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Getting Past 24/7 – Think, Recharge and Refocus
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06/30/08 06:17 AM ET
When did it suddenly become cool to work 24/7? When did we start saying "24/7"?
When did it become a badge of honor to have five receptions, nine meetings and two dinners to attend?
This is the work culture of today — we can't sustain it.
We all have our heads down and thumbs poking. It's BlackBerry, BlackBerry, and more BlackBerrys. People aren't even polite enough to sneak off when they have to text — they're happy to punch away while they're talking with you at dinner!
What's happening to us? When did stopping and thinking become bad?
We're creating an unhealthy, burnt-out work force — people who don't take sick leave when they're ill, don't carve time out to play, and don't reflect on why they're running around at 100 mph. Do you remember how to play? Do you remember that recreation is good for you?
Back up — do you even remember how to take a vacation? Studies show that we come back from vacations more exhausted than when we left because we feel like we're wasting time if we sit on the beach and watch the sunset. We've reached a pretty pass when you can get a Ph.D. in "Leisure Studies" at about 20 top schools in the country.
Admiring people who work nonstop is crazy. I'm often amazed to hear people brag about how many meetings they have, how hard they work and how stressed out they are. I embrace competition, but seriously, we're competing over how many meetings we have and how hard we work? What a joke! It'd be funny if the joke weren't on all of us. The fact of the matter is that we're competing over how miserable we are, and it's pathetic.
Our nation's most precious asset is its people — we're burning them out and heading nowhere fast.
We should applaud people who take time out to work out, have fun and think. Take someone like D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, who plays three sports and fits exercise into his daily regimen. Think about him next time you think that you're "too busy" to exercise. President Bush has been a model of fitness, as have former General Electric CEO Jack Welch, Secretary of State Condi Rice, and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. Even though they're some of the busiest people, they value fitness, recreation and reflection. Hats off to them! They're paragons of living.
So take some time for you, lose the BB, pick up a golf club, swing a tennis racket, play catch with your kids, daydream. Use that time to think, recharge and refocus — I promise that you'll see results. It's the right way to live.
Kathy Kemper is founder and CEO of the Institute for Education, a nonprofit foundation that recognizes and promotes leadership and civility locally, nationally and in the world community
When did it become a badge of honor to have five receptions, nine meetings and two dinners to attend?
This is the work culture of today — we can't sustain it.
We all have our heads down and thumbs poking. It's BlackBerry, BlackBerry, and more BlackBerrys. People aren't even polite enough to sneak off when they have to text — they're happy to punch away while they're talking with you at dinner!
What's happening to us? When did stopping and thinking become bad?
We're creating an unhealthy, burnt-out work force — people who don't take sick leave when they're ill, don't carve time out to play, and don't reflect on why they're running around at 100 mph. Do you remember how to play? Do you remember that recreation is good for you?
Back up — do you even remember how to take a vacation? Studies show that we come back from vacations more exhausted than when we left because we feel like we're wasting time if we sit on the beach and watch the sunset. We've reached a pretty pass when you can get a Ph.D. in "Leisure Studies" at about 20 top schools in the country.
Admiring people who work nonstop is crazy. I'm often amazed to hear people brag about how many meetings they have, how hard they work and how stressed out they are. I embrace competition, but seriously, we're competing over how many meetings we have and how hard we work? What a joke! It'd be funny if the joke weren't on all of us. The fact of the matter is that we're competing over how miserable we are, and it's pathetic.
Our nation's most precious asset is its people — we're burning them out and heading nowhere fast.
We should applaud people who take time out to work out, have fun and think. Take someone like D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, who plays three sports and fits exercise into his daily regimen. Think about him next time you think that you're "too busy" to exercise. President Bush has been a model of fitness, as have former General Electric CEO Jack Welch, Secretary of State Condi Rice, and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. Even though they're some of the busiest people, they value fitness, recreation and reflection. Hats off to them! They're paragons of living.
So take some time for you, lose the BB, pick up a golf club, swing a tennis racket, play catch with your kids, daydream. Use that time to think, recharge and refocus — I promise that you'll see results. It's the right way to live.
Kathy Kemper is founder and CEO of the Institute for Education, a nonprofit foundation that recognizes and promotes leadership and civility locally, nationally and in the world community
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