National Association of Social Workers

From the Director

Taking Some Time for Ourselves

By Elizabeth J. Clark, Ph.D., ACSW, MPH

For as long as I can remember, I have been in a competition with time. There never seems to be enough time in a day to get to all the things I want to do. My mother used to laugh at me and say, "You have 24 hours a day just like everyone else."

My near obsession with time has led to a whole lexicon about the subject. I'm not just referring to frequently used phrases such as a "timed agenda," or "travel time." Instead, I think of time as a commodity that you can spend or save, like money in the bank, and I am never happier than when a meeting is cancelled and I have "found time." Many of us now refer to "protecting time" on our personal calendar so that we can attend a family event or keep a medical appointment. I actually hear myself saying things like, "What is the drop-dead deadline?" as though the word "deadline" was not sufficiently descriptive.

This concern with time is evident in many aspects of my life. I hate to be late for a meeting or appointment of any type. Like any typical "type A behavior" personality, I have what is called "hurry sickness." We talk fast, walk fast, finish sentences for other people, avoid standing in lines, and multitask whenever we can. We are impatient with the slowness of those around us who don't seem to recognize the value of our time.

We've heard, and rejected, all of the old clichés: "Haste makes waste," "Stop and smell the roses," "An unprocessed life is not worth living." Those phrases don't apply to those of us who are time savvy.

Having said all of this, recently I was surprised to find myself at a social work conference considering attending a session titled "The Joy of Leisure Time." I think it was the word "joy" that caught my attention. It couldn't have been the phrase "leisure time," because that type of time isn't included in my time phrasebook.

Since I actually had a "little time to spare," I attended the session. The presenter made many excellent points, and I found myself listening closely to her description of what is happening in the workplaces of social workers. She spoke of social workers who regularly work through their lunch hours, who come to work early and leave later than the stated workplace hours, and who regularly do work, especially paperwork and email, during the evenings and weekends. This was happening routinely, not just during a crisis period or when there was a project deadline. Social workers who attended the presentation expressed concerns about not being able to get personal chores done, about struggling to attend functions with their families, and feeling burned out.

These concerns correlate with our recent NASW study of frontline social workers, "Assuring the Sufficiency of a Frontline Workforce: A National Study of Licensed Social Workers" (http://workforce.socialworkers.org/studies/natstudy.asp). The findings noted important trends and issues facing social workers today. The study report described cutbacks in staffing and high vacancy rates. What we didn't find were similar cutbacks in the need for services or in the size of individual caseloads. Social workers across the country are routinely picking up the slack by working extra time, not paid overtime.

The presentation made me realize that social workers everywhere are volunteering their leisure time, not to volunteer activities, but to their employers. The cumulative amount of this time rebate must be hundreds of thousands of hours each year. Translate that into dollars — not dollars for you, but dollars your employer saves by your donation.

Maybe it's time we thought about this from a clinical perspective. We recognize the concept of enabling. Are we enabling employers of social workers to continue downsizing with impunity? Why shouldn't they cut staff size when the remaining staff will volunteer their leisure time to keep things running for free?

As social workers we also realize that one of the major symptoms of burnout is feeling indispensable. When we are too busy at work to take a day off or get that physical check-up or go on a needed vacation or just get home on time to have dinner with our family, we may be teetering on the brink of burnout.

It may be high time to look at what we are doing to our downtime. It might be time to say, "Enough," and to reclaim our leisure time for actual leisure pursuits.

One of the other things my mother used to remind me of was that "time waits for no woman." Now that's one saying about time I believe.

To comment to Elizabeth J. Clark: newscolumn@naswdc.org

From October 2006 NASW News. © 2006 National Association of Social Workers. All Rights Reserved. NASW News articles may be copied for personal use, but proper notice of copyright and credit to the NASW News must appear on all copies made. This permission does not apply to reproduction for advertising, promotion, resale, or other commercial purposes.