Have you been working more and enjoying it less? Have you been feeling overwhelmed and perhaps undeserved? Have you been making gallant efforts on the job but feel underappreciated? If so, get a number and stand in line! The results are in; too many hours on the job can yield disastrous effects mentally, physically, and emotionally.

In America, the situation is particularly acute. Based on a survey of 1,300 workers conducted by Daytimers, it appears that Americans are indeed working longer. Men average 50 hours of work each week, while women average 42. Worse, 62% of respondents said they feel, “always or frequently rushed on the job,” and a staggering 26% said they had not taken a vacation in the past 12 months.

How Much Work Is Too Much Work

Dr. Juliet Schor, in her book, The Overworked Americans, says, “In the last 20 years the amount of time Americans have spent at their jobs has risen steadily.” Schor believes that if present trends continue, we’ll soon be spending as much time at our jobs as people did back in the 1920’s. Equally surprising, she found that the U.S. and Western Europe had been moving in tandem, in terms of number of work hours per year. However, the U.S. started to veer off so that U.S. manufacturing employees today work 320 hours more than their counterparts in France or Germany!

320 hours = 8 more work weeks!

Little Gain, Much Pain

Sure, there have been some productivity gains. However, Schor finds that Americans, “Have not used any of the productivity dividend to reduce hours: the average American owns and consumes more than twice as much as he or she did in 1948, but also has less free time.” In other words, you’re working longer, buying more, owing more, and hence, working more to pay for what you owe.

Joe Robinson, former editor and publisher of Escape magazine says that “one-fifth of Americans don’t even take the vacation time allotted to them.” They’re too busy working and guzzling laxatives and potions for indigestion. “They can’t stop, because if they did, they have something else to do.” Robinson says it’s not easy in a culture where identities are based solely on jobs.

He believes that more than any other reason, the reason why Americans take so little vacation time is not the actual time available, money, competition, global economic pressures, labor unions and so forth. Rather, it’s a lack of leisure identity. “The world outside of work,” he says, “keeps us at the bottom of the holiday index.”

Working too long begins to feed on itself. For example, people around you know that you throw your time at your work, and hence, encourage others to turn to you when they need to get something done. After all, you put in the time.

Ten Ways to Know When You’ve Been Working Too Hard

10. You’ve become good pals with the nightly cleaning crew.
9. You think that Simon is crushing dreams on American Idol.
8. You and your computer have become “one.”
7. You’ve filed for an extension to complete your taxes, for the third year in a row.
6. You think Twitter is a new Disney show featuring talking birds.
5. You have equipment in your office that you’ve never used and you can’t recall what it does anyway.
4. You’ve installed a cot in your office and keep forgetting to bring in a pillow, so you roll up your jacket.
3. The word “vacation” no longer holds meaning for you.
2. You missed a gala awards dinner at a splashy hotel, in your honor, paid for by your company.
1. You got lost on the way home last night.

Please, Let Me Work Longer

I suppose, given the change in the dominant direction of stress that perhaps there are some built-in incentives for you to want to stay longer at work! Actually, however, the issue is probably not so simple. Many organizations both here and abroad have developed a culture where it is par for the course for people to stay late. What are some of the vital indicators that, in fact, you may be among the many who are working too many order ambien online hours?

* During the winter months, you arrive at work while it’s still dark, and leave work at the end of the day while it’s dark again. In other words, you’re not commuting during daylight.

* You have no expectation of leaving at normal closing time. 4:30, 5:00, 5:30 come around and go, and you’re still there. Since human beings are creatures of habit, if you’ve gotten into the habit of leaving the office at 6:30, guess what? You’re reinforcing the incidence of leaving on future evenings around 6:30. To reinforce leaving at 5:00, leave at 5:00.

* When you get home, you don’t have the energy to be a full participant in your household. You want to plop down in a chair, and take it easy.

* You don’t converse with members of your family, you don’t help make dinner, and you sure as heck don’t want to listen to anybody’s problems.

* You’ve started to abandon hobbies, but worse, don’t even miss them. You spend less time with friends, and more time with electronic media such as TV, or the Internet.

* You’re not only eating lunch at your desk, you’re also eating some dinners there as well.

* Throwing your time at your work and your problems becomes the modus operandi, a Latin term still in use today to describe the standard way of doing things, instead of looking for ways to do things smarter.

Dan Sullivan, a Canadian author and trainer who runs seminars for entrepreneurs, believes that you’d actually be better off if you had half as much time to spend on your job. Why? Then you’d be forced to:

• focus on what’s important,
• streamline your operations,
• assemble the appropriate resources,
• stay on target more of the time.

Based on Sullivan’s view of work, when you allow yourself to pour 50 to 55 hours or more per week into your job or business, you’re practically setting up a situation in which you will not work efficiently.

I know, you’re thinking buzz-off buddy, “I have no choice.” You have some choices. If you’re employed by others in a highly competitive profession or industry, and it seems as if there’s no way you can get ahead without putting in monster hours, your task becomes one of working with greater focus and efficiency for the hours that you do put in, and having the strength to let go of lower priority activities in favor of higher ones. This would help to keep you from reaching the danger level at which you become seriously at risk.

Working Too Long–Reaching the Danger Level

• You experience chest pains on the job, for no apparent reason.
• You’ve experienced any kind of dizziness, fainting, or blacking-out.
• You have difficulty digesting food or swallowing.
• Chemical dependence has become a way of life to get you through the day.
• You’ve started to experience near misses while driving.
• You begin to bump into things, cut yourself accidentally, or in general, are more accident prone.

Only you know what is a comfortable level of work for you. Some people thrive on 60 hours, some people are wasted after 35. If you’re an entrepreneur, running your own show, you may actually gain energy from the time you put into your business. I know some people who find it stressful to be away from their work, at least if they’re away from work too long.

A Little Balance, Please

Listed below, are the activities and resources career professionals indicated they rely on, when their work and non-work life begins to get out of balance:

How/Where Career Professionals Maintain or Restore Balance

• Have support of family or a group of friends nearby.
• Use time as wisely as possible.
• Actively engage in hobbies for relaxation or recreation.
• Eat at least two wholesome, balanced meals a day.
• Have some place in the home as a sanctuary for resting.
• Maintain reverence to God.
• Exercise at least three times a week for 20 minutes or longer each time.

Rather than relying on one or two of these resources, make three, four, or more a part of your routine. The more weapons you have in your arsenal the more effective you’ll be at handling the tough challenges you face.