The ascent of hours on the job

When Tammy Whaley and her friends socialize, one topic of conversation comes up again and again: work - in particular, overwork. They like their jobs but often feel overwhelmed by the daily demands they face.

"Everybody is racing against the clock, trying to get as much accomplished and as many items checked off their to-do list in a given workday," says Ms. Whaley, communications director for the University of South Carolina Upstate in Spartanburg. "We talk about how we can do more in less time."

It's a challenge facing growing ranks of workers as they log long hours and shoulder more responsibilities. One in 3 employees say they are chronically overworked, according to a 2005 study by the Families and Work Institute in New York. More than half of those surveyed said they had felt overwhelmed by their workload in the previous month. More than a third were not planning to take their full vacations.

Workplace experts offer several reasons for the overload. Layoffs and budget cuts have left many firms understaffed. A global economy, stretching across time zones, makes 9-to-5 workdays obsolete in some fields. Even technology, meant to be the great liberator, steps up the demands on workers.

"The workplace moves at such a fast pace," Whaley says. "With e-mail, voice mail, faxes, and pagers, you are expected to respond to everyone immediately."

In a January study by Steelcase, half of white-collar workers say they log more than 40 hours a week. Three-quarters of those in this group do some work on weekends because of an increased workload. Forty-two percent are working more hours now than five years ago.

"This problem has nothing to do with good or bad bosses," says Jack Cage, an executive search consultant in New York. "The issue boils down to revenue and cost. Nearly all companies are trying to get more done, and more revenue, with less cost." That means fewer employees.

In some companies, one or two people now handle the work that in many cases five handled previously, says Joyce Gioia, a workforce futurist and president of the Herman Group in Greensboro, N.C.

Corporate employees aren't the only ones feeling the strain of overwork. For the growing ranks of the self-employed - consultants, freelancers, independent contractors - the taskmaster who chains them to the desk for long hours is the face staring back at them in the mirror.

"I have the world's most demanding and critical boss - me," says Gail Bradney, a freelance business writer and editor in Woodstock, N.Y. "I sit at my desk nearly 10 hours a day, including evenings and weekends." With no paid vacation or benefits, she rarely takes time off and seldom turns down projects. "It's the hungry freelancer syndrome," she says. "You're just not sure where the next job is going to come from, so you always say yes. When you're working for yourself, you always have time and you always don't have time. You use all your time."

As an antidote, she sometimes goes on a "technology fast," as she calls it. "When I feel really depleted because I've been overworking, I just turn off all machines. No telephone, no fax, no e-mail, no TV, no radio. It's very energizing. Just 30 minutes of reading, walking, or doing nothing helps."

Even that isn't the ultimate solution. "I need to fire my boss," Ms. Bradney says with self-deprecating humor. "My new ideal boss would put me on a four-day workweek, with mandatory weekends and a two-week vacation once a year. No working past 8 o'clock at night. I need to figure out some way to get some quality back into my life. It can't all be about working."

In many countries, it isn't. Jim Goyjer, a native of the Netherlands who lives in Los Angeles, sees profound differences between Europeans and Americans in their attitudes toward work.

People in the United States define themselves by their work, says Mr. Goyjer, who is self-employed. "Europeans define themselves by hobbies and other things. Work is just a means."

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