How to Tell When You Are Tired

This is a title of book I read years ago. I forget the contents, but it was about men and their long work days. The hypothesis of the book: people are driven to work more, and as a result we are a nation of tired people.
I don’t know if we are more tired than previous generations. Some studies suggest we are getting less sleep than the past generation. My issue is with technology and 21st century luxuries we should be LESS tired not just as tired as our ancestors. The labor and time saving devices have NOT saved time. They have sped up life’s conveyor belt, like Lucy in the chocolate factory scene. Speed is bad for the health.

Studies (as well as common sense) tell us we are healthier, happier, and saner people when we get enough sleep – and time off. Yet there is less and less tolerance in the work field for this. People are made to feel guilty for missing work for illness or for psychological necessity (i.e. vacation). Then there is the grandiose lie that the world will stop spinning if we desert our work post. Bosses imply it; workers believe it.

When I moved to Arizona I replaced 2 doctors. Neither seemed to have been very good, but they both worked all the time, including major holidays. I get to work before 7AM, work until 5PM, and often have hours of paperwork as well as phone calls. So I am no slacker. Yet my assumption that we did NOT work on Memorial Day, 4th of July etc was met with disbelief.
So I am disrupting the culture here; I don’t expect to work on major holidays. I take the European approach that four weeks/year is minimal not maximum time off. Both are getting me dirty looks that I am ‘not working enough’ or a poor team player. (on the other hand the secretarial staff are thrilled that for the first time they don’t have to work on Memorial and Labor Days any more, as the doctor isn’t in).

I hope you all get enough sleep and get appropriate amounts of vacation and ‘down time’.
It is vital to your health. And don’t feel guilty for it.