Time to lie flat
Dilpreet Sherwal
Lie flat or ‘tang ping’ means to “reject grueling careers for a ‘low-desire life.’” It is observed that young Chinese are facing burnout due to years of rigorous schooling and a culture that promotes over-work. Chinese youth easily work for about 12 hours a day and follow six days a week work schedule. It leaves scant on non-existent time for leisure activities or for family. Thus youth in China now want to ‘lie-flat’. Interestingly, the Japanese have a word for “death by overwork.”. It’s “karoshi”, and it’s considered an inevitable result of Japan’s notoriously grueling work culture.
The intense competition to get into top colleges, crack NEET IIT-JEE starts in Class VIII. One is appalled to see the pressure that kids are facing nowadays. The syllabus keeps increasing along with parental expectation. During counseling sessions, families frequently discuss the topper who scored 1600 in SAT, made it to the top 100 in IIT-JEE, and also cracked NEET, whereas I see the kid trying to evade the eyes of the parent and find a restful spot to rest their gaze. In 80% of such cases it is the parent who actually needs counseling. Children are open to suggestions and learning but it is very difficult to make a headway with an over-ambitious parent with huge expectations.
The rise of anxiety and stress-induced illnesses in Indian youth stems from a work culture that pays scant attention to the personal life of an individual. It is normal for executives to work on project reports or other deliverables over the weekend so that it’s ready by Monday. Refusal can set them on a career disaster path. Meeting at night hours to accommodate international clients, too, is taking a toll on the health of the executives and is also affecting their family life. Let us learn to take care of ourselves first.
A healthy body resides in a healthy mind. Until we realize that at 6 pm the office closes and weekends are to pursue other hobbies and spend time with family, we will never get work out of us. Companies easily flout labor laws for profit and some employers make it worse for personal gains. In many companies work never stops after 6 pm. You might be reading a storybook to your child and beep you receive an email from your boss, it takes the joy out of what you are doing. In 2011, Volkswagen decided to stop sending emails 30 minutes after the end of shift time and start half an hour before the person returned to work. France has a “right to disconnect” law which was established in 2017. The law requires companies to establish hours for sending and answering emails. Banning emails or phone calls may not be the complete answer, it is about educating the employees to respect personal time and work-life balance.
Let us respect our body and mind and make a place for healthy pursuits. Maybe it is time to ‘lie flat’.
The writer is stream & career guide for international admissions at The Grad Hat
dilpreetsherwal@gmail.com
