A No-Vacation Nation?

Recent studies have shown that America is on its way to becoming a “no-vacation nation.”  In "Save the American Vacation" from takebackyourtime.org, Jack Dickey points out that in 2013, only 19% of American workers used all their accrued vacation time and 3.2 vacation days per worker were left unused on average.  Essentially, according to Dickey, Americans “did $52.4 billion worth of work that year for free…”

Research has suggested that happier employees make happier companies.  Even among the responders who did take a vacation, many reported that they still engaged in work activities during their time off.  The questions must be raised: Are we becoming a nation of workaholics, and how will the effects of working ourselves so hard affect our future as a society?  Is work becoming a central time in more peoples’ lives?  Are more people able to work remotely, and if so, does this make us more inclined to work even when away from the office?

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Working a Job or Following a Passion

Do you view work as just a job or are you lucky enough to follow your passion?  In a recent article, Jason Powers, M.D., asserts that following your passion is a brave choice that pays back over the years with increased happiness and better health.

Powers references a controversial TED talk, Why You Will Fail to Have a Great Career, by economics professor Larry Smith.  As Smith later said, “We’re all worse for it if the person who should be an actor isn’t, or the person who should be an accountant isn’t.”  Following your passion isn’t just a smart career move; it leads to greater fulfillment and an increased sense of purpose.  Melding your passion into your career may not be the easiest task, but is worth it in the long run.  As Larry Smith wrote, “Some passions may afford a career and some may not.  But look for another passion.  Keep searching.  Don’t live for the weekend and hope that you can golf enough to get you through another week.”

Powers shares the experience of being chastised by a friend for “not bringing more cowbell,” referencing the classic Saturday Night Live sketch with Will Ferrell.  In other words, in order to make our work important and bearable, we must bring the maximum amount of character strengths and passion for life that we possess.  As many of us will be working later into our golden years, it is vital that we rekindle our professional passions and find our niche in the workforce.

Have you made the choice to follow your passion at work?

How can we follow our passion and still pay the bills?

Should we encourage young people to follow their passion when selecting a career?

Driving Us Crazy: How Long Commutes Decrease Employee Productivity

Many factors drive workers’ productivity.  Recent research from the U.K.’s Office of National Statistics found that people with a commute of 45 minutes or longer reported feeling less satisfaction in their lives and higher rates of anxiety.  They also rated their daily activities as less worthwhile than those who travel shorter distances to work.   The average worker spends five weeks per year commuting, which demonstrates that our daily commutes impact our everyday lives both in and outside of the workplace.  

The mode of travel utilized for commuting to work has a significant impact on how employees felt about their commutes.  Individuals who took the bus to work reported much lower levels of satisfaction with their lives than their non-commuting peers.  Those who took a train reported higher levels of anxiety.  Additionally, studies have shown that employees with long commutes cut healthful activities out of their lives, allowing exercise, sleep, and preparing fresh food to fall by the wayside.

Higher levels of stress can likewise increase individuals’ dissatisfaction with their jobs, which can lead to greater staff turnover.  As employees work with unhappy coworkers, they may internalize these feelings and choose to leave the company themselves.  A vicious cycle begins with decreased productivity among employees as staff turnover lowers the amount of productivity even further.

Should companies offer other options for employees with a long commute?
Can workers overcome the negative impact of long commutes through their own stress-relief practices?

What do you do personally to improve the experience of commuting?

Costa Rica- Leading the Renewable Energy Movement

 Costa Rica has managed an incredible ecological feat – it has been able to produce all of its electricity from renewable resources for 75 days straight!  So far in 2015, the country has not had to rely on burning fossil fuels to supply the grid with electricity.  To date, no other country has been able to rely strictly on renewable resources for its energy consumption for this long a stretch of time.

Costa Rica has been able to accomplish this milestone largely due to the fact that heavy rains have allowed its hydroelectric power stations to produce a bumper crop of electricity, which has led to almost all of their 2015 energy demands being met.  The remainder of the country’s grid requirements have been met through the use of wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal energy programs. Costa Rica has been committed to the use of greener energy sources and is determined to become a carbon-neutral country by 2021.  They currently supply 94% of its power from renewable resources, with 68% sourced from hydroelectric power plants.

Costa Rica is not the only country to maintain a green focus.  The European Union has put forth renewable energy goals for 2020, but Sweden, Bulgaria, and Estonia have managed to meet these goals eight years ahead of schedule.  One would hope that the U.S. would be inspired as a leading nation to make a commitment to a greener focus.

Should the U.S. attempt to foster programs to increase our use of renewable energy resources?

How can we as individuals lower our overall energy consumption?

What is the best way to raise awareness about renewable energy resources?

Something for the Pain

The recent indictment of a Philadelphia pain management practitioner has placed the issue of opioid addiction and dependency at the forefront of local news. This doctor has been accused of prescribing and/or dispensing oxycodone and Xanax to his patients, generally without the requirement of a physical examination. As a result of this irresponsible behavior, he currently faces over 200 counts of distributing oxycodone. If convicted, he could anticipate a punishment of decades in prison, substantial fines, and criminal forfeiture.

Unfortunately, this case is not unusual in our society, and it will likely not be the last of its kind. According to drugabuse.gov, the amount of prescriptions for opioid medications has rapidly escalated from approximately 76 million in 1991 to almost 207 million in 2013. The United States is the largest global consumer of opioids, accounting for nearly 100 percent of the world’s supply of hydrocodone (e.g., Vicodin) and 81 percent of the world’s supply of oxycodone (e.g., Percocet). The New England Journal of Medicine notes that 60 percent of opioids that are abused are directly acquired through a doctor’s prescription.

These statistics raise the daunting question of what alternatives can be utilized to more effectively help those in pain. It is also worth questioning if the dissemination of addictive medications is the most responsible and humane way to treat pain. For more information, we recommend that you read A Nation in Pain: Healing Our Biggest Health Problem, written by Judith Forman.

Do you think there should be a system in place to better control the prescription of opioids?

As a society, are we less able to effectively handle pain?

How do we prevent the unnecessary dispensing of prescription drugs?

What do you think about the legalization of medical marijuana?

Spilling Danger

CEC continues its concern for the environment in 2015. In addition to being green efficient internally, we believe it is important to share information to keep ecological awareness alive and positive change happening.

In order to keep up with our country’s need for fossil fuels, energy companies have resorted to the use of oil pipelines. Two spillage incidents occurred on January 17, 2015 leading many to question the safety of this method of obtaining and transporting oil.

A recent article from The Huffington Post states that residents of Glendive, Montana were alerted that high levels of benzene, a cancer-causing chemical, were found in their public water supply following a spill that occurred in the Yellowstone River.  The CDC stated that although the benzene levels did not pose any long-term health risks, they were not safe for short-term consumption. Government officials and Bridger Pipeline Company leaders (the owner of this portion of the pipeline) have yet to effectively recover the crude oil, most of which appears to be trapped beneath the ice-covered river.

The second incident was discovered near Williston, North Dakota, where 3 million gallons of brine leaked into the water system.  Brine is an unwanted byproduct of drilling that is much saltier than seawater and may contain petroleum and residue from the fracking process.  The full environmental impact of this spill may not be realized for months.

It is worth noting that the steps taken during the refining process of converting crude oil to usable fuel have many concerned as well. If a similar leak were to occur at one of the many refineries along a pipeline’s route through our country, there could be further consequences.

It is clear that if we are going to rely on pipelines as a method of obtaining and transporting fossil fuels, we need to be more responsible in their usage, starting now.  As larger pipelines are considered, it is imperative that we develop environmentally conscious methods to monitor the safety of these devices or our waterways will continue to be contaminated.

How has your office been able to lower energy consumption?

Have you contacted your government leaders regarding your concerns?

Should we be spending more time and money on alternative methods of energy development?

Technology and the American Workforce

It is a well-accepted fact that technology impacts nearly all facets of our lives. New research from the PewResearch Center posits the idea that technology, namely the Internet and cell phones, have transformed the American workforce. For most American workers, “…life on the job means life online.”

Through use of an online survey, data was gathered via a sample of working Americans who answered questions regarding the role of technology in their work. One of the main findings of the survey was that technology has changed the ways American workers communicate. E-mail has become the primary method of communication, in spite of the potential threats of spam, hacking, and phishing.

Although many people assume that technology may prove a distraction to workers, just 7% of workers feel their productivity has dropped because of the internet, e-mail and cell phones. In fact, 46% of workers say they feel more productive through the use of technology.

As a result of the prevalence of the use of the internet and e-mail, employers find themselves adapting to changing times as well. 46% of those surveyed mentioned their employers blocking access to certain websites and limiting what content their employees are allowed to post online. Despite this change in the rules surrounding the use of the internet, it is interesting to note that these rules appear to apply more to those in Office-Based positions. In contrast, among those employed in service, skilled and semi-skilled positions, many workers reported not being sure if employers controlled website access or enforced rules about what workers are allowed to do online.

How has technology changed your workplace?

How do we decide the “rules” surrounding the use of technology in the workplace?

Is e-mail a tool to facilitate communication or a block to authentic connection at work?