A Good Read

Sefl-help, Self-discovery, and Self-fun Books

Take Back Your Time: Fighting Overwork and Time Poverty in America by John de Graaf

Did you know that Americans work a full 9 weeks a year more than their European counterparts? And according to a recent report in USA Today, nearly 50% of middle managers are so exhausted and disgruntled with their jobs that they are either actively looking for a position with another company, or are intending to do so. If it were a disease, overwork and exhaustion would be considered an epidemic, and the CDC would be looking for a vaccine.

While not precisely a vaccine, Take Back Your Time, edited by John de Graaf, is a series of provocative and controversial essays examining the causes, costs, and potential solutions to this issue. Published as a handbook for the Take Back Your Time Day initiative, this book was written to increase the awareness of the problem and to start people talking.

You won't agree with everything in this book; in fact, the authors don't want you to. But it's fascinating reading, dealing with a serious problem that is rampant in this country. And I certainly agree with the underlying premise of the book: we need to work to live, and not live to work.