Extreme Work

Forget extreme sports, the phrase of the week is extreme jobs, coined by the Hidden Brain Drain Task Force of the Center for Work-Life Policy. Extreme jobs demand 60 hours a week, and they meet five of a list of ten elements, like deadlines, fast pace, responsibility for profit and loss, lots of travel, and lots of work events outside normal business hours. Thanks for the report on these by Lisa Belkin, "Putting in the Hours and Paying a Price," in her NYT column Life's Work, a favorite of mine. These jobs are "the American Dream on steroids" and it goes without saying that they're especially hard for parents and kids. This new report pushes the business world to consider what's lost when it pushes people to work this hard. It also acknowledges the thrill of these jobs: money, interesting colleagues, excitement. Can someone figure out how to get us exciting jobs in twenty-five hour-a-week packages? I know tons of men and women looking for them. Life's Work reports on another report also issued recently, by Catalyst, the organization that pushes businesses to expand opportunities for women at work. They've done great work in raising issues about mothers and all parents in the workforce. Their new report is available as a download from their website, is about Parental Concern about After-School Time, or pcast, admittedly is not a very catchy acronym. It's important, though. I know so many mothers, in particular, and some single dads, too, who work at lower paying jobs so they can have the flexibility to pick their kids up at school and avoid paying for aftercare. And, I know moms and dads who  spend lots of time organizing playdates, pickups, shuffling their time, and basically worrying their way through what to so with their kids after school, since they work till 5 or 6. Not good for moms and dads, and we all know that worry isn't good for kids either. So yay for Catalyst's attempt to publicize this problem, and for their proposed solution, more scheduling flexibility and as they call it, "the agile workplace." Well, reporting on this sends me back to my own agile workplace, also known as a desk in an unheated cubbyhole at the top of my house, and back to a long to-do list to complete before the babysitter leaves in two hours. On my agenda once the work is done: planning a one-year celebration of our baby. Can't believe we've had her for twelve months already. Birthday parties are not my most favorite parenting activity. They make me nervous, and I haven't had the time to figure out why. This time around, let's hope it's different.