Work/Blog/Life

Australians, on average, work too much. Gartner say that this is going to change, and that a 20 hour work week is probable by the year 2015.

Compare this to Tim Ferriss who is currently selling the concept of the four hour work week. He warns against going for your dream job as it can lead to a blurring of the work/life boundary. This is an interesting concept - don’t get too “into” your job or it may swallow you. Here is what Tim had to say about the concept of work/life balance:

I am a strong advocate of work-life separation as opposed to work-life balance. The concept of work-life “balance” is a dangerous one because “balance” is often mistaken to mean blending, where work and personal tasks are alternated in the same environments, or where one activity is expected to provide both work and life. The Blackberry is checked while you wait for dinner in a restaurant, the laptop is cracked while your spouse waits for you in bed, and the passion you loved so dearly for 10 years is now expected to pay the mortgage. This keeps your mind in the office 24/7 and destroys the few activities you cherished for the pure joy of experiencing them. This produces—at best—a state of constant low-grade overwhelm, even if actual workload is low.

I wish I didn’t have any personal experience of what he calls the state of constant low-grade overwhelm, but it describes my life to a T. I’m writing this on a Sunday afternoon from a client office where I’m preparing for an interstate flight and a full-day meeting tomorrow. I’ve got some afterwork finished, more to go, and I observed this morning that my “todo” lists for work and blogging are growing at a faster rate than I can successfully undertake the work. The Ferriss solution is to outsource, and this is certainly possible with blogging in the form of guest blogging, and asking for a hand with afterwork. I’m not sure that it is sustainable as a long-term solution though - unless I am in a position to better outsource what is in front of me, or change things such that I can take advantage of $5.00 an hour white paper writers and the like.

What will the currently overworked do if the 20 hour work week ever happens? More to the point, how many of the 60 hour a week crowd will live to see that day?