Been on Blogging Hiatus

Are any of you still around??? I've been taking a break from doing much blogging because I've needed to put my energy elsewhere and I think the project I'm working on is coming along very well. I will write about it in the coming weeks once it is released.

I'm in a Toastmaster's Speech contest tonight! I won the club contest, so now I'm in the area contest which is amongst all the Alameda clubs. My topic tonight is about Time Famine. The inspiration of which was inspired by the high value I give to time and how much I devote to family, work, friends and myself. See these stats for yourself: (courtesy of Tim Ferriss' 4 Hour Work Week Blog)

The USA vs. the World
Average Annual Vacation Days
Italy 42
France 37
Germany 35
Brazil 34
Britain 28
Canada 26
Japan 25
USA 13

Is it any wonder that US Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks just about everything but worker satisfaction?

Americans work 137 more hours per year than Japanese workers, 260 more hours per year than British workers, and 499 more hours per year than French workers.

The Japanese document approximately 10,000 cases per year of "death by overwork," or karoosh.

Considering the above stats, what must the undocumented US numbers be??

The US is the only nation in the industrialized world with no minimum paid-leave laws. European law provides each worker with 4-5 weeks per year of paid-leave.
Nonetheless, Europe has had a higher productivity rate than the U.S. for 14 out of the 19 years between 1981 and 2000. More just isn’t better.

Unending Workweek Growth and Burnout
Compared to 1970, American managers are working an additional month per year.

Americans are working more hours than any time since the 1920s. 63% of Americans log more than 40 hours per week at the office, and 40% log more than 50 hours per week.

Turnover rates among mid-level associates in New York City law firms is 36%. The entire system is predicated on burnout.

62% of workers routinely end the day with work-related neck pain, 44% report strained eyes, 38% complain of hand pain, and 34% report difficulty in sleeping due to work-related stress.

In total hours, the average middle-income family works four months more than in 1979.

People work approximately 8 weeks longer per year than in 1969—in the space of a single generation—but for roughly the same income (after adjusting for inflation).

40% of employees work overtime or bring work home with them at least once a week.

Work-Life Imbalance and the Disappearing Family
57% of the class of 1999 graduating business students in 11 countries said that attaining work-life balance is their top career goal.

32% percent of workers cited work-life balance as the top priority in their careers, followed by job security at 22% and competitive salary at 18%.

How are they actually doing?
88% of employees say they have a hard time juggling work and life.

70% of working fathers and working mothers report they don’t have enough time for their children.

64% of Americans report that time pressures on working families are getting worse, not better