The Illusion of Busy

Both the Wall Street Journal and New York Times ran stories in the past week about the decline of the week-long or two week-long vacation. Seems that more people are taking mini-vacations, grabbing four day weekends here and there rather than take it all in one big chunk.

Part of this switch, according to the experts that reporters bring out for stories like these is that we are working harder now, there is greater job insecurity and people feel they can't go a week or--god forbid--two weeks without being connected to the office. (BTW, these same companies that we work so hard for, will not--repeat--will not bat an eyelash when it comes to tossing you out if it means improving the stock by a penny.

The articles also note that while technology (cell phones, blackberries, Internet) makes it easier to be connected to work, it is not the same as being there and that's why people feel they can't leave the office.

Ah, but that is the point of all this technology and that's what both articles missed. While on the surface all these new gadgets and technologies seem ideal to allow us more freedom, the reality is that they further enslave us to work. People work hard now and they worked hard 20 years ago. The difference is now we all feel in competition to let everyone else know how hard we work. We are never disconnected from work and that's not good. We email people at off-hours not only because it is incredibly passive aggressive but also as a way to say "look at how hard I'm working." The fun part is when you can ding them right back. It also creates a huge atmosphere of fear. We're afraid to take time off because we might miss something. At the same time, I don't know anyone who wants their gravestone to read "I wish I spent more time at the office."

The other side to this that really doesn't come up is how people use work as a way to avoid their families, partners, etc. I know this one, I did it all the time. Sorry honey, have to work this weekend. I didn't have to work, I just goofed off during the week so I could come in on the weekend and not have to worry about spending time with you. Blackberries allow us to do this now 24-7.

And if we don't feel connected to work all the time or are fortunate enough to have jobs where we don't need to be on duty around the clock, we feel insecure so we make our lives like that so we can keep up.

Not everyone. There are those normal people out there who leave their jobs at the end of the day and don't think about them, careers, office politics, and everything else until 9 a.m. the next day. Oh how I wish I were one of them.