ChapterSeven.Work Life: Oxymoron No Longer

Chapter Seven. Work Life: Oxymoron No Longer

It is 3 P.M. and you are at the office. You start a conference call on your cell phone, go to your car, and proceed to drive home, perfectly multitasking, giving your employer your travel time as work time. In return, your employer lets you greet little Johnny as he gets off the bus. The call finishes up at 3:50 P.M. and you have 10 minutes until your next appointment. If you were at work, a fellow employee (likely) might distract you during this time. Instead, you use these 10 minutes to season the roast and toss it into the oven alongside large Idaho potatoes. Slow cook at 300B0 for 2 hours; after all, there is now no rush.

The 5 P.M. call is moving along normallya typical irate customer and you instant message back and forth with your boss and fellow co-workers deciding to discount the customer's next order and pushing them ahead in the delivery queue. Around 5:45, still on the call, the new soccer schedule comes across your computer and you realize that there is a field conflict. You spend the next 5 minutes composing several e-mails to various team parents and soccer officials straightening out the near catastrophe. The call has now ended, and you get up to get something to drink.

Question: Were you working?

Answers:

(A) Yes

(B) No

(C) Not sure

If you answered C (not sure), you are in the ever-increasing group of people who have seen their work lives blend with their personal lives to the point of being confused about what and where is work.