One of the biggest buzz words of the past 5-10 years is the "Work / Life Balance" concept. It's a different concept in every country, but there's always some kind of expectation that there will be a separation between working and time for the usual life activities. Potentially a nice balance of the two.
In America in the 1950's the man of the family worked 9-5, Monday - Friday, and had weekends off. The woman of the house stayed home to take care of the house and family. Somewhere along the way with the advance of technology, the women's movement, and the general growth of life and chasing that elusive "American Dream" our boundaries have started to blur. We no longer work 9-5, and we no longer take vacations that don't include working. Many people nowadays, with the advent of social media, don't even have offices and have location independent professions, so it gets even tougher to distinguish life from work.
Constant Connectivity
I lived in Asia for 2.5 years, and in that time I observed a few things. Yes, they're crazy about phones. South Koreans log more phone minutes and texting than any other country in the world. I had teenage students who regularly told me that they'd log texts in the thousands every month. And yes, they're insane about technology overall - Koreans have the fastest internet speeds of any other country in the world and most are no where close to catching up anytime soon. On the subway (there wasn't a single place in the whole country that wasn't connected, & dropped calls are things that just never happen) you'd see people streaming live TV on their phones. Something like Apple's FaceTime isn't a new concept - the Koreans have had that on their Samsung and LG phones for ages.
But one thing I noticed, is that with all the connectedness, they still have this weird American 1950s lifestyle. Although the man of the house doesn't work 9-5, he works 7am - midnight. The woman of the house most of the time doesn't work. She stays at home, raises her kids. They don't have home offices in their apartments (houses don't generally exist there), because the home is just that - home. My teenage students often times told of only seeing their fathers once a week. Vacations happen twice a year at the exact same time as everyone else. A week in July, a week in December - if you're lucky.
Lines seemingly do not blur in Asia - they're actually very divided. However, it's not a balance, it's work above all consuming time.
On the Flip Side...
...there's America, with our blackberries and our iPhones. We don't have the same 7am-midnight work schedules, most families have both a working mother and a working father, and we take our vacations when we want to and most get between 10-15 days paid vacation every year to do as they please. We may not have the highest numbers like South Koreans for texting and internet speeds, but we also never unplug.
Our companies are constantly able to reach us at anytime. While on vacation we check emails to monitor what's happening back in the office, and we try to make it easier for when we return. Our attention is constantly split, and we no longer focus on one task at hand - be it work or life.
We no longer have communities in our neighborhoods, we have them at the office. We've made a shift from knowing the person who lives next door, to attending birthday parties and weddings for those we work with. Our coworkers are our friends because we all spend so much time in our offices. Even our children are overextended and socialize with playgroups, sports teams, and after school extra-curriculars instead of playing neighborhood games.
Throw into the mix the online communities we are creating and participating in as social media evolves and develops and it gets even further away from the home.
So Which is Better?
Working long hours, but when you're done, you're done?
or
Working shorter hours, getting more perks, & being constantly attached to mobile devices 24 hours a day?
In America in the 1950's the man of the family worked 9-5, Monday - Friday, and had weekends off. The woman of the house stayed home to take care of the house and family. Somewhere along the way with the advance of technology, the women's movement, and the general growth of life and chasing that elusive "American Dream" our boundaries have started to blur. We no longer work 9-5, and we no longer take vacations that don't include working. Many people nowadays, with the advent of social media, don't even have offices and have location independent professions, so it gets even tougher to distinguish life from work.
Constant Connectivity
I lived in Asia for 2.5 years, and in that time I observed a few things. Yes, they're crazy about phones. South Koreans log more phone minutes and texting than any other country in the world. I had teenage students who regularly told me that they'd log texts in the thousands every month. And yes, they're insane about technology overall - Koreans have the fastest internet speeds of any other country in the world and most are no where close to catching up anytime soon. On the subway (there wasn't a single place in the whole country that wasn't connected, & dropped calls are things that just never happen) you'd see people streaming live TV on their phones. Something like Apple's FaceTime isn't a new concept - the Koreans have had that on their Samsung and LG phones for ages.
But one thing I noticed, is that with all the connectedness, they still have this weird American 1950s lifestyle. Although the man of the house doesn't work 9-5, he works 7am - midnight. The woman of the house most of the time doesn't work. She stays at home, raises her kids. They don't have home offices in their apartments (houses don't generally exist there), because the home is just that - home. My teenage students often times told of only seeing their fathers once a week. Vacations happen twice a year at the exact same time as everyone else. A week in July, a week in December - if you're lucky.
Lines seemingly do not blur in Asia - they're actually very divided. However, it's not a balance, it's work above all consuming time.
On the Flip Side...
...there's America, with our blackberries and our iPhones. We don't have the same 7am-midnight work schedules, most families have both a working mother and a working father, and we take our vacations when we want to and most get between 10-15 days paid vacation every year to do as they please. We may not have the highest numbers like South Koreans for texting and internet speeds, but we also never unplug.
Our companies are constantly able to reach us at anytime. While on vacation we check emails to monitor what's happening back in the office, and we try to make it easier for when we return. Our attention is constantly split, and we no longer focus on one task at hand - be it work or life.
We no longer have communities in our neighborhoods, we have them at the office. We've made a shift from knowing the person who lives next door, to attending birthday parties and weddings for those we work with. Our coworkers are our friends because we all spend so much time in our offices. Even our children are overextended and socialize with playgroups, sports teams, and after school extra-curriculars instead of playing neighborhood games.
Throw into the mix the online communities we are creating and participating in as social media evolves and develops and it gets even further away from the home.
So Which is Better?
Working long hours, but when you're done, you're done?
or
Working shorter hours, getting more perks, & being constantly attached to mobile devices 24 hours a day?