Customer Reviews

Work to Live

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I decided last year that I would like to learn the Spanish language. Like many such wishes, this one has fallen victim to a lack of time... But now there is a wonderful motivational book on making time for such things -- and for our families and communities. Joe Robinson's "Work to Live: The Guide to Getting a Life" ... pulls out all the stops, from the stories to the numbers, in making the case for less work and more time, tells us how to do this personally, and ends with a roadmap for achieving legislation making a few weeks of vacation each year a right. Much of the writing is very funny, and some of the stories of folks who 'saved' their vacations for periods of years only to lose them in a corporate takeover, or due to ill health, are heartwrenching. My favorite stories involved those courageous souls who did go to the boss and ask for some time off, either in the form of a reduced workweek or for that most unAmerican of events, the month-long vacation. These stories are inspiring; indeed, I now have Joe's suggested list of "things I'm going to do before it's all over" on the refrigerator (and, yes, it starts with "learn Spanish" :-). Great stuff, and many thanks to Joe for writing the book! See the ...worktolive...web site for more.

At a time when the relentless drive of the corporate profite-imperative has swept up so many of us in a mindless labor habitrail-whose only reward seems to be more and faster-paced work-Joe Robinson has done some hard thinking and insightful research and come up with a number of unique solutions to help us break the dysfunctional employer-worker relationship that's quickly eroding life in this country. (If you're the type who blames MTV and other red herrings on societal woes, stop and think how much time away from family mothers and fathers are forced to spend these days just to hang on to their paychecks.) It's interesting to me that an author calling for basic rights in the workplace-things that labor unions supposedly won for the work force decades ago-can be viewed in some quarters as an extremist. I've read some of the reviews that equate Robinson's ideas with socialism or that accuse him of somehow being oposed to "the American way." This is knee-jerk reaction at its worst: "Robinson wants fairness so be must be socialist!" "Robinson enjoys vacations so he must hate work!" Granted, debate in this country has become dangerously polarized, Still, it's depressing to see how easily people can twist nuanced, reasoned argument into black and white polemic. I can't say I agree with everything Robinson says in this book, but I do recognize much of what he describes in the fact that I work harder than my father ever did, with far less time off, and probably a slightly lower overall quality of life. I certainly live in a smaller house and spend less time with my family than he did. Americans are fond of believing we have "the highest standard of living in the world." Guess what? We don't, even though we now work more and have less time off than even the famously workaholic Japanese. Check the health stats-this country's human machines are breaking down. And if you think our current obesity problem is simply a lack of self-control and an insidious fast-food industry, ask yourself when the last time you said, "I'd love to get in shape, jog every night after work, but I just don't have the time." That's the point. Fewer and fewer of us have the time any more to take care of our basic human needs for mental and physical and spiritual rest and improvement. Robinson doesn't want a life of vacation. He doesn't advocate the end of capitalism. He just wants us to fix the machine, so we can improve our lives, keep our economy strong before our own ignorance and insatiable demands for more, more, more break it down completely. This is an important book, a step toward a more prosperous and fulfilling United States.

Joe Robinson is on to something with "Work to Live." It seems like everyone I know is crying for more free time, but the days just get longer, the weekends shorter and there seems to be no relief in sight. Emails, voicemail and fearful days are eating into our peace of mind and keeping us on duty 24/7.
Show your boss this book the next time he or she gives you a hard time about taking time off. There's great information here to support your cause because a break from the job is a good thing for the workplace, not just the workers.
After spending years putting in 60 hour weeks, missing weddings and funerals, and most of my life, I was downsized. "Work to Live" and Joe Robinson can help us all realize that if we don't take care of ourselves, no one will.
Learn from the Europeans who would never dream of giving up their vacations. Why do we? It's time to get a life...now.

Highly recommended. Our workaholic-fueled corporate world pressures us to live in a way completely inconsistent with our own best interests. This is in stark contrast to the European model of healthy balance between work and leisure. This is a subversive book - read it! Join the campaign.

I finally found the time to read Mr. Robinson's book Work to Live. But, it isn't because I've been working. Au contraire. I quit my job in August 2002 to go answer a few questions I had about life, and to make a life change (I don't like that word career). While I've been back for 5 months as of this review, that was after 7 months straight of traveling Asia (Thailand, India, Nepal, Indonesia, Singapore, among others), and a loop around Australia, and parts of Arabia. That was a follow up to 3 months driving around the US, 6 weeks in S. America (Rio Carnaval!), and 3 weeks in China & Taiwan. I'll be on the road again soon! My change in life was fueled by personal events and only reconfirmed by Sept.11th. I may not have quit if I had more time off (Though I am vey glad I did in retrospect!). Our antiquated vacations laws are something I became consciously aware of (And mad!) when I traveled to Europe for business or when I met fellow travelers in other places.

In the eye of the storm, it is difficult to see the truth. And that is what applies to the masses of the USA in regards to work. We can't see the forest for the trees. Mr. Robinson discusses so many ideas that I have come to on my own - including the distortions of our productivity reporting. I may someday write a book that takes these ideas even further.

So many "difficulties" our country faces are ripple effects from our lack of time to see the big picture. On this fact alone, Mr. Robinson's work is in my list as one of the most important books of the present for Americans. Read it!

In the book Mr. Robinson quotes Hewitt Associates a number of times. Hewitt is the #1 benefits consultant in the US (World?). They have a reputation as a great place to work. So much so that supposedly they were no longer ranked, they were consultants to the "Best Companies to Work For" list. Funny thing is, I worked there for 9 months in 1997 as a system consultant and there was a very high employee churn rate. Of the 6 people that interviewed me (One a company veteran of almost 20 years and my mgr), all but 1 were gone within a year of my leaving. One of the reasons - they counted face time, not productivity. It was a pressure cooker for hours, it was like a cult. Maybe it has changed. I doubt it. I even have a PDF comparison chart of vacation time that Hewitt posted on their website not long ago!

I agree with almost everything Mr. Robinson is talking about. I just think he could have cut the book by 25-33% to get the same point across. The first half of the book especially just seemed to be a rehash of the same thing over and over. The 2nd half of the book is more concise.

I recently finished reading this book and hope that managers and corporate leaders read it as well. Overtime in this country is quite out of control and we as leaders have to start looking at how we treat people that work for us. Joe Robinson is a pioneer for the work/life balance movement and I agree with everything he says.

Chris Ortiz, author 40+ Overtime Under Poor Leadership

This is a must-read for all Americans! Because most Americans work too much and have very little vacation, they are stressed out, eat too much junk food, don't get enough sleep, have very little leisure time, rarely see their friends, and have little time for their spouse, children and pets! Joe Robinson is trying to get ALL Americans a minimum of 3 weeks paid vacation per year (Europeans and Australians get 4-6 weeks by law, while Americans get ZERO). In this book, Joe shows you how to work less and get more vacation time! He also talks about how we are constantly busy and don't know how to slow down. There's a lot to learn in this book!

The author is a renowned expert on addressing the work and life deficit in America. He is in the forefront of a Buddhistic approach to life. It is for the living and not acquisition.

Stressed? Spending too long in the office? Been working so hard, but can never catch up with everything? This book will really open your eyes and make you question your priorities in life. Too many people are defining their self-worth by the quantity of work time they put in at the office. People just can't say no. This book will teach you about setting sensible boundaries, work-life balance and give tips for restoring sanity to your life.

Take time off work and read this book. It will change your life!