...(SHE SAID'S Amongst us, posted on November 28, 2009)
followed by a comment from "D, S,-In Michigan, I am reminded of an article that I had on the list to write, a few months back.
The article is called, "I COME AND I GO".
In light of all the unwanted and unnecessary crap that happens on jobs like gossip, rumor spreading etc., etc.. and how that affects the work atmosphere, I was inspired to write about this very popular, but unspoken philosophy. Since I've written articles about the damage that rumors, gossip, tattle telling (un-righteous tattling), misery and an abuse of power can cause, I've gotten some interesting feedback! In case you missed those articles, they can be found in my archive section under these headings and dates:
"ON THE JOB"-TATTLE TALES posted on September 16, 2009:,
"ON THE JOB- 2 FACED CO-WORKERS August 18, 2009
"Meetta Talks"-RUMORS PART 1, October 22, 2009, part 2 October 25, 2009, part 3 & 4 October 27, 2009 and Lastly, Part 5 posted on October 31, 2009
Yes! Bloggers, faithful readers of my columns, some of you have shared your feelings about how certain things on the job, OTHER THAN, the job has both positively and negatively, affected your work experience! It is important to investigate BECAUSE the average person spends almost half of their lifetime outside of the home, working! I actually sat down to crunch the numbers! The average person DOES NOT WORK 40 hour weeks! I saw something on the world news earlier this year where they talked about this. It seems normal that many of Americas households have at least one person holding down 2 jobs. Many others have 1 person working
2 jobs, but are also going to school or have another side gig, like selling insurance, delivering pizzas, telephone books or cleaning offices.
Right now, just off the top of my head, I can name at least 8 people I know personally that fit into this category!
How much time would you say that an average working person spends in their work environment and necessary time spent in preparation for work? Let's crunch the numbers, shall we? It is 24 hours in a day @ 7 days per week (24x7). That is 168 hours. Let's break down the hours in a daily form. The average amount of sleep for working people is 6 hours
(again, another program, "Are we getting enough sleep in America?" or something like that!) So, 24-6=18. Now let's subtract approximately 5 hours per day, for preparation for work and travel time to and from work! 18-5-13.
I know it takes me at least 3 hours commute both ways each work day! There are millions of commuters just like myself whether they drive, take the the bus, trams or subways, depending on where you live! Especially, if you have family duties to attend to in the morning!
Which millions of people do! Get yourself ready, get the kids ready, walk the dog etc..
Also, a very large number of working people DO NOT live near their jobs.
That number spans into the millions as well!
So, now we're at 13 hours left in the day and we have only reviewed sleep, preparations and commuting time for work! Out of 13 hours remaining, for the average worker, 8 of them are spent actually being clocked in to work. 13-8= 5. WOW! only 5 hours left in the day and all we did was subtract sleep hours, preparation for work (bathing, getting dressed etc.), commuting time and actual average work hours! The average worker in America spends between a 1/3 up to 1/2 of their lives working, preparing for work or dealing with work related matters EVEN AFTER WORKING HOURS! So do you see, Reader how this is equating! 5 hours left to perform personal functions like grocery shop, spend time maintaining relationships, walking the dog, working on projects FOR WORK while you're home, going to class etc., etc. Days off work aren't really days off work! There is SO MUCH of life to cram between those hours. The average working person in America, for whatever reason, is not prone to taking regular vacations to wind down, if you will. 5 hours. Hmm!
Reader, I'm doing all of this to show you why the atmosphere we create at work IS VERY important in how conducive it is to helping us manage either positively or negatively our EVERY DAY LIFE AND HEALTH! If a great percentage of our lives is spent in a negative environment, how do you think that is going to affect the individual and the businesses they work for, overall?
For all the hours people put in at work, you would think more working people would be aware of the importance of creating and striving towards establishing positive work environments! Yeah! In the 80's many companies began to put in fitness centers, baby daycare, extend maternity leave or what have you! Most companies or businesses DO NOT HAVE extra curricular activities available for their workers! Yeah! Someone on the job may host baby showers, retirement parties etc.. or a Christmas party (one party out of the year for all employees) But that doesn't qualify as proper releases from the trials of the EVERYDAY PROCESSES OF WORKING!
When you consider ALL that working people do, whether it directly servicing other people (maneuvering your way through a variety of personalities as successfully as you can, dealing with the public is NO JOKE!) making the deals, running offices, managing paperwork, schedules and employees, finances and then you add the human side of things. You add thoughts of family responsibility, juggling personal appointments (doctor visits), school meetings, keeping tabs
on your teenagers, paying the bills, maintaining healthy spiritual lives, healthy relationships/ friendships,...you see it's already ENOUGH! Then when you add even more ingredients into the mixture (that is life) including certain hostilities on the job like, hurtful gossip,
Un-wanted interest in other peoples personal business and conversations, bully bosses, miserable co-workers...
YOU KNOW...IT GETS TO BE A BIT MUCH!
It gets to be a problem on the job, so much so, that in fact many people end up wanting more OUT SIDE OF WORK! Many end up "re-assessing" their lives and the purpose for it". Often times, that 're-assessing of ones' life' leads to growing out and away from the atmosphere of their current positions. They start to seeking different opportunities wanting more out of life for their troubles of having to live in a world with SO MUCH un-wanted stuff! People like this tend to take on tougher and thicker skins. Their philosophies about working and dealing with certain environments, begin to change. NOW, in comes the philosophy....
"I COME, DO MY JOB, BE PLEASANT WHILE I'M THERE...AND I GO HOME!''
SEE YOU NEXT TIME for part 2..."ON tHE jOB!"
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