Is the work/life boundary returning to weekends?
June 3 2009
There is probably some slight irony in it taking me three days to get around to writing this.
In the last several weeks, I've noticed a trend on weekends. My blog hits and comments go WAY down. PlanetLotus shows very few new Lotus-related postings. And most indicatively, my Blackberry is quiet, and my work e-mail volume is dropping. In short, weekends are, with the exception of that 7 AM concall on the US Memorial Day holiday, finding some balance again.
Last weekend, PlanetLotus had ten Lotus-related postings on Sunday (many about Quickr 8.2) and only four Lotus-related postings on Saturday. edbrill.com had a total of 389 visitors on Saturday. I received eight work emails on Sunday and only four on Saturday. Something is different... because for sure those numbers don't reflect what happened Monday morning. :-)
I am not sure what has changed. If anything, in a tight economy, there's a sense of constant urgency to the business decisions I and my team are making. We can't afford to let up, and that means that my habits in product management are the same as they were in sales...checking in a few times a day, every single day, and planning to plow through a little bit of email, blog reading, activities, etc. on Sunday night.
So what is it? Yes, for the northern hemisphere, it's coming into late spring and beautiful weather. But there seems like there is more to it than that. At some point, we all recognize that we lose effectiveness if we try to plow through a 24-7 work schedule, machine-like. Downtime is critical recovery time. It's why we sleep (at least as near as the scientists have figured), why we seek hobbies and interests, why we spend time with our families.
I'm encouraged that this change may well be reflection that we are all getting better at collaboration. Certainly, the more downloads/hits I see on the information that I share, internally or externally, the more I realize that self-service is one of the key benefits of Web 2.0. And if it gives me my weekends back, so much the better.
Post a Comment
- 2
Lewis | 6/3/2009 4:24:08 PM
Ed, got a few things I need to speak to you about... I'll email them to you on Saturday and follow-up call you on Sunday morning...
:-D
- 3
Kevin Mort http://www.theglobalmind.com | 6/3/2009 4:29:59 PM
I look back to how my dad did it. He left the office at the office and the weekends were family/household time as well as some R&R.
The American work culture has long been overactive compared to those in many other parts of the world, with marginal benefits at best, and no benefit being more likely in many cases.
I think @1 has it pegged somewhat as well. It might be a sign that many have realized what's actually important and that we've busted our rumps for so long only to find out that it might not really matter.
So, put in your 110% effort during the week, but the balance is what's going to make you happier and I think ultimately healthier.
- 4
Henry Ferlauto http://www.geniusinside.com | 6/3/2009 5:00:37 PM
How far do your site traffic statistics go?
If you want to test some economic related theories, you could try charting them against GDP and the S&P 500. (i.e. Do they rise and fall accordingly?)
Charting against IBM's quarterly revenue would be interesting as well.
- 5
Joseph Hoetzl http://www.josephhoetzl.com | 6/3/2009 5:38:37 PM
My father always reminds me that computers were supposed to free us humans up so we would have more free time. Let the machinery do the work - I don't think this has happened. Instead, they have created more work. Are we, as humans, really better off with them or without them.
It also reminds me of another topic - That we bought cable TV to get away from commercials and get content that we pay for. Now, it seems like there are more commercials on more channels. So much so, that I feel like the cable company should be paying me.
If you remember this { Link } or { Link } then you'll know what I am talking about...go on, you know you are gonna watch the others now!
- 6
Keith Brooks http://www.vanessabrooks.com | 6/3/2009 8:46:41 PM
Not to make excuses but..
Last weekend was memorial day so a very quiet time from the thursday to monday.
Last Monday was a UK holiday.
This week's Monday was a Irish holiday.
Probably in other places too.
But it's a mixture of people seeing a light at the end of the tunnel or being asked to leave the tunnel in some cases.
But the overload from multiple sites I think is also starting to hit people, you can only see so many things, listen to so many conference calls(2 IBM ones today) and still get work done.
- 7
Pierre-Alain | 6/4/2009 3:07:59 AM
Well, maybe people are finally realizing that work is a big part of life, but is not life in itself.
- 8
Denis Wittebrood | 6/4/2009 5:59:21 AM
Ed, I guess you didn't get the memo yet? In short, I think it translated to you being side tracked and no longer in the loop...
- 9
Steven Kennett | 6/4/2009 6:25:30 AM
It was 27c and pure Sunshine, the start of summer, the last thing I was doing at the weekend was being indoors looking at a PC !
- 10
Maria Helm | 6/4/2009 8:55:25 AM
@Joseph "computers were supposed to free us humans up so we would have more free time"
No, computers were supposed to allow employers to hire fewer skilled works, or workers with lesser ability, and therefore save money. But now we're making computers so complicated, it just requires a different set of skills. NASA would no longer have to hire a master mathematician to determine the best route to Mars...just someone trained in using the software that does those calculations...who probably would draw a higher salary than the mathematician these days.
- 11
Bill Geimer | 6/4/2009 4:58:48 PM
My guess is that with fewer people doing more work in corporate America, we are just all too darn exhausted to hit the blog circuit on the weekend. Its only the start of summer on half the globe. The other half is watching the thermometer head down. In some cases, jumping for joy after the summer heat some had. But i do not think the workload is any different there.
- 12
Alex Kassabov http://kassabov.wordpress.com | 6/5/2009 9:29:29 AM
It's summer time. I'd rather by cycling than reading blogs on weekends. Come think of it, I'd rather by cycling any day.
Some people may be less motivated to labor outside of the work week when the chances of an incremental return (bonuses, raises) are perceived to be largely determined by a bad economy and not our efforts above and beyond the norm. I'm optimistic myself, but I know others who are not so optimistic.
I wonder if there are any studies of work/life balance before, during and after a recession or depression.