Showing posts with label Mental Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mental Health. Show all posts

Thursday, November 13, 2008

The Problem with Busmans' Holidays



Do you work more than 40 hours a week (I'm including school here)? I have been working two jobs, sometimes three, with some school thrown in since I was 16 years old. It's been the norm for so long, nearly ten years, that I was beginning to forget what it was like to have some time off. It seems I am not alone. Americans, according to several new studies, are the most overworked, under-vacationed, and miserable people out there, one of the few industrialized countries that still does not have mandatory vacation days (I can see those de-regulators and my boss out there already getting their panties in a bunch). But wouldn't that be nice, if you could take those days, nay, had to take those days off work and still get paid?

I am now beginning to cut my work hours down and already notice a difference, a lightening of my mental load, and man, it sure feels nice. How much nicer would it be to not feel guilty about it? We've got a lot of restructuring to do for ourselves here in the states. I wonder how long it will be before we make it ok for us to take care of ourselves (if we ever get there).