We’re Busy

A typical phone conversation of the working mom:

Working mom: “Hi.”
Other person: “Hey—glad I caught you. How are things?”
Working mom: “Busy!”

(Fill in your details of choice from here).

It’s true. We’re busy. REALLY busy. And not that you need the data to prove it (life makes it fairly self-evident)…perhaps there is a perverse comfort in some corroborating context via some favorite interesting, if sobering, random facts.

Did you know that:

65% of Americans today describe themselves as ‘very’ or ‘insanely’ busy. (Day Runner Survey)

The average executive has over 37 hours of unfinished work sitting on her/his desk at any one time. (Business Journal)
The average professional sends and receives over 190 messages each day (Balance Magazine)
An average U.S. household receives 1,800 catalogs alone in the mail each year — about 500 pounds worth. (San Antonio Express News)
68% of U.S. Executives said they are working more hours today than 5 years ago (Office Pro)
47% of users now take their laptops on vacation… and 27% check their email (AOL).
New research shows that women are actually more overworked than men, based upon the degree to which women are expected to multi- task. (Families and Work Institute)
An IKEA survey of customers found that 31% were more satisfied after clearing out their closets than they were after sex.
When asked their one wish to improve how their mother’s and father’s work affected their lives, most children wished their mothers and fathers would be less stressed and less tired. (Ask the Children Study)

What’s interesting to note is that in spite of all this, a recent study from the Center for Women and Work at Rutgers University found that professional women volunteer for community activities as much as their stay-at-home mothers did.

The big difference between then and now? Executive mom-types were found to approach those bake sales more like they do their board meetings– leading, outsourcing more, and delegating!