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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

opinion oped

COLUMN: Americans should leave work at work

One of the most frequent pieces of advice any college graduate will get is to find a good work and life balance.

This is obviously easier said than done. With the rise of startup culture and the you-are-always-working mentality, many Americans have found their home lives at odds with their work lives.

On average, my sister receives 12 phone calls during dinnertime and countless emails throughout the day, even on the weekends.

In many industries, the work never ceases – there is always more to be done. Any ounce of free time can be handed over to your job, whether it’s answering a client’s email or chiming in on a conference call.

Although I’m excited to start working, this is one thing I feel I am not prepared for. As students, our lives are neatly divided into two categories: school and free time. 

As millennials continue to dive into adulthood, the line between work and free time is even further blurred. We are the generation that’s constantly plugged in and it’s difficult to focus all of our attention on either our work or our social lives.

France, a country with a mandated – yet dreamy – 35-hour workweek and luxurious holiday vacations, is somehow looking for more downtime.

In order to achieve a perfect work-life balance, fully equipped with plenty of time to munch on a baguette or lounge outside a patisserie, the French government created the “right to disconnect law.”

I am both jealous and incredulous.

Since Jan. 1, French companies are required to allow their employees to disconnect from their technology after leaving work.

The problem is many American businesses can't function with that type of fragile infrastructure.

Americans wish they were European in many ways. We yearn for free education, simple healthcare programs and free Fridays outside the summertime. However, European countries are small and the United States is big. The implementation of such a law is greatly complicated by the size and diversity of work in this country. 

Specifically, round-the-clock jobs involving social media or eCommerce are industries that never stop running. It’s not as if you can turn off your cell phone and forget about work until the morning. 

No, you’ve got to post to your company’s Instagram account at 10:30 in the evening while you’re watching the latest bachelor hand out his final rose.

We are in a digitally social world, and in order to prosper, promoting one’s business outside of normal business hours is essential.

Although I’d love to book a one-way flight to Paris and never come back, I still admire the hustler mentality that so many working Americans have. It’s part of our ingenuity and culture – it’s what makes us American.

jlkarl@indiana.edu | @jkarl26

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