Hustle
The dude pictured above is a hustler and I found him in a Facebook lawn care group. He loves working seven days a week and that’s all I know about him. I’m not sure if he’s addicted to lawn care or behind on child support payments.
And I totally understand him. Earlier this spring, I went seven weeks without a day off. Not because I was bored; there was plenty of extra work from motivated clients and my kids needed new bikes and braces.
(One day I hope to find out why braces are so outrageously expensive).
Work less, save your life
So, it was with interest that I read a New York Times editorial from May 30, 2021 titled: Working less can save lives. The story reviewed a new report published jointly by the World Health Organization and the International Labor Organization.
If you don’t have time to finish reading this post, then just take this conclusion before you leave: working 55 hours or more per week is a “serious health hazard”.
The report then lists some ugly stats about deaths related to long working hours. People die from overwork, especially in Southeast Asia; and long hours at work are linked to strokes and fatal heart disease. Interestingly, the effect lasts into retirement, years after the workers put in long hours.
It gets worse
With many people teleworking under the current covid pandemic, many are becoming workaholics because now they’re available all day and the lines between work and home get blurry.
In Japan, “karoshi” or death from overwork is old news. People are pushed and pushed in a competitive environment; and company comes first, family second. No wonder young Japanese girls don’t want to get married. They never see their husbands because they leave home early and arrive late.
No vacations
While many Americans don’t use their vacation time, I do my best to use up the three weeks I am entitled to. Just last week I took two days off so I could take my son mountain biking in Whistler. Of course, five straight hours of riding ski lifts and bombing down the mountain left me exhausted. But still, it was nice to go missing for two weekdays.
The report goes on to say that both the poor and the rich work long hours in America. The poor have to make ends meet and the rich know they will be rewarded for their long days. Rich Americans show off by working long hours.
“People work long hours because so much is at stake: the ability to obtain health insurance, to buy a home or send kids to good schools”.
I totally agree. We have health insurance in British Columbia but housing prices are astronomical and the cost of education isn’t far behind. So, yes, I will be monitoring my work hours but I won’t stop doing side-gigs anytime soon.
I get to help real clients, practice my trade, and collect extra cash on top of my regular, day-job pay. I even turn my side-gig adventures into blog posts.
Conclusion
The editorial concludes that “putting limits on working hours is a matter of life and death“. The poor must work to survive; and the rich must count the costs of long working hours, not just the benefits.
The lawn care hustler we met at the beginning of this post should also count the costs of his seven days a week hustle. I’m sure he has a good reason for hustling so much, just like I do.
Now that my son has a new mountain bike and my daughter is getting braces, I can afford to slow down a bit and do more blogging.
