The Working-Time Balance – First and Third World

The Working-Time Balance – First and Third World:

A good use of time is something essential in every worker life. It can be in our jobs, school, and house or just in the ordinary family life, but if we do not know how to organize our duties life becomes instantly heavier and stressful for anyone. But watch out, and be careful of not becoming a workaholic person or slave on your job. Many times it seems impossible to balance both styles of working. By analyzing and comparing the life styles of the first and third world people in their use of time, using as examples specifically the United States and Argentina respectively, we notice the difference between both.

For Americans and a big part of the first world culture, their system is very effective, and several aspects of it really are. Being organised is a very positive point and this is one of the main characteristics of this important area of the world. A schedule is not a problem for American people, they always have settled when, where and what they have to do at every moment with everything. This aspect of their style lets the person not to waste time in remembering their next duty and do things more quickly. This last matter is in fact their main objective, do things in the less time possible. But this method has some unhealthy aspects that we have to look at and take in account. Working too hard, under pressure, extra-hours and use time only for working can produce exhaustion to mind and body and finally makes the person feel totally stressed. In consequence, people can not use one hundred per cent of their potential and they start doing things in an inappropriate way. Besides, this tendency of working overtime makes people start spending less time with their family, and basic moments as the every day dinner starts to become a more uncommon activity in their homes, and sometimes it rarely happens with all the members.

On the other hand, we find the third world and as example Argentina a place where time is not considered for people as a major problem. If someone does not finish certain homework or job activity is not considered a big fault by the worker and they usually have a new opportunity to finish it. In other words, there are no dead-lines in this side of the world. This gives the person and even students the opportunity and tranquillity of feeling less pressure at the moment of having to finish their duty on time. This clearly helps people not to make time a cause for stress. Also, the fact of not working under pressure makes a labourer work with patience and dedication, not in hurry or taking the risk of doing it in the wrong way. But not all is as easy as it looks in this type of working; this method makes people careless and quite irresponsible in comparison to first world cities. Is something common to leave duties for later, some times days and in extreme cases even weeks. Although it looks easier, this use of so much time for something that could be done in less and more quickly makes people waste their time in doing nothing, and in some cases, having the same problem us first world citizens in working extra-hours, but with the negative of having less productivity. This time could be used for advancing on the next duty, spending more time with family and friends or even having a rest.

A balance should be found taking in consideration aspects of both cultures. On one side, it is positive to end things at the right time, but finishing tired and may be not working in the total of your potential seems inconvenient, which is the American style of work. And on the other side, finish duties in the appropriate way using full of your potential, but late and without caring of deadlines represents the Argentinean method. Both sides have their positive and negative characteristics. Find a balance would be logical solution for every worker of both cultures and countries. Why do not try to take the best parts of both and create a better mechanism for the use of time? For the moment, reach it seems impossible for both sides.

Nº of words: 712 words

Felipe Martínez Devoto