Comments on: "Take 48": Friday 6 PM to Sunday, 6 PM

By: Bruce

Bruce — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 02:45:15 +0000

As stated over 3,000 years ago in the Book of Exodus, Chapter 35, verse #2:

"For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a day of sabbath rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death."

I suppose avoiding emails for at least one day would be a reasonable substitute for 'death.'

By: tacojohn

tacojohn — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 00:58:39 +0000

i read a good one about freedom and not having to workweekends in the usa it was and here it is—http://bphouse.comhttps://login.yahoo.com/config/login_verify2?.intl=us&.src=ytff&.done=http://yahoo.com/blaze/

By: Soren G

Soren G — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 23:11:44 +0000

Well done, John. In terms of your work output, I am guessing that with less “work all the time mentality” the work you do accomplish during the week will actually be more productive. That is my experience, anyway. Though I watch my kid for several days during the week, so that is my off time; it is not always on weekends.

By: Roger

Roger — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:22:13 +0000

It astounds me that people have so willingly given up the little bit of free time that our grandparents fought to get. I have always set boundaries in my employment, and you'd be surprised how well that works (and how easily boundaries vanish if you allow them to).

I put in 8 hours (and occasionally a little extra when needed), but otherwise I'm out. I have a life that doesn't revolve around my job - and I love my job. And I love the organization that I work for. I would honestly quit any job (this one included) that expected more than 40 hours a week from me. I need time for me - contemplating life, nurturing relationships, exploring my own creativity.

Life is too short to spend it working around the clock. Short of working in a life or death profession (law enforcement, medicine) there is nothing so crucial that I need to be answering (let alone checking) work-related emails on the weekend. No way.

I'm a human being, and my life adds up to way more than my job. And at the end of it all, it's about the impact I've had on the people around me that I will be considering - not how much I worked or didn't work.

By: John Battelle

John Battelle — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:29:39 +0000

@Heidi – and yet, there is the part of me that loves to work, that takes great pleasure and pride from it. I do not see it as a negative unless it interferes with family and/or taking care of myself. when i die I hope to look back on all the work I did and be pleased, be proud, and maybe even wish I had done more…

By: Heidi Strom Moon

Heidi Strom Moon — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:51:54 +0000

It says something sad about our never-stop American work culture that within a century after winning the hard-fought right to have time off to rest and recuperate, we are voluntarily retreating back. Only this time, we're doing it to ourselves.

I absolutely agree it's time to shut off the Blackberrys and the texting and the laptop in non-work hours.

There will always be Big Projects that merit Big Attention, but in the long haul of our lives, what are the moments that matter most? Is it the 10th email of the day? Or the first French Toast?

I don't remember where I read it, but someone once framed it this way: When you look back on your life at the end of your life, will you regret that you didn't work *more* or that you didn't work less?

By: Tom Pimental

Tom Pimental — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:49:36 +0000

This is great. I do see one issue. If senior management is writing a lot of emails and holding them in their send queue... Monday morning is not going to be pleasant to those receiving all of those emails.

Definitely a step in the right direction though.

By: Dan Lewis

Dan Lewis — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:12:37 +0000

Guess the sabbath people were on to something?

We're in crunch mode at work, doing weekends. My life is suffering, my work is suffering, but there just aren't enough hours in the day.

When your boss asks for something extraordinary from you, maybe you should ask for something extraordinary back, like this.

The sound captcha was impossible, by the way.