Americans work more, seem to accomplish less: study

A Reuters News Story
Spring 2006

Most U.S. workers say they feel rushed on the job, but they are getting less accomplished than a decade ago, according to newly released research. Workers completed two-thirds of their work in an average day last year, down from about three-quarters in a 1994 study, according to research conducted for Day-Timers Inc., an East Texas, Pennsylvania-based maker of organizational products.

The biggest culprit is the technology that was supposed to make work quicker and easier, experts say. "Technology has sped everything up and, by speeding everything up, it's slowed everything down, paradoxically," said John Challenger, chief executive of Chicago-based outplacement consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. "We never concentrate on one task anymore. You take a little chip out of it, and then you're on to the next thing," Challenger said on Wednesday. "It's harder to feel like you're accomplishing something."

Unlike a decade ago, U.S. workers are bombarded with e-mail, computer messages, cell phone calls, voice mails and the like, research showed. The average time spent on a computer at work was almost 16 hours a week last year, compared with 9.5 hours a decade ago, according to the Day-Timer research released this week. Workers typically get 46 e-mails a day, nearly half of which are unsolicited, it said. Sixty percent of workers say they always or frequently feel rushed, but those who feel extremely or very productive dropped to 51 percent from 83 percent in 1994, the research showed.

Put another way, in 1994, 82 percent said they accomplished at least half their daily planned work but that number fell to 50 percent last year. A decade ago, 40 percent of workers called themselves very or extremely successful, but that number fell to just 28 percent. "We think we're faster, smarter, better with all this technology at our side and in the end, we still feel rushed and our feeling of productivity is down," said Maria Woytek, marketing communications manager for Day-Timers, a unit of ACCO Brands Corp. The latest study was conducted among a random sample of about 1,000 people who work at least part time. The earlier study surveyed some 1,300 workers.

Expectations that technology would save time and money largely haven't been borne out in the workplace, said Ronald Downey, professor of psychology who specializes in industrial organization at Kansas State University. "It just increases the expectations that people have for your production," Downey said. Even if productivity increases, it's constantly outpaced by those expectations, said Don Grimme of GHR Training Solutions, a workplace training company based in Coral Springs, Florida. "The irony is the very expectation of getting more done is getting in the way of getting more done," he said. "People are stressed out."

Companies that are flexible with workers' time and give workers the most control over their tasks tend to fare better against the sea of rising expectations, experts said. Businesses that have moved to 24-hour operations, bosses who micro-manage and longer commutes all add to the problem, they said, while downsizing leaves fewer workers doing the work of those who left. Finally, there's a trend among companies to measure job performance like never before, said Challenger. "There's a sense that no matter how much I do, it's never enough," he said.

My comment: It's a disturbing trend: employers are causing employees to experience more stress at a time when many employers are cutting back on, or cutting altogether, employee health benefits. There must be a better way to do business.

Daoism on Laughter

Just as wind shakes the leaves of the bamboo, so too do we laugh in reaction to the world.


Some ascetics do not believe in laughter. They believe laughing is a sin. Tao, however, excludes nothing, including laughter.

It is very important in understanding Tao that we perceive the transient nature of life. Everything is in a state of constant change. Therefore, we can never be complacent. We can never expect places, things, or people to remain static. If we understand that, then we have the opportunity to learn more of Tao. If we do not accept that, then madness swiftly overtakes us.

The ancients understood the ephemeral and advised their students not to take life too seriously. Life changes too quickly for us to dwell overly long on any single aspect.
Things may go one way for a while, only to change quickly and unpredictably. Therefore, the wise realize that there is nothing to be gained by regarding life as immutable. It is far better to accept and work with its ephemeral quality. Then, no matter how difficult things are, we can laugh.

As nothing is permanent, there is nothing to take seriously. As there is nothing to take seriously, we should laugh at the world. As we laugh at the world, we should realize that understanding the changeable nature of life is the swiftest way to joy.


“Laughter” from Everyday Tao: Living with Balance and Harmony by Deng Ming-Dao, Harper San Francisco, 1996, ISBN 0062513958

Laughter - It does a body good!

The Natural Stress-Free Living Newsletter, sent to subscribers on August 18, 2006

(April 2009: The Natural Stress-Free Living Newsletter is no longer being published. Instead, you may subscribe to my weekly Stress Relief Tips newsletter which usually includes a video link so you may watch it, too!)

 

I have long been an advocate of alternative medicine and mind/body connections. I do absolutely believe that the body contains the knowledge and ability to self-heal any disease that manifests, especially those problems which arise as the result of physically, mentally, or emotionally stressful living conditions. As I researched the topic of stress and laughter, a startling pattern emerged; the yin-yang, point-for-point self-correcting counterpart for stress is laughter.

Here are a few of the main elements seen in stress reactions, the problems they cause, and the solutions and relief provided by laughter.

Blood Pressure
Stress: raises blood pressure; constricts blood vessels.
Laughter: lowers blood pressure, relaxes blood vessels.

Hormones
Stress: raises levels of epinephrine, cortisol, and dopac.
Laughter: reduces levels of all of the above; releases endorphins, the body’s natural pain killers which also produce a feeling of well-being.

Immune System
Stress: suppresses immune system activity.
Laughter: raises levels of T-cells, B-cells, and immunoglobulin A; variously, these cells fight viruses, cancer and other tumors, and produce antibodies to fight infections. Not only have increases in immune system activity been recorded at the time scientific study participants were viewing a humorous movie, the elevated levels of some beneficial immune system hormones and cells actually carried over into the next day giving further protection from disease.

Muscular Activity and Elasticity
Stress: contracts muscles, causes tension and eventually pain.
Laughter: relaxes muscles.

Respiration
Stress: shallow breathing is a frequent reaction; the reduced intake of oxygen results in reduced oxygen in the blood stream which adversely affects muscular tension and mental concentration; there is also the possible retention of carbon dioxide due to the incomplete exhalation of the breath.
Laughter: belly laughter actually has a cleansing effect similar to deep breathing because hard laughter forces old, stale air out of the lungs and expels any built-up carbon dioxide.

Exercise
Stress: promotes a lack of exercise; you want to get home and relax or “veg-out.”
Laughter: provides a great aerobic workout; researchers say that laughing one-hundred times is the equivalent of spending fifteen minutes riding an exercise cycle; one doctor has suggested that the heart works as hard during twenty seconds of laughter as it does during three minutes of hard rowing. Of course, no one in the medical community is suggesting you substitute laughter for exercise, but the aerobic benefit is substantial as a complimentary practice: how about watching a comedy while walking on your treadmill or riding your exer-cycle!

Emotions / Moods
Stress: associated with depression and sadness.
Laughter: produces positive emotions; can actually make you happy.

Social Aspects
Stress: people often isolate in an attempt to escape stressful situations; loneliness can lead to depression as well as severe physical illness. See the article Being with friends helps keep you healthy! on my blog.
Laughter: laughter is contagious – being around people who are laughing will make you laugh, too; fun social events bring people together where they find mutual support and friendship.

Now, if all that isn’t enough to prompt you into visiting a joke-of-the-day website or putting on your favorite comedy DVD, at least think about it.

Yes…even thinking about having a good laugh reduces stress and boosts the immune system! If you anticipate viewing a funny movie after work or know that you will be meeting friends for lunch and telling jokes, the levels of stress hormones in your body begin to fall, and endorphins rise; not “just a little” either. A small study revealed that participants who were told three days in advance of viewing a humorous video experienced a drop in stress-hormone levels and a rise in endorphins. Not only that….but the stress hormones continued to drop and the relaxing/good mood hormones continued to rise as the date to watch the humorous video approached. Ultimately, anticipation of this event effected a 39% reduction in cortisol levels, 38% drop in dopac levels, and a whopping 70% drop in epinephrine levels.

Thinking of having a good laugh is good for your hormone levels, but nothing is a substitute for the other health-related and socially beneficial actions of the real thing: Laughter.

Your body has the ability to detect and correct any imbalance, but only if you let your body work the way it was meant to work! Make opportunities for laugher! Schedule a lunch where everyone tells a good joke; subscribe to a joke-of-the-day website, listen to funny CDs or watch funny movies…with friends!!

I offer personal, confidential Stress Management Consultations and holistic, individualized relaxation programs tailored to your needs, lifestyle, and schedule.

In four weeks, I can help you reverse months or years of accumulated stress symptoms, maybe even keep you out of the doctor’s office and eliminate your need for prescription drugs that sometimes increase your problems with very undesirable side effects. You will feel better, sleep better, reduce your blood pressure, reduce or eliminate headaches and migraines, and back, neck, and shoulder pain. Your personal stress-reducing action plan includes my ongoing support because I love to help people Be Well ~ Naturally!

Please write for details: Stressrelief4me@gmail.com