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| Thursday, 01 October 2009 00:21 | |||||
Have you ever been called a “workaholic”? Do you have colleagues at work who, day after day, stay an hour or two longer than the set regular hours? How about colleagues who just find it so difficult to leave their work behind that they do not even bother taking their entitled holiday time? It’s true, Canadians work more hours per year. The average Canadian works some 1,750 hours per year, 300 hours more per year than the average French or German worker. Irvin Wolkoff, a Toronto-based Psychiatrist reported to CanWest News Service that if employees do not feel that they can balance their work and their personal life, there will be more Canadians that will struggle with mental health issues. The problem of slaving long hours is something that many people subject themselves to. A study done by the U.S. Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Pressure to Work: Employee Perspective, suggests that pressure to work long hours and working while on vacation is usually self-imposed. The survey commissioned 605 full-time and part-time employed American residents. More than 35% or one-third reported that they “frequently” worked beyond scheduled hours, while another 35% “occasionally” worked longer hours. When the respondents were asked why, only 21% blamed it on their manager or supervisor. However, 52% said the cause to work longer hours was self-imposed. Although working long hours was reported more common among executives and middle management, non-management employees also tend to work late for career advancement and competition with co-workers, or pressures from higher-ups. But ask yourself this, do you work late and sacrifice other areas of your life because of the time and attention you spend on work? There are many ways to find a balanced work and personal life but only if you allot some time for it. Improve quality of activities By increasing the quality of our activities, we can get a lot more out of them. Many activities seem to limit our ability to enjoy ourselves. For example, a lot of people get stuck with unproductive activities like watching television. They become couch potatoes because either they don’t want to exert any effort or invest in an activity, or they just don’t have any better leisure activities that they truly enjoy. Discover leisure interests Things that you could consider are booking some holidays and using that time to invest in doing something meaningful. Spend time with the family, meet new people or get involved in the community. While assessing what activities are good for you, it’s also important to realize that every individual has different leisure needs. Needs may change depending on personal circumstances. For instance, a person who is experiencing stress may find himself or herself looking for a type of leisure activity that involves relaxation. This person could consider taking yoga lessons. Someone who spends a lot of time at his or her desk may have a need for a physically demanding activity like working out at the gym. For someone who spends less time with their family, perhaps a family-friendly activity would be nice, such as going out to the movies or playing sports with the kids. Find available leisure activities Once you’ve determined what kind of leisure activities are suitable for you, finding out about available activities would be the next step. A helpful way to compile information is to gather travel guides, brochures, leisure guides, concerts schedules, and continuing education course guides. It’s also important to keep in mind the combination of activities. According to health experts, in order for leisure activities to be effective and enjoyable, we need to strive for variety and ensure to include relaxation, entertainment and personal development. The bottom line is that we need to remind ourselves that our lives need balance. A recent survey indicates that Canadians don’t live to work, but work to live. Work is a valuable aspect of our lives, but one of the most valuable aspects of leisure is that it can help satisfy personal needs that can’t be satisfied through work. Sources: Michele Majul is an HR Professional with Canada Post Corporation in Prairie Region. She graduated from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology and a Certificate in Human Resource Management.
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