You’ve heard the case against overly intense work culture ad nauseam. Professionals from all walks of life who don’t prioritize work-life balance risk burning out. From a business ROI standpoint, there’s no shortage of data to support the sentiment that amid the US’ ongoing burnout epidemic, the country’s workforce isn’t reaping the benefits of overwork.
According to data from TheGlobalEconomy.com, the US was only tenth in the world in GDP per hours worked in 2022. And from a public health standpoint, workplace stress — such as long hours, job insecurity and lack of work-life balance — contributes to at least 120,000 deaths each year, according to a 2015 study from Stanford University. That figure made work stress the fifth largest cause of death in the country at the time.
But if we’re so keenly aware of how we ought to be working, why aren’t we doing it? Perhaps it’s because despite the US’ status as the richest country in the world, 44% of all workers in the US, or 53 million people between the ages of 18 and 64, earn low hourly wages, according to a 2020 study by the Brookings Institution. The median hourly earnings for these workers is $10.22. According to Brigid Schulte, a former journalist and the current director of the Better Life Lab at New America and the Tuesday keynote at the International City/County Management Association’s 2024 Annual Conference, this amounts to an “increasingly greedy” culture where we expect total work devotion in exchange for low pay.
“In the last 10 years … in my reporting I found that knowledge workers are really expected to overwork in one job and hourly service, low wage workers … are expected to always be on the call, be available at the drop of a hat for any kind of shift,” Schulte said.
While most of the data Schulte and others have collected paints a grim picture of the US’ pre-pandemic work culture woes, she notes that much of that data is potentially even more relevant today as organizations of all types navigate a post-pandemic landscape where debate around returning to pre-pandemic work models is intensifying. She echoed a sentiment from John Howard, a former director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Howard believes that with hybrid and remote work now fully entrenched in many industries, the idea that we will return to work as it was in 2019 is a “myth” and that flexibility is here to stay.
However, in order for flexibility to remain sustainable, employers must think beyond location, encompassing choice in time and manner of work as well. Schulte emphasized the importance of acknowledging work-life conflict, where increasing work demands encroach on time for family, care and personal connection. She challenged the notion that care responsibilities are solely a women’s issue, citing a Harvard Business School survey that found three-quarters of workers across various industries have some form of care responsibility. However, the burden of unpaid care work still falls disproportionately on women. She noted that globally, women spend two to ten times more time on unpaid work than men, with Oxfam estimating the value of this work at $10 trillion annually.
Knowing that, what can we do? One thing Schulte suggested is to embrace the concept of “change agents,” or individuals and organizations that are not accepting the status quo and actively working towards transformative change. She shared the story of Corey Feist and the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, which is tackling the stigma around mental health treatment in the medical field, a critical issue in the face of the burnout epidemic. The concept of change agents also extends to the realm of hourly and service workers, who often face unpredictable schedules and volatile incomes. She highlights the story of workers in Oregon who came together to fight for fair and predictable schedules, leading to the state’s first-ever law guaranteeing such protections. She emphasized the importance of addressing the root causes of burnout, rather than relying on resilience strategies that merely treat the symptoms.
“We don’t need more resilient canaries, we need a new coal mine,” she said.
Another strategy she suggested is to emphasize the importance of pausing and managing one’s time and attention, calling them “our most precious resources.” She explained how our constant bustle and “going, going, going” can lead to “tunneling” – a phenomenon where our vision narrows, and our IQ actually drops, preventing us from seeing the bigger picture. She encouraged the audience to embrace the power of rest and daydreaming, citing the example of J.K. Rowling, who, as a researcher at Amnesty International, had a breakthrough on the Harry Potter plot while simply gazing out the window on a train.
“Can you imagine what the world would have lost if she had spent that time plowing through her inbox?” Schulte asked.
Schulte also encouraged the audience to challenge the deeply ingrained belief that the “more we work, the better we are” – a notion that often leads to rewarding those who engage in “Iron Man” levels of work, regardless of the actual productivity or quality of their output. Schulte cites research showing that happy, healthy workers actually do better work, and that diverse teams are smarter and more effective. She introduced the concept of “stupid work” – the tasks and activities that do not directly contribute to the core purpose of an organization or individual’s work. She encouraged the audience to examine their own work and that of their teams, identifying the “concentric circles” of core work, work around the work, and the “performance of work” – the latter being the activities that are often prioritized solely for the sake of appearances.
She also delved into the importance of creating a culture of well-being, with a focus on gender-neutral design and policies. She shared the story of a law firm that adopted a paid family leave policy as the default, rather than requiring employees to request it – a move that significantly increased the number of men taking leave and contributed to a more equitable work environment. Another important strategy Schulte emphasized was intentional scheduling, including the concept of “anchor days” and “focus days” in hybrid work settings.
That strategy complements experimentation and a willingness to innovate when it comes to work redesign, noting that “there is no one right way to work.” Schulte highlighted the three key elements of successful work redesigns: reducing demands, increasing control and increasing support. She urged the audience to focus on measuring output rather than input, and to gather data and feedback from their teams to inform ongoing improvements.
Schulte concluded by emphasizing the importance of giving oneself permission to play, rest and have time off. She challenged the notion that productivity and meaning are solely tied to work, citing the Greek philosophy that the “whole point of life is to have time for those great arenas of life.” Schulte shares the story of the Time Packer Challenge at the Washington Post, where participants struggled to give themselves permission to engage in joyful and restorative activities. Breaking free from the “if/then” mindset – the belief that one must first complete all work before allowing themselves to play – is crucial for achieving true work-life balance and well-being.
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