Welcome to Elsewhere

Newsweek ran a good article by Dalton Conley about the harried pace of modern working life, titled "Welcome to Elsewhere." He talks about how modern professionals work upwards of 50 hours a week, and then schedule leisure activities to the detriment of down time with family, friends, and themselves:

Today's professional, by contrast, is constantly dogged by a feeling that he or she should be "elsewhere"—back at the office, at a party full of potential clients, home with the kids or at a social function with the spouse. Always on the go, we feel like we are in the right place at the right time only when in transit, moving from point A to B. Constant motion is a balm to an anxious culture where we are haunted by the feeling that we are frauds, expendable in the workplace because so much of our service work is intangible.

One antidote to the problem of overwork is what we always talk about: voluntary simplicity, downshifting, just saying "no, whatever you want to call it. Another solution would be if our country had a mandatory vacation law. Our friends at Take Back Your Time are working to do such a thing, and it has more of chance of passing in a family friendly administration like we have now. Visit Right 2 Vacation to add your name to the petition and to get more information. And next time you actually ARE on vacation, why not leave your Blackberry/computer/cell phone at home? If that thought sends butterflies to your stomach, welcome to Elsewhere!