Ross: How to tune out and take back your weekend
Sep 1, 2017, 5:32 AM
You know the 60 Minutes effect, right? It’s that gloom that comes over you when the famous stopwatch finally ticks down, signaling the end of the weekend.
“On Sunday nights, my 11-year-old was looking up at me and saying, ‘Are you kidding me? Was that a weekend? Does that count?'” said author Katrina Onstad.
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It prompted Onstad to write her book, “The Weekend Effect – the Life-Changing Benefits of taking Time Off.” It’s a problem especially at tech firms that try to turn the workplace into a playground.
“If there’s a hammock in your office, they want you in it, right?”
But it’s not just tech firms. All of us seem to have accepted this idea that we’re always on call. Not just for our bosses, but for our friends.
“There’s always this pressure to be broadcasting your life, even your private life. We really need that pause,” she said.
It may take draconian action.
“In France last year, they passed this Right to Disconnect legislation,” Onstad said. “I find it hard to think that North America will ever go this far, but I think it’s really interesting. In France, in certain businesses now, bosses cannot bug their employees at night and on weekends. It’s very interesting.”
“Well I had this idea — and maybe as a well-respected author, you can support me on this. I think Friday at 5 p.m., the internet should be turned off by the government. You just pull down the big switch and the thing just powers down and doesn’t come on until 9 a.m. Monday.”
“I think this would be wonderful,” Onstad said. “I’m on it with you. Let’s do it. Let’s just find it and do it ourselves.”
You can still write books in prison, right?
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