|
Living more than 25 miles away from work can seriously have a detrimental impact on all aspects of your life. So what can you do to ease this burden? ANNE DEMPSEY reports. The late Fine Gael TD Oliver Flanagan once famously remarked there was no sex in Ireland before the Late Late Show. Now it seems to be gone again at least between Monday and Friday, particularly in dual-career households. In his role as a recruitment consultant, Niall McAllister may sound like an unlikely commentator on our social mores. But from his analysis of how travel and work stress is affecting our lives, he has drawn some inevitable conclusions. “Young, working couples who have to commute over 25 miles into work are not having sex midweek because they are too tired, and there’s no time for it. They’re having sex dates at the weekend and on holidays. People are having more sex in their holidays than at any other time in the year,” he says. Evidence of seasonal sex is also borne out by recent surveys that suggest most children in the Western world are born in spring, which means conception did indeed take place in the more balmy, leisured days of summer. Niall McAllister is managing director of Acument Recruitment with offices in Wicklow and Waterford who fill company vacancies in the south east from junior staff up to general manager level across a broad range of expertise. They also have a consultancy arm, advising companies how to hold the staff they have. This could mean helping companies to modernise an outdated corporate culture, become more competitive and, above all, be open and attentive to the issues that inhibit staff performance and well being. The stress of travelling to and from work is, he says, a huge issue for a growing number of Irish employees, an issue that management ignore at their peril. “People leave their houses at half six in the morning and are not sure of being into work on time for 9am. They start thinking about work the night before and are living around the clock. “Firms have automatic time control systems used with swipe cards, which give an effective record of time-keeping for payroll purposes. It’s noticed if you’re late, and you may receive warnings. As a nation, many of us are deeply disquieted at being late. Employees see such warnings as a personal blemish. “But being late can be outside our control, as you can leave on time and still be late. This lack of control, the experience of taking 50 minutes to travel two miles on any approach road into Dublin or most of our cities at rush hour and with nothing you can do about it, is deeply stressful.” Employers should note that arriving at work already traumatised will affect productivity in a number of ways. The hapless employees may need time to settle down before they can concentrate on the work in hand. They may feel negative and be so perceived by workmates. Niall McAllister has an ally in the shape of Cary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology and health. In Ireland recently to discuss workplace stress, Professor Cooper suggested that Ireland’s espousal of US workplace style has also brought us high levels of US-style stress with consequent damage to relationships and family life. Work and travel stress is now a recognised issue in Japan, leading to lifestyle-related premature death. A company’s recipe for success, says Niall McAllister, includes being open to continuous change; meeting with staff on a regular basis; listening to what they have to say, finding other ways of listening such as installing suggestion boxes for staff comments and ideas; being aware of the issues that affect staff welfare, such as the time commute issue, and being flexible in responding to them. “Staff will not go to management on key issues and say they are unhappy if they are afraid of losing their job, and it’s often only at the exit interview that you may hear why people are leaving. “But, ideally, you should be evolving a company style where staff will feel free to talk as issues arise. Some of your best resource people in terms of evaluating your performance in the market place are your own staff.” As an employee, how can you help yourself? He suggests you need to rethink, re-evaluate and reorganise for a whole new you. Rethink “Evaluate what impact commuting to and from work is having in every area of your life and work. As I’ve said, your marriage/relationship may be seriously affected. At a 25-mile radius, if you leave work at half-five, the earliest you will be home will be 7.15pm. “You’re ready to wind down, you’re tired, hungry and you may want to be left alone. If your wife is a full-time mother, she will want someone to talk to. “It’s been found that men have the ability to speak 11,000 words a day, while women are able to speak twice that amount. “By the time you come home, you may have spent all you’re words, but she still has loads to say and may want you to talk to her. Knowing this, you may stop on the way home for a quiet pint. Now you’re not coming in the gate till 8.15, and young children will probably already be in bed. When do you see them? “So it’s after eight o’clock, you have your meal, you’re tired, you know you probably have to be up at 5.30/6am to leave at 6.30am, so you’ll want to go to bed and sleep.” He believes that people may be unaware of how broad the impact is when travel takes up more than centre stage in our lives. “Every area of your life can be affected by this, social life, sex life, personal relationships, contact with children, everything.” Re-evaluate “Ask yourself this: ‘If I were not doing what I’m doing now, would I start it up again today, knowing what I know now?’ When people realise they are spending up to four hours a day travelling, getting up 90 minutes earlier than they need and thereby depriving themselves of many hours of living time, they may realise the need to think things through. “A huge number of the people we see say they drifted into their current job. Only about 15pc of the people we interview are focused on what they want and how to go and get it.” There may be the option of changing jobs, going on flexitime to avoid commuting at rush hour, working from home part or full ime. Re-evaluating your position can help you to set your goals. Re-organise Whether staying in your present job, or planning to move, a new look at your day can help you to meet the goals you’ve set. Niall McAllister uses a priority planning approach. “The A list is the must dos; if I don’t do these things, there will be serious consequences. This morning, I had to write recruitment ads for the Manchester and London newspapers, so I asked for all calls to be held till this was done. “The B list includes the things I should do, such as administration, and if you leave these things He believes that good use of the A and B list can help people achieve a better balance between home and work life. “You may find your employer will be more flexible on what time you should start and finish if you can demonstrate to him/her that you can get things done faster. I know if someone marched into me and said: ‘I have decided I need to be there for my kids at 7.15 every evening, and this is how I propose to do it and manage my work’, I would be very impressed. “A lot of office time is wasted with people being unnecessarily disturbed in their work and thereby losing concentration, being busy doing nothing or duplicating tasks. Most managers are open to the idea of working with staff in solving problems, particularly if they come in with some creative ideas themselves.” If we treat home and work as one entity, like Niall suggests, we will all benefit by doing something each day we like to do, such as taking a break at lunchhour. “I enjoy golf and would have five or six holes on the way home from work. It only takes 45 minutes. It’s about making your own choices. Taking more control of life from Monday to Friday means that Saturday and Sunday will be fuller too. “For example, if you’ve found time to cut the grass and have the car washed during the week, this can leave you freer at weekends to do what you want to do, instead of replacing a set of office chores with home-based ones.” Including, of course, spending more time with ‘er indoors for a spell of sweet nothings. X-24 RAZR X 712 AP2 This article is from http://www.topgolfstar.com/ More online golf clubs at http://www.topgolfstar.com/
Related Articles -
X-24, RAZR X, 712 AP2,
| 
