Time poverty. It’s a real thing.
Stress, burnout and neglected relationships are just a few of the symptoms, but ultimately today’s overworked, over scheduled and time-starved workforce threatens health, families, relationships and our communities.
It’s time to take stand! Join us in challenging this social trend of overwork by partaking in Take Back Your Time Day.
What is Take Back Your Time Day?
Take Back Your Time Day is a nationwide initiative that takes place annually on October 24th to bring attention to the epidemic of overwork in America. By encouraging workers to mindfully take back their time and celebrate their relationships, Take Back Your Time Day promotes work-life balance and takes a step toward restoring balance in our communities.
Why We Need to Take Back Our Time
- Job-related stress costs American business $300 billion a year (The American Institute of Stress)
- According to Gallup’s 2013 and 2014 Work and Education Survey, the average American workers clocks 47 hours a week
- Unhappy workers are 10 percent less productive (ultimately affecting your bottom line) (Office Vibe)
- Stress is the cause of more than 60 percent of illness and disease (American Psychological Association)
- 77 percent of people regularly experience physical symptoms caused by stress (Office Vibe)
- Chronically stressed workers make more mistakes, are less motivated, and don’t get along as well with coworkers (Health Advocate)
Why Employers Should Take Note
It’s important that work-life balance starts with your own company culture. Below are three fun ways you can help your employees celebrate freedom from overwork:
1. Free at Three. The greatest gift you can give your employees is time, so why not give them a little more? Let everyone leave a few hours early to go do whatever they’d like. To maximize the impact, enforce a no technology rule (no email, phones or television) and encourage everyone to share how they spent the afternoon at their next team meeting. You can also organize an optional event to get employees to relax together such as a company-wide hike, an afternoon at a bowling alley or a team happy hour.
2. Nap Room. That’s right we said it– treat your employees to a nice afternoon nap. According to the CDC, 41 million American workers get fewer than 6 hours of sleep per night. In addition to promoting stress and fatigue, sleep deprivation diminishes learning, memory, problem-solving skills, reaction time and increases the likeliness that employees will make errors and get into accidents.
Try converting one of your shared spaces into a nice, peaceful sleep sanctuary for the day (or even indefinitely!) and invite workers to sign up for 30-minute rest breaks. Want tips on how to set up a nap room? Check out these nap room tips.
3. Around the Table. Take Back Your Time Day was largely prompted by the recognition that our loved ones are often forced to take a back seat in today’s culture of overwork. To challenge this, the creators suggest celebrating by gathering around the table with loved ones for some good old-fashioned face time. Make this a reality by coordinating a game day or potluck. Invite employees to bring their loved ones to gather around the table with them for a meal or a round of their favorite board game.
What are YOU going to do when you take back your time?