Jain Spirit 2003 12 No 17

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 36

LIFESTYLE
LIFE BEYOND WORK
Lavinia Plonka illustrates the rise and pain of workaholism
presentation at home while minding the children and eating not at the desk, but in the car. Control is an illusion, but perhaps delusion hides much larger issues.
I
WAS IN NEW YORK CITY HAVING LUNCH WITH AN old friend. Just as he was about to tell me all the goings on Lof his marriage, the phone rang. His cell phone that is. "Excuse me," he pursed his lips in an embarrassed smile. Suddenly, he was all business. It was a real estate deal. He talked for five minutes while I toyed with my food and pretended not to listen. As he was talking, his beeper went off. I didn't hear it, of course. It was one of those vibrators, and he leapt as if he had been electrocuted, grabbed it, cursed, rolled his eyes, and said into the phone, "Can I get back to you Jeff? Carl's beeping me."
It seems these days that work never stops. Joggers talk to the office as they run. People do business as they shop for groceries if they have time to shop. Even walking on the beach, ON THE BEACH!, where you should be listening to the crashing waves and drinking in the sun, they're yelling into their phones above the surf, "Tell Morty I'm cutting that scene! I don't care if she's his niece! What's what noise? Oh! It's the ocean. No, I can't talk to you later, I have to take my kid to a soccer match. You think it's hard to hear me here, forget about it!"
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The signs are everywhere: our culture is addicted to work. The 40-hour work week is history for many - 40-60 being the new norm. In fact, since 1969 we've added a whole month of work a year. A report in Great Britain in 2002 stated that junior doctors were lying about their hours in order to appear to comply with the EU's mandatory 56 hour work limit. They pretended to take breaks and falsified their time cards to keep hospital costs down. The Wall Street Journal recently reported on the hazardous increase of eating at the desk, including more vermin in cubicles and ruined keyboards. A new line of office chairs features tray tables like on airline seats to make eating at your desk easier (and presumably, more efficient).
According to a recent article in The Guardian, writer Will Hutton, Chief Executive of The Work Foundation, states that it's not how much we work, but the ability to control one's time that is the problem. A survey of 5000 people published earlier in 2003 stated that fully one third of the participants would take a £1000 a year pay cut in exchange for more flexible hours. That may help some, but for many people having flexible hours has meant business calls at dinner parties, trying to type up a
Jain Spirit December 2003 - February 2004
According to Irene Philipson, a Silicon Valley Area psychologist, "There are people who are living to work. Literally, some people don't have a friend outside of work, or they actually look forward to spending holidays on the job." Many of these people seem to get more gratification from work instead of home. On one hand, they complain that they are too exhausted from work to deal with family issues. On the other hand, when your teenager thinks you're a fool and your youngest is jumping up and down and crying because you told him he watches too much television, sometimes staying at the office where everyone respects you can seem the easier choice. Dr. Gayle Porter from the Rutgers University School of Business feels that some workaholics "....overwork to compensate for self esteem, self conceit and identity issues. This plays out as a sacrifice for intimacy (with spouse and family), a high need to control, inflexibility and perfectionism."
Our culture has become one that defines you by your job - you are what you do. I took a year off once, to reassess my priorities, think about a career change, go for walks. When I went to parties, inevitably people would ask me, "So, what do you do?" If I answered, "Nothing, at the moment," or "I'm between careers right now," they often became uncomfortable and walked away. I wanted to shout after them, "But wait! I had a successful career for 25 years! I've taught all over the world! I do have value! Really, I am interesting!" This experience made me determined never to get caught up in whatever I eventually chose. Which of course, only lasted till I got going in my new career direction. After all, according to a report on US television, we live in a society that rewards and reinforces work addiction. If you are addicted to alcohol or drugs, you go to rehab or a 12-step program. If you are addicted to work, you just get more stuff on your resumé.
Another culprit is technology itself. The very tools that were supposed to make our lives easier have enslaved us. Because things go faster, we are expected to produce more in less time. Email, cell phones, video conferences eat up