Two great web sites have been added to my blog this week:
Conscious Talk Radio and Conscious Consuming. Please take some time to review these interesting web sites.
Conscious Talk Radio offers one of this country’s most informative and compelling alternative talk radio programs – pioneering a shift in consciousness – empowering individuals to become conscious consumers and a positive force in their own lives through subjects and interviews in areas as diverse as politics, money and alternative health. It's "radio that makes a difference."
Conscious Consuming seeks to increase awareness of the impact of buying decisions on our health, happiness, and environment. Through education and discussion, they encourage people to live in line with their values by better prioritizing time, money, and material things.
If you are ever in the Seattle area, please tell Rob Spears and Brenda Michaels of Conscious Talk Radio hello from me!
It's time to wake up and be CONSCIOUS!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Vacation Matters Summit
People for a Shorter Workweek supports the national vacation campaign. Join John de Graaf, author and Executive Director of Take Back Your Time for this important conference in Seattle in August. Details are as follows and the link is above for further information:
Mark the dates and make your reservation now for the NATIONAL VACATION MATTERS SUMMIT, Monday, August 10 - Wednesday August 12, 2009 at Seattle University, Seattle, Washington.
Space is limited. Register before May 1 for a total registration fee of $95, and $45 for students. Media passes available (email jodg@comcast.net).
If spaces still remain after May 1, registration fees will increase to $125 and $65.
Tickets are available from Brown Paper Tickets.
You are also welcome to register directly with TAKE BACK YOUR TIME. Simply send a check payable to TBYT/VACATION SUMMIT to:
Take Back Your Time
PO Box 18652
Seattle, WA 98109
Add your email address for confirmation. Otherwise, we will have a name tag and conference materials waiting for you at the registration desk at the beginning of the Summit.
WHY THIS CONFERENCE? WHY NOW?
Studies show that vacations are essential to physical and mental health. They provide the strongest of family-bonding memories. They improve workplace productivity and prevent burnout. They increase international contact and understanding. They offer opportunities for spiritual growth and joyful play. They provide employment and business opportunities in the travel industry. But the United States is the only industrial country that does not guarantees some vacation time by law and Americans get less vacation time than people in almost any other country of the world.
Times of economic crisis like the one we face today are also opportunities to envision the kind of economy and life we really want and to ask what really matters when it comes to quality of life. Just as the Great Depression led to the forty-hour week and the expansion of the middle class, these new hard times can lead us to new choices that honor the need for balance and leisure in our lives.
The Vacation Matters Summit is about learning and sharing what we know about the value of leisure travel and vacation time. We’ll be bringing together more than three hundred experts, researchers, advocates, stakeholders and interested citizens for the first-ever national gathering about the importance of vacation time. The program starts Monday evening with a welcome and reception and continues until early Wednesday afternoon. It includes eight plenary speakers and at least fifty workshop presenters.
We are still looking for workshop presenters and will be accepting proposals. Let me know if you are interested in presenting and I will forward the information to our workshop committee. Registration fee for presenters will be $25.
ACCOMMODATIONS AND FOOD
Please let us know whether you will need meals and accommodations while in Seattle. Seattle University offers single and double rooms in both residence halls and residence suites at modest prices ranging from $26 to $55 a night. Email John de Graaf at: jodg@comcast.net
Residence halls—1 person in room: $31 per night; 2 persons in room: $26 each per night
Residence suites—1 person in room: $55 per night; 2 persons in room: $43 each per night
There are also a number of hotels in the immediate area.
Seattle University also offers a meal plan at $30 per day or you may purchase food in the dining area separately. There are also many restaurants in the area.
Please let us know your preferences. Space at Seattle University is limited and first-come, first serve.
Total conference costs including lodging, food and registration (but not travel costs) ranges from approximately $137 (presenters in residence halls) to $265 (non-
presenters in single room residence suites).
Summit begins at 6 pm Monday, August 10 and ends at 2 pm, Wednesday, August 12.
Mark the dates and make your reservation now for the NATIONAL VACATION MATTERS SUMMIT, Monday, August 10 - Wednesday August 12, 2009 at Seattle University, Seattle, Washington.
Space is limited. Register before May 1 for a total registration fee of $95, and $45 for students. Media passes available (email jodg@comcast.net).
If spaces still remain after May 1, registration fees will increase to $125 and $65.
Tickets are available from Brown Paper Tickets.
You are also welcome to register directly with TAKE BACK YOUR TIME. Simply send a check payable to TBYT/VACATION SUMMIT to:
Take Back Your Time
PO Box 18652
Seattle, WA 98109
Add your email address for confirmation. Otherwise, we will have a name tag and conference materials waiting for you at the registration desk at the beginning of the Summit.
WHY THIS CONFERENCE? WHY NOW?
Studies show that vacations are essential to physical and mental health. They provide the strongest of family-bonding memories. They improve workplace productivity and prevent burnout. They increase international contact and understanding. They offer opportunities for spiritual growth and joyful play. They provide employment and business opportunities in the travel industry. But the United States is the only industrial country that does not guarantees some vacation time by law and Americans get less vacation time than people in almost any other country of the world.
Times of economic crisis like the one we face today are also opportunities to envision the kind of economy and life we really want and to ask what really matters when it comes to quality of life. Just as the Great Depression led to the forty-hour week and the expansion of the middle class, these new hard times can lead us to new choices that honor the need for balance and leisure in our lives.
The Vacation Matters Summit is about learning and sharing what we know about the value of leisure travel and vacation time. We’ll be bringing together more than three hundred experts, researchers, advocates, stakeholders and interested citizens for the first-ever national gathering about the importance of vacation time. The program starts Monday evening with a welcome and reception and continues until early Wednesday afternoon. It includes eight plenary speakers and at least fifty workshop presenters.
We are still looking for workshop presenters and will be accepting proposals. Let me know if you are interested in presenting and I will forward the information to our workshop committee. Registration fee for presenters will be $25.
ACCOMMODATIONS AND FOOD
Please let us know whether you will need meals and accommodations while in Seattle. Seattle University offers single and double rooms in both residence halls and residence suites at modest prices ranging from $26 to $55 a night. Email John de Graaf at: jodg@comcast.net
Residence halls—1 person in room: $31 per night; 2 persons in room: $26 each per night
Residence suites—1 person in room: $55 per night; 2 persons in room: $43 each per night
There are also a number of hotels in the immediate area.
Seattle University also offers a meal plan at $30 per day or you may purchase food in the dining area separately. There are also many restaurants in the area.
Please let us know your preferences. Space at Seattle University is limited and first-come, first serve.
Total conference costs including lodging, food and registration (but not travel costs) ranges from approximately $137 (presenters in residence halls) to $265 (non-
presenters in single room residence suites).
Summit begins at 6 pm Monday, August 10 and ends at 2 pm, Wednesday, August 12.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
"This Way, it Sounds Noble."
The friend of mine who is enjoying her shorter workweek due to a lack of work at her company said she did not want to sound lazy, so she told her manager she would be happy to pitch in and take time off without pay and "help the company out." She told me "this way, it sounds noble, as I am doing the company a favor." She did not want to sound lazy. She told me now that she has Fridays off, she is "exploring her inner lazy child." She loves the shorter workweek and doesn't really want to go back to the 40 hour workweek.
People are so afraid that they will look like they are a lazy bum just because they want a shorter workweek (in other words, a life). We all need to explore our "inner lazy child."
People are so afraid that they will look like they are a lazy bum just because they want a shorter workweek (in other words, a life). We all need to explore our "inner lazy child."
Monday, March 09, 2009
Shorter Workweek Instead of Layoff
A friend of mine told me that a half dozen or so plant employees were laid off from her company. It was a sad day for the plant. In order to not have to layoff the office folks they worked it out so that everyone has two Fridays off per month. My friend was used to working 40 hours per week all of her working life. At first, she thought about the money she would lose, but after the first Friday off, she LOVED it and now she can't wait until her next Friday off.
She called her sister (who is now retired) and told her she would love to have a shorter workweek every week, as it is so wonderful!
Instead of workers being laid off, this company worked it out so that everyone in the office shares the work, and all of the office staff works a shorter workweek. They love those Fridays off and the money isn't as important as time off.
The 40-hour workweek is very hectic. Thanks to the economic downturn, people are discovering how great a shorter workweek is.
She called her sister (who is now retired) and told her she would love to have a shorter workweek every week, as it is so wonderful!
Instead of workers being laid off, this company worked it out so that everyone in the office shares the work, and all of the office staff works a shorter workweek. They love those Fridays off and the money isn't as important as time off.
The 40-hour workweek is very hectic. Thanks to the economic downturn, people are discovering how great a shorter workweek is.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Work Less Party of Vancouver, BC has New Film
The Work Less Party of Vancouver BC has a new short film on their web site: Movie 2. I highly recommend watching both of Conrad Schmidt's films. Conrad is the author of Works of the World RELAX: The Simple Economics of Less Industrial Work. He is currently working on another film and book, so stay tuned!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Economic Downturn
With the current economic downturn, now is the time to ask your employer for a shorter workweek, and your employer might even be relieved that you asked! I know a few folks whose companies are cutting back the workweek due to slow sales, etc. These people are happy to have the extra time off, while keeping their current benefits. So, don't be afraid to ask.
Happy New Year, everyone!
Happy New Year, everyone!
Friday, July 11, 2008
Another Reason not to Work too Much
Thanks to Mike of the Shorter Worktime Group for sending us this article:
Toyota Camry engineer died from 'overwork'
July 10, 2008
A Japanese labour bureau has ruled that one of Toyota Motor Corp's top car engineers died from working too many hours, the latest decision against overwork in Japan, where stoic acceptance of extended overtime has long been the norm.
"In the two months up to his death, he averaged more than 80 hours of overtime per month, the criteria for overwork," an officer at the Aichi Labour Bureau, who asked to remain anonymous because she is not an official spokeswoman, said today.
The man who died was aged 45 and had been under severe pressure as the lead engineer in developing a hybrid version of Toyota's blockbuster Camry line, said Mikio Mizuno, the lawyer representing his wife. His identity is being withheld at the request of his family, who continue to live in Toyota City where the company is based.
He regularly worked nights and weekends, was frequently sent abroad and was grappling with shipping a model for the influential North American International Auto Show in Detroit when he died of ischemic heart disease in January 2006.
His daughter found his body at their home the day before he was to leave for the United States.
The ruling was handed down June 30 and will allow his family to collect benefits from his work insurance, Mizuno said.
In a statement, Toyota offered its condolences and said it would work to improve monitoring of the health of its workers.
It is the most recent in a string of decisions against long working hours in Japan, which is struggling to cut down on deaths from overworking, known as "karoshi." Such deaths have steadily increased since the Health Ministry first recognised the phenomenon in 1987.
A court in central Japan last year ordered the government to pay compensation to Hiroko Uchino, the wife of a Toyota employee who collapsed at work and died at age 30 in 2002. She took the case to court after her application to the local labour bureau for compensation was rejected.
AP
http://www.theage.com.au/world/toyota-camry-engineer-died-from-overwork-20080710-3cql.html
Toyota Camry engineer died from 'overwork'
July 10, 2008
A Japanese labour bureau has ruled that one of Toyota Motor Corp's top car engineers died from working too many hours, the latest decision against overwork in Japan, where stoic acceptance of extended overtime has long been the norm.
"In the two months up to his death, he averaged more than 80 hours of overtime per month, the criteria for overwork," an officer at the Aichi Labour Bureau, who asked to remain anonymous because she is not an official spokeswoman, said today.
The man who died was aged 45 and had been under severe pressure as the lead engineer in developing a hybrid version of Toyota's blockbuster Camry line, said Mikio Mizuno, the lawyer representing his wife. His identity is being withheld at the request of his family, who continue to live in Toyota City where the company is based.
He regularly worked nights and weekends, was frequently sent abroad and was grappling with shipping a model for the influential North American International Auto Show in Detroit when he died of ischemic heart disease in January 2006.
His daughter found his body at their home the day before he was to leave for the United States.
The ruling was handed down June 30 and will allow his family to collect benefits from his work insurance, Mizuno said.
In a statement, Toyota offered its condolences and said it would work to improve monitoring of the health of its workers.
It is the most recent in a string of decisions against long working hours in Japan, which is struggling to cut down on deaths from overworking, known as "karoshi." Such deaths have steadily increased since the Health Ministry first recognised the phenomenon in 1987.
A court in central Japan last year ordered the government to pay compensation to Hiroko Uchino, the wife of a Toyota employee who collapsed at work and died at age 30 in 2002. She took the case to court after her application to the local labour bureau for compensation was rejected.
AP
http://www.theage.com.au/world/toyota-camry-engineer-died-from-overwork-20080710-3cql.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
