis,” the small business owner has time to reflect, which often leads to innovative approaches and solutions. Intuit reports vacationers experienced an 82-percent increase in productivity.”
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‘Independence’ away from business leads to innovation | InsideTusconBusiness.com | 7.8.11
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