Need to schedule your down time?

I woke up with a start in the middle of the night remembering that I had forgotten to change time on the clocks to Standard Time. Before I went to bed, I had set my alarm for 8:00 am so that would have time to get ready to teach my 9:00 am yoga class but did not remember to change the time on the clock. Here I am wide awake at 5:30 am confused and a bit panicked. Do we move back the time one hour or move it forward? "We move the time back an hour" said my husband drowsily as I nudged him awake at 5:30 am. "Oh yeah" I thought, "I get to have an extra hour of sleep". I tried to go back to sleep but I tossed and turned, my subconscious still worried that I would somehow mess up and miss my yoga class. I woke up every half hour or so until I finally gave up and got up for good at 7:30 am. I got immersed in household tasks and ran out of time. I left home in a hurry at 8:45 cutting it much too close even though the fitness club is only 5 minutes away (if I am lucky and get all the green lights). I got to the club with just a couple minutes to spare before the start of my yoga class, out of breath and feeling stressed. Kind of ironic isn't it that I have to rush to go to a yoga class? Finding time to relax seems to be a stressful proposition for me.

According to an article entitled "The Time Crunch Takes its Toll" in the Globe and Mail, this Tuesday (November 2, 2010), I am part of a growing number of Canadians who are in a perpetual time crunch. The authors, Tralee Peace and Siri Agrell asked busy Canadian professionals to share their stories and opinions about on coping (or not) with the work-life juggle.

Asked what one thing we would like to change to improve work-life balance:

• 17.2% said they would like to do less work followed by more money (Wouldn't that be the very best scenario? Surprising that this number is not much higher!)
• 15.1% said they want more vacation (Again, how come this number is not any higher?)
• 8.1% said they wanted a different job
• 8.0% want a more interesting job (Maybe it is the same 8.1% who want a different job!)

Some 33% of Canadians have come to the same realization I did (almost 9 years ago) when I decided to work part time, four days a week rather than the usual 5 days of week, which reduced my pay cheque by 20%. Granted, I did the equivalent of 5 days work in four (often skipping lunches and staying late) but I had the luxury of having my Fridays off to do a workout and take care of some household duties which freed up my weekends to spend more quality time with my family.

Now that I work for myself, I rarely have a day "off". I actually work much longer hours, weekdays, evenings and most weekends. Since my office is in my home, there is no time off unless I am disciplined enough to put aside work for a period of time. It is very tempting to check emails, catch up on paperwork, prepare for the meetings and workshops of the following week, all in an effort to get organized and save time in the long run (very ironic!) Now what am I going to do about that? I will need to set some clear boundaries and schedule some "relax time. I hope that one day it will become part of my weekly routine to set aside some days of rest (weekends would be a good start!)

According to this article, 20% of leisure time has shrunk between 1998 and 2005. Vacations (and leisure time) take some planning and it appears we do not even have time to schedule down time either. Instead we let the vacation leave we are entitled to lay unclaimed. In Canada in 2009, a staggering 36.5 million vacation days have been unclaimed!

Our employers have a good thing going here because not only do we not take all of our vacation leave, but millions of us work unpaid overtime. Up to 2.6 million employees over the age of 15 worked unpaid overtime every week in 2007 and I am sure that this number has grown significantly over the last three years judging by what I see and hear when I visit workplaces these days.

To be fair, we cause much of that stress ourselves. Whether you like to admit it or not, it is the choices you make and the attitude you adopt that cause you stress. I had more than enough time to leisurely get ready for my yoga class this morning and leave in plenty of time but somehow, I missed the mark. I would agree with Mary Jane Copps who is quoted as saying "I often don't pay close enough attention to the time needed and then suddenly I'm overwhelmed or off-balance."

The article cites that when asked who most frequently cause us stress, Canadians admit that they themselves are their biggest cause of stress.

• Themselves: 3 times per week
• Spouse or partner: 2.1 times
• Kids: 2 times
• Colleagues: 1.9 times
  

It would seem that geography and culture has an impact on our work-life balance. According to the authors of this article, Pearce and Agrell, if you live in Quebec 50 to 54% of the population says that they are "very happy". Ontario is the bottom third with 40 to 44% and British Columbia is the very least likely to say they are "very happy" with 35 to 39%.

Francophones are often described as "bon vivant". A "bon vivant" is someone who is jovial and takes life in stride. A "bon vivant" enjoys the good things in life like good food and wine and socializing with friends. Maybe there is some truth to the saying "choose your attitude, choose your life"? I would think that Quebecers have very similar time pressures and responsibilities as their British Columbia counterparts but perhaps they manage it differently.

As a Franco-Ontarian with Quebec roots, some would call me a "bon vivant". Some of my fondest childhood memories are of the impromptu kitchen parties at Christmas time (especially) and other family gatherings. My aunt or my grandmother would get on the piano cranking out traditional "chansons à répondre". Someone would pull out the spoons and tap out the rhythm, someone else would take out the violin and everybody, adults and children, would sing and dance. If these kitchen parties are any indication of the French culture's aptitude of celebrating life and enjoying each other's company, then maybe this explains why, given similar life circumstances as other Canadians, Quebecers seem to find more ways to be happy.

But you know, this ability to find happiness throughout life's ups and downs is within everyone's grasp...it is simply a matter of choice.

Do you need a break?

I was at the doctor's office last week and picked up a magazine while I waited for my turn. It was the July 6th issue of Maclean's. In bold print on the front page it said: "Canadians Do It Better". Jonathon Gatehouse who scoured international opinion surveys, census statistics, think tank reports and consumer databases to research this article claims that:

"We're healthier than the Americans, live longer than the Swedes and eat better than the French. We even have more lovers than the Italians - and of course we're more caring"

The typical Canadian family is doing better than the typical family in America. We spend just 19% of our annual household budgets on shelter as opposed to Americans who spend 34% of their budget to get a roof over their heads. Canada is number two among the top industrialized countries in the world for financial net worth per household (behind the US). We have a higher level of house ownership (and more spacious houses to boot) than the USA, Japan, Sweden, Denmark, France and Germany! A recent Goldman Sachs report predicts that Canada along with Australia and Britain will the among the first countries to recover from the recession.

Canada is eighth in the world for life expectancy (81.23 years) and tied for fourth place with France, Norway and Singapore for quality of life according to the World Health Organization. We are the third highest consumers of fruits and vegetables and also ranked third for the least number of daily smokers and,... we eat less processed food than the French!

We are no slouch in the love department either. Canadians spend more time romancing their partners in the bedroom and we claim having more sexual partners than the French and Italians!

We've got a lot going for us. I am very proud to be a Canadian.

But then I got a wake up call. I flipped the page to another article written by Nancy MacDonald. Apparently Canadians need a break. We are the fourth-hardest workers in the world. We even beat out the USA, Germany, Sweden and Japan and most of the rest of Europe. Hard to believe huh?

No wonder I feel so tired. I blamed the fatigue on my advancing age but it would seem that I have been punching in more hours at work. In fact, over three decades, from the 1950's to the 1980's, the time Canadians spent working decreased progressively. However in the late 1990's this trend reversed dramatically obliterating the gains we had made in claiming back some "me time" from our work week.

Like our cousins the Australians, Canadians now work a 33 hour work week (when you account for both full time and part time workers). The length of our work week surpasses the number of hours that our neighbours in the south punch in as well as the Brits work week. European countries seem to have a better sense of balance: French work 29 hours weeks, the Norwegians, 28 and the Dutch 27. How would you like to live in France and have 7.6 weeks of paid vacation time a year? Residents of Spain enjoy 30 days of paid holidays, Germans have 27 days and the British, known for their strong work ethic, have 26 days. We, in comparison, have on average only 19 days of paid vacation time.

What happened in the late 1990's to cause such a reversal in leisure time? Do you remember? Communication technology is what happened. It started with emails. Instead of picking up the phone or dropping a note in the mailbox, we let our fingers to the talking. We don't even get up from our office chair to chat with our cubicle neighbour. We prefer typing a short "what's up" email and pressing the "send" button.

Then there was the advent of the Blackberry which in essence means that instead of leaving our computer on our desk at the end of the work day we can now carry it with us everywhere we go: at the grocery store, at the restaurant, at the gym even! And people know that you carry your B-berry with you all the time so they email you at all times, very early morning, evenings and weekends. Speedy response is expected. "Hey I sent you an email 15 minutes ago and you haven't replied yet!"

The vast majority of homes now have a computer and many have several (we have 4 computers at home not counting I-Phones and Blackberry). Internet is "de rigueur" especially if you have teenagers. How else are they going to "talk" to their friends without MSN and Facebook? Sad but true, many of us even have computers and Internet connections at the cottage!

Yes, you say, that is all well and good but other countries have access to the same techno gizmos as us Canadians. How come we are putting in so much more hours at work compared to them? Experts are saying that we see downtime as non-productive time. We have become a culture obsessed with results.

What is distressing though is that by curtailing leisure time in favor of work we risk suffering the consequences mentally and physically. Research makes a strong case for taking vacations and giving ourselves some downtime. People who take regular holidays are 25% (women) to 32% (men) less likely to die of heart attacks. Vacations also help reduce a vast array of aches and pains like persistent headaches, rashes, colds and flues. The likelihood of burnout and depression is diminished when you dedicate time to exercise, yoga and meditation to recharge our batteries on a regular basis.

Since there are no more boundaries between work time and personal time we have to create our own "no work" time zones. That takes some self-discipline. You need a plan:

• Go back to a 9 to 5 work day: What will be your Blackberry blackout time zones? What will be your protocols for replying to emails? How fast? Will you answer emails in the evening? On weekends?

• Dream up your next vacation: How will you use up all your vacation days this year? Will you use that time to get your house renovations done or to truly disconnect and relax?

• Move your body: What kind of exercise gives you pleasure and satisfaction? Fitness classes? (if you sign up for classes you are more likely to get fit than just relying on the exercising bike that serves as a clothes hanger in your bedroom) Join a foursome for regular golf games? Put on that short white skirt and go play tennis?

• Feed your body: Because you are always out of time so you often grab a quick bite to eat at the take out. Not a great way to get all your fruits and veggies and watch your calorie intake... Maybe it is time to rediscover the "joy of cooking". If you are an environmentalist there are even more reasons to go back to basic and explore the world of organic cooking and the 100 miles diet.
  

• Quiet time: What helps you regain balance? Sitting on the dock at the cottage watching the clouds roll by? Escaping into another world with a good book? Deep breathing exercises sitting in the lotus position?

• Be a model: Your kids are watching you. Your friends and colleagues are watching you. It just takes one person to start a movement. A movement for well-being. Your courage and determination will inspire others to do the same and soon enough people will have joined the movement to reclaim our leisure time. Soon there will be a Tipping Point and what is now counter-culture will become the new way - true balance between work and play.

Try this out:

I challenge you to do this little exercise.
Draw a circle on a sheet of paper.
Revisit what you did this weekend.
Determine what portions of the pie to give to downtime, office work, house work, social activities, family time, and... ME TIME.
What do you observe?
Are you happy with the results?
Do you want to change anything?

What will you do starting today to start redistributing leisure time and work time more equitably in your life?