Pop quiz for
work-at-homers
OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS IN the traditional workplace tend to be things
such as heavy-machinery accidents, slippery floors or pulling a back muscle.
But for work-at-homers, there’s a different type of hazard: overwork.
While we tend to give kudos to hard-driving self-starters, too much
work has many downsides—including, oddly enough, a potential decrease
in productivity. To check if you’ve crossed the line, the Almanac offers this
work-habit quiz.
1. Do you think of work all the time, even on weekends
and vacations and right before falling asleep?
❏ Yes ❏ No
2. Do you get really angry when somebody disrupts
you with a simple question or request, such as your
kid wanting to play catch?
❏ Yes ❏ No
3. When you’re not working, are you bored and restless
and do you pace nervously around the house?
❏ Yes ❏ No
4. Do you fail to have a good laugh at least three
times a week?
❏ Yes ❏ No
5. Do you have a conversation of more than three
sentences about something other than work at
least three times a week?
❏ Yes ❏ No
6. Are your pants or dresses more than one size bigger
this year than a year ago?
❏ Yes ❏ No
7. Do you answer after-work phone calls “ABC
Consulting,” even if it’s your mom calling?
❏ Yes ❏ No
8. Is your staple breakfast a chocolate-chip
cookie and double-tall latte?
❏ Yes ❏ No
MEMBERTIP
COURTESY OF
RUSS ALLEN
MARIETTA, GA
OFFICE SPACE IS always at a premium.
To put more office tools in easy reach I
had to reach out to the dining room for
my solution. Now in a corner on my desk
a lazy Susan puts most of my small office
tools in easy reach. On mine, I have a
three-hole punch, stapler, tape dispenser,
scissors, rulers, white paper correction fluid,
a paper clip holder, a Post-it holder, a stamp
container, Kleenex and hand lotion. A
Test results:
5– 8 “Yes” answers: Not good. It’s time for a vacation,
a meditation course and some serious soul-searching
about getting a life.
3–4: You’re pretty well balanced.
1–2: Slacker—get serious or get broke.—Tim Talevich
