According to a recent study conducted by the Center for American Progress, Americans now consider a 40-hour work week as “part time” in most professional jobs and as a sign of a stagnant career.
As a professional writer, college instructor, and owner of a small publishing company, I find myself working 70-80 hours per week, and still feeling that it isn’t enough. We are often told as authors that we must have at least 10,000 followers (Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc.) but with social media reciprocation, this means that we also are following 10,000 people. How do you follow 10,000 people? And who is deceiving who?
With the inherited work ethic from our parents and the pressure of social media from our peers, most 21st century professionals “live lives of quiet desperation” neglecting family, friends, and our physical, emotional and spiritual health.
When you look back in history at all those brave men and women who fought so valiantly for the 8-hour work day and the 40-hour work week, it boggles the mind that we have now turned back the clock and re-shackled ourselves to their bondage. What would they think if they could see us now? We don’t have time for recreation. We don’t have time for our families. We don’t have time to lend a helping hand to a friend or neighbor. We don’t have time to go to church or take a stroll around the block or watch a sunset.
We see the problem but is it really possible to reinvent the 40-hour work week and make it a practical and sustainable lifestyle while still being successful in our chosen careers?
I say, “Yes!”
If we step away from our computers at 5:00 PM every day and stay away from them for two full days, what is the worst thing that could happen?
What is the best thing that could happen?
Want to join me in this grand adventure – and find out?
Dorene Meyer
http://www.dorenemeyer.com/
http://www.goldrockpress.com/
Author of Missy to be released March 26: http://www.mcnallyrobinson.com/event-11168/Northern-Writers----Launch-of-Five-New-Books
Looking for a place to feel inspired and challenged? Like to share a smile or a laugh? Interested in becoming more familiar with Canadian writers who have a Christian worldview? We are writers who live in different parts of Canada, see life from a variety of perspectives, and write in a number of genres. We share the goal of wanting to entertain and inspire you to be all you can be with God's help.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular Posts
-
Write Canada is more than a professional networking conference. It’s a safe place where beginning and intermediate writers can learn ...
-
by Rev Ed Hird One of the best loved Christmas Carols is the 146-year-old carol: Good King Wenceslas. In 1853, John Mason Neale chose Wences...
-
Recent findings show that plants can "think," like animals (not that they are gods, but - as you will see- that won't deter so...
-
Inspiration hardly strikes on an empty stomach. For this, and other reasons, writers must eat. And if you like minced beef (and you...
-
I know it's only the 27th of November, but judging from the abundant lights in my neighbourhood, the holiday programs on TV, the parades...
-
A question was posed on The Word Guild discussion forum, asking, "What do you do when you are itchy to write but feel stuck, blocked -...
-
The rhythm formed by a writer's unique way of stringing phrases and sentences becomes their voice. This voice is the author's trad...
-
Life is hard. Loss and pain trip us up. Body cells go rogue. Germs and bugs maim and kill. But when we open oursel...
-
There are many things I fear. Having a flat tire on a freeway. Or worse, having a flat tire at night. The result of this fear is that I avoi...
-
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will b...
1 comment:
Dorene, you are so right on, in your overview and sketch ... very insightful social commentary!
Hmm, even those of us who are Christ-followers could do well to heed our Lord's invitation, as weary and heavy-burdened people, to come to Him for rest and learning (Mat.11:28-30).
It took severe tendonitis to get me to back off of computer usage for a while. Admitted, it was with some reluctance.
Post a Comment