Late Sitting

“LOVE YOUR JOB BUT NEVER LOVE YOUR COMPANY (because you never know when it stops loving you)”. This is closing note of a speech given by Infosys' Chairman and Chief Mentor Officer (CMO) - Mr. Narayana Murthy. I came across it while looking for some material on people giving extra hours to their work place. Surprisingly, there is not much on this topic available online. This article is an effort to discuss an issue which haunts professionals on daily basis. Unfortunately, this cannot be done without being a skunk in a garden party for which I apologize in advance. Institutionalization It seems that this phenomenon of late sitting has been institutionalized deep enough in organizational culture such that it is not viewed as an anomaly anymore. In fact, things are other way around and people not willing to sit late are viewed as the odd ones. Here, definition of an “institution” is also worth mentioning. Institutions are defined as “stable patterns of behavior that are recognized and valued by society". We have evidence that outcry about corporate culture being overwhelmingly supportive to this institute of “Late Sitting”. Costs for an individual attached to late sitting In this era of the corporate rise, the "white collar" jobs expect longer hours for less pay and increasingly people are expected to "volunteer" time. Work-life balance is something they are really struggling with and the issue is not under control by any means. People are putting in longer hours on the job and taking fewer vacation days. Whether such phenomenon reflects their anxiety or a stronger work ethic, one should worry about the physical and psychological ramifications. First of all one has to establish if there really is some cost attached to putting in extra hours at work. Studies on job stress and health have suggested that chronic stress, particularly among those workers with high demands but little decision-making power (that sounds familiar) can double the risk of heart disease. Another study equates stress with high level of a protein that can lead to ailments such as type 2 diabetes. Some psychiatrists fear that such culture has created a situation where people build their whole identities around their jobs. 'These days, people belong to nothing.... Work is the one thing they do.' They are irresistibly right. Professionals DO NOT seem to have a life at all these days.

Is there a flaw in the system? It just shouldn't be like that. The problem is that employers want workers who'll always be there. They're like those awful college professors who believe their class is the only one you're taking and assign more reading/papers than it is humanly possible to complete. Equally, employers want workers to spend all their time on work. An ideal employee in their eyes would be the one who pops into office and come back when his wife divorces him, his children are grown up and don't care about him anymore, and his weight is up around 290... Lucky for the employers and thanks to the so called free market dynamics and its unchecked supply and demand principles that people with such generally accepted professional behavior come in abundant supplies whether they like it or not. Problem arises when people don't work really hard because they want to, but because they feel pressured to, especially when they feel pressured to work unpaid overtime because their bosses tell them that it's "very important", and don't take vacation because their bosses tell them that it's "not a good time". This phenomenon is just a simple observation of the mere facts. Most of the people go to work daily dreaming that the day to be a simple 8 hours working day which turns into a nightmare when they are asked yet another day to sit late. Most of the times, they face “my way or the highway” attitude from their superiors at the wok place. How can one be in love with such job??? Ironically, we still find people doing such jobs with lowest possible levels of motivation. They feel like selling themselves short and getting exploited which is right in a way. The institution of late sitting is a profound channel to rob employees’ time, dignity, even their identities as human beings. No wonder people are now called human “resources” which objectifies them and makes them vulnerable to the corporations as any other resource. So we are living in an era where artificial juridical persons (corporations) are able to treat real persons as objects by labeling them as resources. Is there an element of reciprocity?? This kind of problem might also contain an element of reciprocity from the people being affected by this phenomenon. Bertrand Russell felt that a lack of leisure time, because of the morality of work, which he calls the "morality of slaves", stripped people of the best things in life, namely the opportunity to develop themselves as humans and to participate beneficially in society. In his well-known essay “In Praise of Idleness” he notes: “Leisure is essential to civilization, and in former times leisure for the few was only rendered possible by the labors of the many. But their labors were valuable, not because work is good, but because leisure is good. And with modern techniques it would be possible to distribute leisure justly without injury to civilization....”

Though Russell's essay is somewhat outdated, his principles are still valid, especially in light of computer and internet technologies which he could scarcely have imagined in 1932. What he presented here are demerits, from a very secular point of view, of having less time to relax and reflect on whatever a person does for a living. One gets desensitized gradually due to this ramping exposure to an extremely materialistic approach. So here starts a chain reaction. People who are themselves exploited, robbed and objectified by the system reciprocate by providing raw materials for this system by adopting it, running it and even enhancing it to unconceivable limits. Cure So what are the solutions to this problem? The answer is that no one knows the exact answer. One can just suggest some diversions from the stable patterns on which this institution of late sitting has been formed. The most important thing is to get a person out of a complete desensitized emotional state and to get intact with the human aspect of life once again. There are certain factors such as peer pressure, the cutthroat competition and a worldly, materialistic approach that play an important part in getting a person desensitized to the level of extreme apathy. Mr. Murthy, in his speech suggests encouraging people to put some balance in their lives. He suggests following guidelines as well: “ 1) Wake up, eat a good breakfast, and go to work. 2) Work hard and smart for eight or nine hours. 3) Go home. 4) Read the comics, watch a funny movie, dig in the dirt, play with your kids, etc. 5) Eat well and sleep well. This is called recreating. Doing steps 1, 3, 4, and 5 enable step 2. Working regular hours and recreating daily are simple concepts. They are hard for some of us because that requires personal change. They are possible since we all have the power to choose to do them.” These things suggested by Mr. Narayana Murthy can be regarded as a good start. People are in desperate need of reminding themselves and their superiors to go “GET A LIFE” and to value things that life has to offer other that their jobs, especially the things they will be worried about on our death beds.

References: http://www.whereincity.com/articles/self-improvement/5063.html http://www.ouchh.com/Articles/articles/27/1/Late-Sitting/Page1.html