I recently read an article on “lazy girl jobs” which caused me to reminisce on my past and recognize how much has shifted in my lifetime in regards to work hours and work-life balance.
- I remember early in my career doing 24/7 swing-shift management. It was an expectation to be in at least 45 minutes before your team’s shift and stay 30 minutes post. It was often expected for you to show up 2-3 hours before an afternoon shift to meet with the day managers, or stay 2-3 hours after night shift for similar conversations. Or come in when your team had off days for full day trainings or management presentations. Meeting (or exceeding or not meeting) expectations was part of your evaluation and critical for any pay increase. As a woman in a man’s traditional role, you definitely had to keep work as the only focus.
- I remember the “If you aren’t in the office, the hours don’t count” mindset. When my dad was in his last days of life, back in the 1990’s, I went to their home (500 miles away) to help my mom. Hospice is wonderful, and I have been a supporter of them ever since, but Mom needed more daily support. I bought a printer, packed up all my files, and turned their dining room table into a desk space – continuing to do my work (analysis of data, publish reports, fax in presentations) as Dad mostly slept through his last days. When I returned to work, I was informed that since I was not in the office, all the time away was considered vacation days.
- Then there was the “we’re flexible” mindset of the 2000’s when the idea of work-life balance was talked. The big concession was “core hours” – you needed to be in the office for the core hours of 9-3, but could “flex” your 8-hour clocked-in day earlier or later. No, we didn’t clock in or out, but people noticed. Anyone who wasn’t at their desk by 8 or still at their desk at 5 was viewed as not pulling their weight. If you were committed (i.e. wanted a high rating, which translated to better raises), you were taking meetings/calls at 7 AM or 10 PM. After all, we were a global company working with offices all over the world. Expectations differed from stated policy.
- Eventually in the 2010’s, working from home or off-site became more of the norm. To be honest, some of us who had lived though all the years of “in office” expectations had a hard time with the shift! With the increase of email and instant messaging capability, for some of us it just became a “be available 24/7”.
Nowadays, remote work is the new norm. The concept of hours clocked equating to work accomplished is considered old-fashioned. A 50-to-60 hour week is considered unsustainable and should never be considered normal. Work should never compromise your personal life. Is real work-life balance a reality, yet? Maybe not, but the shift continues. It is certainly different than years ago.
I’ve been saying about my own retirement and the concept of work-life balance, “I worked for 32 years, now I’m going to live for 32 years.” Work-life balance does feel less like just a concept and more like a reality these days for those working full-time. With these work changes (more life while working), I’m sure the concept of retirement will shift as well.
Picture Credit: my latest crafting fun – golf ball garden art!
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It is interesting to look back on how attitudes have changed about work hours and commitment over the years. Technology has made working remotely more acceptable, but has also made it more difficult to completely remove yourself from the workplace and truly take time off. I too am glad to be done with all that and enjoying retirement. We have earned it!
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It took me awhile to really let go of that workaholic tendency that was conditioned into me for so many years. Now all my days are “time off” and that is amazing to me still!
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I’ve been reading about lazy girl jobs, too. As a friend said, “sign me up.” We came from a time when work was everything all the time so the concept, while foreign, sounds inviting– if you’re still getting paid. I like your analysis of how office work changed over the course of your career. Technology has impacted our lives in so many ways, working life more than we may have noticed.
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Ally, my look back was eye-opening even to me. I know I was in a corporate culture that demanded and rewarded that workaholic behavior. A lot of the technology advances impacted things but more to increasing work and less to allowing more time for life. I recall one manager tried to not answer his emails/texts over the weekend and was called out as it being “not acceptable behavior” for someone in his position. All I can say is I am very glad to be out of that world!
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What a great post Pat! It’s so interesting to me how, in what seems like a short time, the working world has changed significantly. This is a subject I too have been following, both from the side of work/life balance being a priority as well as the notion of retirement going by the wayside. Thanks for your post!
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Retirement has changed quite a bit since it was invented, so I can only assume it will continue to shift as we go forward. As others have pointed out, if a work-life balance becomes a true reality, there might not be a strong desire to leave the workforce. As a workaholic in a corporate culture that demanded & rewarded that behavior, I needed to do a complete break from work to get a life. And I am very glad I did!
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Thanks Pat and I agree with you that I’m glad to be out of the workaholic culture we both experienced. But I can’t help but wish our generation now choosing to be done with it, had other options instead of that workaholic life or full retirement — ie., a phase down, true part-time or knowledge sharing and mentoring. I would have liked that, and likely would have felt more respected than I did. I’m hopeful for the next generations to have more options. Thanks for a great post!
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Pat, you have perfectly recapped the transition of a traditional work environment to our current new attitude. Technology has certainly eased things along the path. Hopefully rigid corporate cultures and coworker shaming for not being at your desk by 9 and leaving earlier than 5 is a thing of the past. I do think that some businesses will thrive more than others, as they require personal respnsibility and accountability from their employees, while leaving the structure of the workday flexible. I also think it may have an impact on when people choose to retire. Flexible schedules may reduce the pressure of ‘needing’ to retire to experience life more fully, or to excape a demanding and stressful job. But, in the end, each of us has a different set of rules and standards for how and when that should happen.
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Suzanne, I do hope the “need to retire” in order to live a life might at some point be as old fashioned as the rigid corporate culture I worked in for most of my career. But, I’m happily retired and thrilled to not have to navigate those cultural changes.
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As long as greed and profits rule our country, Americans will continue to struggle with work/life balance. Greed has become an epidemic no one wants to address 😖 I’m so fortunate to be out of that rat race!
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I agree with that – I am very glad I am no longer in the environment I used to work in! I am thrilled with my slower paced life. I do hope that changes continue for others … it was a bit eye opening to relook at my 30 years and the changes I saw.
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I think this new concept is a better life/work relationship than what we did. Work was most of our life with family sprinkled in. At first when all this work/life shift happened I really thought it would be to everyone’s detriment and perhaps we have some changes such as the restaurants can’t serve as many people and some things are harder or longer to get but once we adapt to that I think our society as a whole will be better for it. The USA used to pride itself on how hard we work while most other countries are much slower paced than we but I think we had it wrong. I also think people will be less likely to want to “get out of their job” because it won’t have eaten up so much of their life.
However it works out, I love my retirement!
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It will be interesting to see how this shift continues. The pandemic obviously impacted it a lot. Here in Florida, the service industry is struggling; you can definitely see/feel the change in restaurants. It will be interesting to see how things are in another year.
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Hi Pat – I never worked those kind of hours – but definitely did far more than I was paid for in every job I ever worked in. I’m grateful every day for the life I have now – no expectations, no responsibilities, no office politics or drama – just peace and life on my own terms. I worked hard to get here and I never take this retired life for granted.
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Leanne, I also don’t take this retired life for granted. I did work hard so we are financially secure and I now have time to do what I want. But I am happy to see the changes continue in the concept of work-life balance.
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I spent almost 40 years as an OR nurse on call. Sometimes not even on call but still called in. Then back for the regular shift. There were days, no slash weeks, where I put in 60 to 80 hours but the switches between working days, nights and evenings. It wrecked my body for years. I am happy to be where I am now!! Lucky to be semi retired.
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Bernie, I do hope the world is shifting a bit so weeks like that are never considered normal any longer. I too am glad to be retired!
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Sadly life in the Operating Rooms here in our city is still like that. Maybe even more so right now as there is such a shortage of nurses that call is being mandated.
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