January 4, 2005 9:19 AM

Gone fishing (or at least on sabbatical)
Posted by Diane Danielsonat 9:19 AM

Perhaps a few more of us need to put a "gone fishing" sign on our doors, cubes, home offices, etc. and take some time off from our over-hectic work schedules. The Philadelphia Inquirer writes about why stressed out working women can benefit from taking a sabbatical.

Patti Clark, a Bucks County career coach, says that many of the women executives and business owners she works with are always on the clock, whether they are at the office or not. "These women don't go to lunch. They don't even go to the bathroom," she says.

The problem is particularly acute for working parents. According to a Families and Work Institute study, two-income couples with children worked 10 more hours per week in 2002 than their 1977 counterparts. Of the college-educated employees surveyed by the organization, 80 percent said they would like to decrease the number of hours that they work.

At the same time, Americans don't even take the time off they've got coming to them. A 2003 survey by Expedia.com found that employees annually give up $21 billion in unused vacation days.

"Americans are working harder and longer than any other people in the industrialized world," says Shelia Wellington, professor of management at New York University's Stern School of Business and former president of Catalyst, a research organization that focuses on women. "And the technology revolution has become a two-headed monster, as cell phones and e-mail continue to erode personal time."

It's not just the wrung-out workers who are paying the price. Job stress costs an estimated $300 billion a year to U.S. businesses, according to a study by the American Stress Institute.

This blogger just wants to know if the fact that my "sabbatical" has now reached 2.5 years, does it still count as a sabbatical?

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