MIAMI – Feeling a little overwhelmed at work today? So are two-thirds of the American work force.
It is a way of life that can have serious consequences personally and professionally. The odd thing is, it is not the hours we put in that cause us to feel overwhelmed, it is the way we work.
We are multitasking too much. We are frequently interrupted during the workday and find ourselves jumping from one assignment to another. And, we are spending too much time on low-value tasks.
It is affecting the way we act both at work and at home.
“If you feel overworked, you are more resentful and angry and make more mistakes,” said Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute and the lead author of “Overworked in America: When the Way We Work Becomes Too Much.”
Health suffers
“This is a wake-up call study for us and for employers to look at how we are working.”
Galinsky said those who feel chronically overworked report problems outside of work: higher levels of stress, more symptoms of depression and poorer health.
For many, their work performance suffers, too.
“When you become so overwhelmed, you don’t really evaluate,” said Sherry Ulsh, a Miami consultant who worked at a local company for 20 years. “There are tons more chances of making mistakes when you are going at a speed that is outrageous.”
But the job environment is still such that many employees accept the brutal workloads and expectations of an instant response.
“I don’t say no,” said Arlene Finkelstein, an attorney with Siemens Corp. in Boca Raton, Fla. “For most of us our jobs have expanded; they are not 9 to 5. I think that is why most of us take work home on the weekends.”
Changing your work habits can be challenging.
Miami business owner Lourdes San Martin said workers should be direct with their bosses.
Who feels it?
“Most of my employees have been with me a long time, and we have good communications,” said San Martin, who owns a Miami engineering consulting firm.
In Galinsky’s report, employees at companies that had undergone layoffs were more likely to feel overworked.
The Overwork in America study found bosses and rank-and-file workers feel they cannot get everything done. The study found more than a third of the work force forfeit at least some of their paid vacation each year.
San Martin puts in at least 70 hours a week at her Miami firm. Over the last two years she was forced to reduce staff, but the workload remains. That leaves everyone juggling more and makes it difficult for her to take a vacation. San Martin admits to feeling overworked.
“We need rest and recovery in between times of real focus on work,” Galinsky said. She adds that in a culture where being overworked is seen as a red badge of courage, being overworked should be taken seriously.
“People are less likely to make good decisions when they are overworked,” Galinsky says.
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