Writing Project 1 Rough Draft

Rough Draft
Central claim: Some people may benefit from changing the amount of time they spend on work
and leisure activities.
Introduction :
One problem that I have noticed in my local work community is the difficulty of employees,
including myself, in balancing work, school, and free time. While it is always a good time to
address personal growth, now is an especially appropriate time for many people. Many of us
are at the tail end of Covid-19, some offices are opening back up, and the previously established
work/life balance for many is coming back into play. This paper is mainly meant for others who
may find it challenging to find a proper work/life balance and hopefully provide some
information that they may implement in their daily lives to help find a healthy work/life
balance. I found most of the sources in this paper in academic journals studying large
populations allowing a general understanding of broad topics.
Benefits:
We are all given the same twenty-four hours to live our lives every day. The poor management
of these twenty-four hours is what leads to so much frustration. The benefits of properly
adjusting the time spent doing leisure activities and working are numerous. When spending the
optimal amount of time balancing work and leisure, noticeable improvement in overall quality
of life can be seen. An example of this would be an increase in productivity, allowing one to get
more tedious tasks done in a shorter period and using the remaining time to do something
meaningful.
Wherever one's priorities may lie, one can still benefit from a balance between work and
leisure. While some may find their job to be the most fulfilling part of their lives, and others
work for the weekend, both find value in one or the other. And by properly balancing the two,
it can assure them that they are spending their time wisely and can enjoy their work or leisure
without worrying about how they will compensate for it.
Overworked:
There are a couple of common instances of imbalance, the first of these is overworking. Before
industrialization took place, there was a clear correlation between the number of hours worked
and the result of that work. Understandably, this meant employers were squeezing workers for
every possible hour they could to maximize profits. Even after industrialization took place and
the amount of work produced was limited by the speed and reliability of tools and machines
doing this work, the average American workweek was still well over 100 hours a week (Ward
2020). And even after acknowledging this considerable workload, it seems impossible to
manage that will any personal life. According to a Social Science Research Network study, the
optimal number of hours a person needs a day doing leisure activities is somewhere between 2
to 4 hours, depending on employment. (Sharif 2018) And that is just not possible while working
100 hours a week.
It is crucial to keep in mind that employers did not put these work standards in place with
worker satisfaction in mind. This time was one with far fewer regulations, child labor, and
monopolies. And while production may have been high at the time, this was partly due to the
nature of work involved. Much of it was repetitive, not mentally challenging, and most likely
could be done by a computer now. Currently, living in the digital era, productivity cannot
always be measured by the net number of hours worked. Conversely, overwork can lead to
complacency, fatigue, and an overall decline in quality of work.
Underworked:
While overworking is a clear imbalance, an equally dangerous threat is underworking. Like in

overworked individuals, those that are underworked suffer from a lack of work/leisure balance.
This lack of balance can lead to less work being done, resulting in less pay, a less fulfilling job or
quality of work, and even guilt while participating in leisure activities.
External vs. internal motivations:
While both overworking and underworking are threats to our overall wellbeing, finding a
balance can still be tricky. When trying to balance time spent on work or leisure activities, two
things to keep in mind are prioritization and external pressure. The way we prioritize things is
highly personal, and as a result, finding the right work/life balance will vary widely from person
to person.
While understanding what we prioritize is vital in finding balance, one cannot control some
external forces that factor into this decision. For example, if you work in a highly time-
consuming industry that requires you to work 60 hours a week, you have to decide if continued
employment aligns with your priorities.
One internal example of something that prevents a proper work/life balance is procrastination.
Procrastinating often leads to work not being done or pushed to the side. This habit can be seen
as a form of underworking imbalance. One way to remedy this and other imbalances is to think
back to prioritization. Understanding one's goals and how negativity can lead to procrastination
(Pollack 2020) can result in overcoming that obstacle.
Conclusion
After mapping out some of these common pitfalls, others can learn from them and avoid some
of these mistakes. Establishing and maintaining an ideal work/life balance is tricky and highly
personal. For that reason, there is no genuinely complete guide on what will work best for
everyone. It is still possible; however, it requires some planning, mindfulness, and patience.
Sources:
Ward, M. (2020, June 12). A history of how the 40-hour workweek became the norm in America.
Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-the-40-hour-workweek-2015-10.
Sharif, M., Mogilner, C., & Hershfield, H. (2018, December 10). The Effects of Being Time Poor
and Time Rich on Life Satisfaction. SSRN. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?
abstract_id=3285436.
Shira Pollack & Joanna Herres (2020) Prior Day Negative Affect Influences Current Day
Procrastination: A Lagged Daily Diary Analysis, Anxiety, Stress & Coping, 33:2, 165-175, DOI:
10.1080/10615806.2020.1722573

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While overworking is a clear imbalance, an equally dangerous threat is underworking. Like in

External vs. internal motivations:

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