atunci cand altii ne stabilesc programul

Zilele trecute am terminat de citit “Time: A User’s Guide” a lui Stefan Klein. Buna carte! Mult mai buna decat acum 3 ani cand am citit-o prima data. :) Poate si fiindca perspectivele din care ne putem uita la timp sunt o tema actuala pentru mine. Sunt foarte pasionat de ceasuri, ma fascineaza de mic precizia timpului fizic, asa cum noi, oamenii, l-am construit, insa in acelasi timp coaching-ul m-a facut din ce in ce mai constient de faptul ca timpul asta nu e singurul timp, ca e doar un construct care ne foloseste pe alocuri si ne dauneaza prin alte parti.

In fine, doar cateva citate din carte voiam sa pun astazi aici, cu mentiunea ca am (re)descoperit GoodReads.com si m-a prins destul de tare, deci daca vrea cineva sa ne tinem la curent cu ce a mai citit fiecare ma puteti adauga ca prieten si acolo. Acum, din carte:

“More than ten thousand civil servants in all types of offices were interviewed and examined by doctors; this now classic survey is called the Whitehall Study […] Again and again, Marmot and his staff encountered the same situation: the lower an employee group stood in the pecking order, the more the typical signs of stress escalated; the blood test results were more alarming, the risk of heart attack higher and the employees’ overall health was at greater risk. Even the second-highest civil servants, who were well-paid and highly respected department heads, were in markedly worse condition than were their bosses in the highest ranks of management. […]

The usual suspects – cigarettes, alcohol, income, education and frequency of exercise – could not explain the deviations. And stress did not correlate with the amount of time the work required. The higher-ups generally spent more hours at the office than their assistants did, yet they were far less afflicted by work pressure.

When the researchers looked for psychological factors, they found what they needed in the information the civil servants provided about their work routine: The lower the respondents stood in the hierarchy, the less they were able to decide for themselves how and when they carried out their duties. They reported feeling powerless, with statements such as “Others make the decisions about my work” or “I cannot decide for myself when I take a break“. This is the source of their stress.

The male employees who agreed with these statements were up to two and a half times more likely to die from a heart attack or stroke than were colleagues who considered themselves lucky to have control over their own time.

People who are not in control of their time die at an earlier age. When we have to adapt to a pace set by someone else without any input of out own, we experience a sense o helplessness, andthis lack of control triggers a stress reaction. […] Sociologists have found that when a man and a woman have an equal amount of free time, the woman feels greater time pressure.”