News and Views: June 2nd 2007

The end of the 40-hour week?

According to a Gartner research report released on May 30th, by 2015, people will be working a whole lot less hours each week. Gartner argues that: “ . . . three of the four traditional pillars of work—the living wage, long-term relationships with loyal employers, and government- or company-provided pensions—have already gone the way of the dinosaurs, leaving only the 40-hour workweek.” Wonderful news, if it turns out to be true, but I’ve seen predictions like this in the past. None of them proved accurate. Ah well, we can still hope. [link]

But maybe it will happen . . .

According to Penelope Trunk: “. . . a great generational shift taking place in America since Generation X became adults. The shift is in the definition of the American Dream. Our dream is about time, not money. No generation wants to live with financial instability. And we are no exception. But finances alone do not define someone’s American Dream. Especially when our dream is about how we spend our time.” [link]

Try a “Travel Sabbatical”

That’s the suggestion of Tara Russel, writing in Bay Area Business Woman. “In an age when we are hearing more and more about work /life balance, it seems increasingly difficult to truly ‘unplug.’ Nonetheless, many people today are doing just that. Eschewing their daily routine and stepping out to travel for months or even years at a time, busy professionals are rediscovering life on their own terms and you can, too.” She offers five tips for planning your next travel sabbatical. I think it sounds like a great idea. And if you can’t (yet) get away, how about using her tips right in your home area? You can still learn to know and reframe yourself, without ever leaving your home. [link] (Suggested reading: “Stopping: How to Be Still When You Have to Keep Going.”)

Good news for BlackBerry owners

It seems that all our latest electronic wizardry isn’t increasing workaholic tendencies. Statistics Canada, in a study, entitled Time Escapes Me: Workaholics and Time Perception, “. . . found 31 per cent of Canadian workers aged 19 to 64 identified themselves as workaholics in 2005. That was unchanged from 15 years ago, despite the proliferation of cellphones, BlackBerrys and home computers that keep people connected. “ This isn’t so surprising. Workaholism, like all addictions, is a human sickness. Drug addicts make use of the latest drugs. Workaholics use the latest ways of continuing the “work fix,” whether they are electronic or not. [link] (Suggested reading: “The Overwork Trap: How We Get Caught and How We Escape.”)

Gender differences on work/life balance

According to Cindy Krischer Goodman, who writes “The Balancing Act” column for The Miami Herald: “A 2007 DayTimers Life Satisfaction survey reveals men and women have different measures for living a satisfied life.
More women have a clear purpose and sense of meaning in their lives. They tend to find satisfaction doing things that help others and they tend to be more organized, prioritizing weekly goals. More men get satisfaction from personal success. More men also feel they have succeeded more than most people.” Hmmm. Sounds a little too stereotypical to me. [link]

What relaxation type are you?

Here’s an idea: fitting your chosen approach to relaxation to your personality. Are you vision, sound, or body-oriented when it comes to relaxing? I think sound does it best for me.[link] [via] Or perhaps power napping will improve your performance? It seems that: “. . . taking the recommended nap time of 20 to 30 minutes during the day. . . is far more effective than sleeping an extra 20 to 30 minutes in the morning. ”

The need for resolution

Steve Roesler writes that: “. . . we literally terrorize ourselves when we pile on mental burdens that need to be released. Managers add stress to their lives by postponing important conversations and letting them build up until their heads start to feel like a balloon waiting to burst.” I’m sure that’s true. His solution is proper feedback. Why? “Trust comes from a series of interactions where people have made agreements, talked about how things were going, and then lived up to what they said they would do.” [link]

Venting or ranting?

Management Issues reports on: “. . . Workrant.com, a site that claims to be the place to ‘rant away all your work related stress.’” It seems that lots of young, Generation-Y types go there and rant (with extremely colorful language) about their bosses. “Most ranters, of course, are complaining about micro-managing supervisors. And most posters are rather young. So Generation Y seems particularly upset with the way managers do their managing.” On one visit, I found rants against bosses who hate women (or homophobes who hate gays), one with disgusting personal habits (and I mean disgusting), someone who talks too much about supposedly-ideal husband, and more incompetent bosses than I ever imagined existed. I’m tempted to say it’s all good, clean fun, but it isn’t at all clean. [link] (Suggested reading: “When You Work for a Bully: Assessing Your Options and Taking Action.”)

Dealing with interruptions

Lorie Marrero writes at Lifehack.org on the “Top Ten Sources of Interruptions,” with ideas on how to deal with each of them. Here are two of my favorites: “5. E-mail
Turn off the “new e-mail has arrived” notification sounds and pop-up windows. . . Force yourself to stop pressing the Send/Receive button all day long as if you were a lab rat about to get a treat!” and “10. Saying YES when you should say NO
If someone asks you for help, stop and consider the request carefully before answering. Use the very effective phrase “not available” when declining a request. People tend to not question this phrase and instead will go on to the next choice.“ [link]

When to leave a job that sucks

Here's an interesting set of suggestions on when it's right to call it a day and walk. Troy Hadley offers “ 10 important signs that your job sucks.” he also offers a “health warning” first: “Some of my advice here involves big ideas . . . that should not be undertaken lightly. Research tactics first before acting.” Here's one that appealed to me: “Ask yourself if you are putting energy into the right areas. Are you spending all of your time arranging meetings and conference calls and not able to put your all into the actual work? Unless you are a project manager, arranging people-to-people face time can take up lot precious work time. Can someone else handle that for you? If your company can't provide reasonable support, you might want to look for one that can.” [link] There's also the opposite point of view at: “10 important signs your job might be worth staying at.” [via]

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