Balancing Work With Kids.

Yesterday’s Momtrepreneur Meetup was fantastic.  I’m still in awe of the fact that there are 100+ momtrepreneurs in my hometown alone!

Lots of discussion was to be had regarding work/life balance.  It appeared that particularly for the moms with older children, finding time to work and also being able to spend quality time with the kids is a particularly hard struggle.

Then, this morning, I received an email from my current favorite — Wisebread.  I’ll paste clips of this article about how little time is spent removing oneself from work, something I think is worth evaluating in our efforts to find that balance.

*The Center for Economic and Policy Research calls the U.S. the No Vacation Nation. In a 2007 study, they determined that the U.S. is the only advanced economy in the world that doesn’t guarantee paid vacation for employees. That means you can take a job, work your 40 (or more) hours a week, and it’s considered a bonus to be given paid vacation time.

*According to the Expedia survey, people who don’t take their vacation time do so for several reasons. They hope to receive compensation for unused time, they have a hard time planning ahead or their partner can’t travel during the same time period. What’s worse? One in five respondents admitted to canceling a vacation because of work.

*Americans may take less vacation, but are they really more efficient than their European colleagues? Figures from the World Economic Forum certainly show the US remains the world’s most competitive country. Yet other data, including countries’ GDP per hours worked, reveal Europe still gives America a run for its money. That means many parts of the Old World are at least as productive as the US, if not more, with the added bonus of up to eight weeks off a year.

*So why are Americans more committed to their jobs than to themselves? You may know — or be — one of these people if you have heard them say they don’t have time to work out or eat well because of their work schedule.

*Do we accept extra work being dumped on us because the company is laying people off and we consider ourselves lucky to have any work at all?  Are we working all those extra hours to pay off our consumer debt?

The full article is here.