In the words of my father, the business owner, “being stuck in a schedule is similar to being trapped in a labyrinth from hell.” Depending on a specific person, a scheduled routine may be appreciated, however it is not to all people. People rely on schedules to fulfill their priorities for the day, like actors following a script. Society presents the issue of becoming a puppet to a scheduled routine in an individual’s life. This topic raises great controversy towards the irony of the schedule controlling people, rather than the people controlling the schedule. Stephen Covey states, “The key is not to prioritize what is on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities” (Brainy). Workers are so preoccupied with their work and scheduled routine, that they miss out on their priorities. These priorities involve love and relationship, family, friends, and quality of life. In the films Office Space and Visioneers, work is portrayed as an inevitable part of life. However the films do not present a strong argument concerning the negative effects work has on its workers pertaining to their schedules and routines, which can lead to depression and stress.
Office Space is a film which illustrates the dread of the workplace through its characters. Peter Gibbons, the main character, despises the work system and is fed up with his bosses. He follows a day-to-day schedule involving the same routines which are; waking up early, getting stuck in traffic, being hassled by bosses, going home, watching television, and repeat. Schedules control the lives of individuals, rather than the individuals controlling the schedule. Following the schedule over and over again is unhealthy and can cause depression (Gomez 1). Depression causes people stress, sadne...
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...time, but also consumes a person’s will to dream. The workplace uses scape-goats to coerce a worker into feeling and believing in a certain way. Remain in charge of the schedule, and not become the helpless complier.
Works Cited
"Effects on Employees of Controlling Working Hours and Working Schedules." Kubo, T. Ebsco Host. 21 February, 2013.
"Schedule Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2014.
“Sitting at Work for Hours Can be as Unhealthy as Smoking.” Dr. Max Gomez, CBS. Demand Media, 20 January 2014.
“Effects of Work Load, Role Ambiguity, and Type A Personality on Anxiety, Depression, and Heart Rate” Dr. Caplan, Robert.” US American Psychology Association. December 1975.
“Office Space.” Mike Judge. Ron Livingston, Jennifer Anniston. 20th Century Fox, Dvd. 1999
“Visioneers.” Jared Drake. Zach Galifianakas, Judy Greer. Apothecary Films, Dvd. 2008
Marks, L. (2006). The Loss of Leisure in a Culture of Overwork. Spirit of Change Magazine.
Tim Kreider’s “The ‘Busy’ Trap” from The New York Times (June 30, 2012) explores the different worlds of both, the busy and the free. His article evaluates and persuades the American working class to stop for a second and reassess their constantly busy lifestyles. His knowledge comes from his own and other’s life experiences. Relating on a personal level, Kreider encourages his audience to recognize that being busy may make them feel important, but they are sacrificing all their valuable time life has given them. In fact, he influences them to think about how much stress their work is, and how it most likely won’t amount to anything. He does this through logos, providing personal anecdotes and common knowledge; ethos, demonstrating that he
Previous generations have a strong belief of keeping work and home life separate; that work is for work and home is for play (Rampell, 2011, para 21). Today’s professionals do not seem to abide by similar beliefs, constantly crossing the borders of one into the other. While many recognize this as an issue that could result in employees being less productive, it has actually resulted in them accepting that their work may run late into the evening or even into the weekend. I agree with this completely in that I grew up being taught that business is business and personal is personal; you leave your home life at the door. But now times have changed, and my weekends are no longer dedicated to my home life, but for work, because I attend classes during the week. Also, in my line of work in the Allied Health industry, it is a requirement to work off hours. Long gone are the days of working nine to five, Monday through Friday; technology and the demand of wanting affairs done and done as soon as possible, has made it so the “work week” is now 24-7. “Jon Della Volpe, the director of polling at Harvard Institute of Politics, said, ‘Some experts also believe that today’s young people are better at quickly switching from one task to another, given their exposure to so many stimuli during their childhood and adolescence’” (Rampbell,
Currently, human beings are thinking more on the line of they need work in order to make a living. For that reason, work has become meaningless, disagreeable, and unnatural. Many view work as a way to obtain money and not a meaningful human activity that one does for themselves. The author states that there are two reactions of the alienated and profoundly unsatisfactory character of the modern industrial work. One being the ideal of complete laziness and the other, hostility towards work. Fromm believes the reason why people have animosity regarding work is due to their unconscious mind. Subconsciously, a person has “a deep-seated, hostility towards work and all that is connected to it” says Fromm. I believe what Fromm is saying to be true, after all I witness it everyday. Millions of people each day goes to a work which they are dissatisfied with and that can negatively impact their attitude
...ter for obese individuals than for average weight individuals. The healthier workers are, the fewer medical services they use. The five leading causes of death in the U.S., heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes — are directly linked to unhealthy lifestyles. Clearly, encouraging healthful habits presents an opportunity to improve workers’ well being, reduce the need for medical services and help control costs.
The inability to achieve “work-life balance” has become a major focus for workplace equality activists. When this topic is brought about it is primarily used to describe how woman cannot have a work and home life but instead are forced to choose. Richard Dorment took on this point of interest from a different perspective in his article “Why Men Still Can’t Have It All” published with esquire. Going against the normal trend he describes how women are not the only ones put into the same sacrificial situations, but instead that men and women alike struggle to balance work and home. Dorment opens up by saying “And the truth is as shocking as it is obvious: No one can have it all.” In doing so Richard Dorment throws out the notion that one
Mike Rose describes his first-hand experience of blue collar workers in his monograph “Blue Collar Brilliance”. Patiently, he observed the cooks and waitresses whilst he waited for his mother’s shift to end. He noticed how his mother called out abbreviated orders, tag tables and so on. Mike Rose describes how his mother, Rosie, took orders whilst holding cups of coffee and removed plates in motion. Rose observed how her mother and other waiters worked and concluded that blue collar work “demands both body and brain” (Rose 274). He describes that Rosie devised memory strategies and knew whether an order was being delayed. She was assiduous in sequencing and clustering her tasks and solved any technical or human problem simultaneously. Managing
Daniel Orozco tells a short story of a regular orientation day by using elements of literary criticism to make fun at the workplace experience that we can relate to. “ Orientation” is like about five to ten minutes reading time, but with
“Office Space” is a comedy movie of a man who desperately hates his job and his boss. The movie begins with Peter Gibbon’s daily life story at Initech. At work, Peter has to deal with his indifferent boss, Bill Lumbergh, who doesn’t want to listen to his employee’s feedbacks. Lumbergh seems to be an ignorant and arrogant man who dictates his employee and doesn’t want to be blamed at all. Moreover, Lumbergh asks his employee to come to work on weekend. The atmosphere in the office is getting more intense after Lumbergh announced that Initech is bringing in consultants to increase the efficiency of the company. Peter was very frustrated with everything in the office and he felt that his life even more miserable with each passing day at work. The following day, he decided to come to see a hypnotherapist in order to help him to have more positive outlook on life. Before the hypnotherapist finishes his hypnotic therapy on Peter, he has a heart attack unexpectedly and then dies. However, Peter was still under the influence of hypnosis and fails to come back to his normal state. The next day, Peter sleeps all day long – he actually supposed to come to work – and ignores all calls from his boss. On Monday, Peter comes to the office to have an interview with the consultants. Here, still under the influence of hypnosis, Peter blatantly tells everything he felt about the company. He even tells the interviewers that he only stare at his desk – looks like he is working – for hours to spend his time at work. In the end of the interview, Peter says that actually he is not lazy, but he has a problem with motivation. Peter has eight different bosses who will come by if Peter makes mistakes, so the only motivation that Peter has is not to be hassle...
The first article that I read was “Work Pressure Demands more Downtime than a Fleeting Week Off.” It was a very interesting take on how the world that we live in can become a place of pressure and breakdowns. The workplace and the home place no longer exist. The people that this study was conducted on became a product of their work and could no longer separate themselves from it. According to “Work Pressure Demands more Downtime,” “A 13-year study of four cohorts of investment bankers illustrates the long-term costs of ignoring our bodies’ need for respite … Around year four, they started to break down from overwork. Eating disorders, tics, sleep disturbances, anxiety and depression were commonplace. Most of them responded by pushing harder
Unfortunately more often than not, stories punctuated by the line “I hate my job” have reached my ears. The reality of mankind’s tendency to be lazy and despise hard labor stands in complete opposition to the basic truth of the universe: we must work to survive and thrive. Luckily, in the economic system in place across nearly the entire globe, the jobs we assume not only provide us with a means of self-sufficiency, but a path to better ourselves. Each and every experience in our lives provides an opportunity for growth and advancement, a fact that is usually preached in a cliche “learn from your mistakes” or “get better every day” speech.
The problem of time management can be said to be universal not only affecting students but also other people in careers. This problem is seen to transition from a person’s life from different cadres of his or her engagement specifically from home, school and at work. It is also a problem that is internal and not external.
In the workplace, time management is an important factor in everyone’s day-to-day work. If a person’s time is well managed, it is possible to achieve a greater amount in a shorter space of time. How effectively people manage their time has a major influence on aspects of their working lives and their personal lives. Effective time management can have a hugely positive effect on a person, it can lead to a focused and disciplined mentality, giving a higher level of productivity, greater efficiency and an all round positive attitude in life. This benefits the individual, their team, the company they work for and also their friends and family. An example of this is an employee who prioritises their jobs at the start of the day; this gives them a structured day and ensures they have time to complete all of the important jobs. However, if time is poorly managed it can lead to inefficiencies, work overload and added pressure, this could eventually lead on to other issues such as stress.
Creek (1973) reported that subjective changes in the occupation make adjust mental issue among workers. The interpersonal connections inside of the office and between the divisions make subjective troubles inside of the association all things considered.
Maynard, W., & Brogmus, G. (2006). Safer shift work through more effective scheduling. Occupational health and safety, 16.