Are You Ready for Retirement? It Could be Around the Corner.
Best-selling author Tim Ferriss thinks you’re working too hard and he’s probably right. According to the American Institute of Stress between 75% – 90% of doctor visits each year are related to stress and much of it from our jobs.
Tim Ferriss’ book, “The Four Hour Workweek” creates a whole new paradigm for employees and managers alike: What if you could do more in less time and still collect a full-time pay check? Ferriss gives real life examples of how managing your email and calendar can free you up to start living again.
He even shows you how to outsource aspects of your busy life so you can focus on more important time with family and friends. Hey, if corporations can outsource work to India, why shouldn’t you? Now you can hire a virtual assistant to order flowers for Valentines Day or help you research that marketing proposal you promised the board of directors last week.
While most 9 to 5 office workers probably aren’t comfortable letting go of their day to day routines to India, there is another idea proposed by Ferriss that I think will catch on: Mini Retirements.
The current mindset is that you work hard your entire life until you’re 65+ and then you stop working to do all the fun traveling and hobbies you didn’t have time for while in the workforce. Instead, Ferriss encourages workers to carve out time for mini retirements, vacations and shorter work weeks so we can “sharpen our saws” and return to our jobs energized once again. This is good advice that’s easy for busy executives and managers to forget in the deadline-driven world of marketing.
According to a survey by Right Management, sixty-six percent of employees admitted to not taking all their vacation in 2009. So if you notice a co-worker or team member is burning-out, remind her/him that it’s okay to take a vacation day.
If we can’t handle mini retirements along the way, how will we ever handle real retirement when we’re older? It takes practice!
