So I switched off from patients and INTERNET once out of clinic…i.e. rest for 12 hrs, after working 12 hrs every day…No hand-phone. Just watch TV, exercise, play with grandchildren, sleep, bath, shaving, eating…etc.
I like the saying, “Change of work is rest”…So day time while seeing pts…I switched to do Human Rights Campaign for Muslims from Myanmar. This allowed me to work 12 hr a day, 7 days per week and 363 days per year for 37 yrs…non stop. By the way my off days R one day each for Eids or Hari Raya days. But I have even worked on the evening and night duties on the eves and on the Eid or Ray days when I was young.
Please read this from the Star online today: Inability to ‘switch off’ causes burnouts, say experts
PETALING JAYA: Employees can be burned out, stressed and ultimately less productive if they do not “switch off” from work and respond to e-mails and calls outside working hours, say experts.
Neuropsychologist Dr Nivashinie Mohan said such workers, who are “on-call” almost 24 hours a day, lose their work-life balance and end up becoming distant from their friends and families.
“Technology is a double-edged sword. It allows us to have flexibility in our work, especially with more people having flexible work hours or working from home.
“But this also means that technology often seeps into our personal lives. We are reachable at all hours and therefore expected to respond at any given time,” she said.
Dr Nivashinie said it was unfair for employees to be expected to “work” while on holiday.
“Usually when employees work, they get some form of compensation. However, if they respond to e-mails after working hours or on weekends and no compensation is given, it blurs the lines between work and life outside of work,” she said.
University Malaya Medical Centre consultant psychiatrist Dr Ahmad Hatim Sulaiman said it was up to employees to refuse if they were expected to be reachable after work hours.
“Of course it depends on the nature of your job. If you are a doctor or site engineer, you are expected to be on call. It is part of the job description.
“When you take up a job, you must know what is expected of you,” he said.
Dr Ahmad said time management was crucial in handling such jobs.
In November last year, a survey by Expedia titled the “Vacation Deprivation Survey” found that Malaysia had the world’s fourth most dedicated workforce after India, Brazil and Italy, with employees who could not “let go” of work during vacations.
It showed that almost 90% of the country’s employees worked even when they were on holiday.
The survey, based on 8,000 workers from 22 countries, also found that Malaysians spent about 40 hours a week at work but received only an average of 14 days of annual leave and that they did not use about 7% of their leave days.
In August, Germany’s employment ministry banned managers from calling or e-mailing staff before and after work hours except in the case of emergencies.
The guidelines, intended to prevent employees from burning out, stated that staff should not be penalised for switching off their mobile phones or failing to respond to messages outside work hours.
MyStarJob Network Sdn Bhd head Serm Teck Choon said technology had altered human behaviour and sometimes, it was not the employers who were to blame.
“We also see employees who obsessively look at their work e-mails or check with their bosses while on holiday and even when not necessary because they can’t let go,” he said.
He said generally, bosses did not expect their employees to be reachable 24/7 and understood the importance of work-life balance.
“We must ensure we finish our work and don’t leave any unresolved issues before we leave the office to avoid the likelihood of e-mails and calls at odd hours,” he said.
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Technology affects work performance and personal lives
PETALING JAYA: Technology has changed the way people work in so many ways, including the way how bosses expect employees to be “at work” all the time, that it has affected both work performance and personal lives.
Advertising account executive, Sylvia Ranjini, 30, has had the daunting experience of attending to te-mails and calls from her boss and clients while being warded in the hospital for delivery of her baby.
“It was really horrible as it was my first delivery and I was nervous and could not focus on whatever I was liaising with my clients and could not keep myself calm.”
“I managed the situation somehow but I hope that no other person has to go through the experience as it was a nightmare,” she said.
Sylvia, who has since quit her job, said that her boss refused to put the client’s account under the supervision of another executive despite her requests months earlier.
“Advertising is a tough line of work, but requiring an eight-months pregnant woman to answer e-mails at midnight while expecting her to clock in for work the next morning did not make sense,”
She said the constant stress left a huge scar on her family relationships, adding that she was happier now being at home doing freelance work.
A public relations practitioner who only wished to be identified as Hong, 25, said the industry required him to be on standby for almost 24 hours, especially when there were major events.
“My worst experience was staying up for more than 24 hours to handle the media, in case any crisis occurred,”
“This lifestyle has unsettled my balance in life personally and professionally. I can’t even sit down to have a proper meal without checking my e-mails through phone all the time,” he said.
“Because you’re constantly worried about the quality of your work and having to be on your toes for your clients all the time, work becomes your life,” he added.