A Day in the Life of Ji-hye, the ‘Professional Overtime Worker’
Here is Ji-hye, an ordinary office worker who hears the phrase ‘married to work.’ Her morning starts with work-related notifications ringing from her smartphone. On the subway to work, she skims through emails she couldn’t check earlier, and as soon as she sits down, she is overwhelmed by a flood of work requests.
Ji-hye is what you might call a ‘master of multitasking.’ She writes reports while negotiating work via messenger and prepares meeting materials while answering phone calls. Everyone says she is competent, but Ji-hye’s heart is burning out. Although she moves busily all day, it feels like she hasn’t completed a single task by the time she is supposed to leave. As a result, the shadow of ‘overtime’ looms large over her desk once again.
“I really need to leave on time tomorrow.”
The promise she has repeated hundreds of times feels as empty as a cold dinner. Buried in work, she postpones plans, loses hobbies, and has fewer conversations with her family. Suddenly, Ji-hye wonders, ‘Am I really living properly?’
Chapter 1: Why Can’t We Leave Work?
The ‘Illusion’ of Overtime
Many office workers, like Ji-hye, consider ‘multitasking’ a measure of their ability. However, handling multiple tasks simultaneously is merely ‘diverting attention’ from the brain’s perspective. Our brains are designed to focus entirely on one task at a time.
When Ji-hye checks her messenger while writing a report and then returns to the report, her brain expends unnecessary energy. It takes more time than expected to regain focus. Ultimately, work efficiency decreases, minor mistakes increase, and this leads to a vicious cycle of overtime. We may think we are busy working, but in reality, we are just wasting time in a flurry.
The Heart That Can’t Say ‘No’
“Ji-hye, can you take care of this?”
Thirty minutes before quitting time, her boss always throws new tasks at her. Afraid of being seen as irresponsible or disliked, Ji-hye can’t bring herself to say, “Can I handle this tomorrow morning?” This desire to be a ‘good person’ robs us of our evenings.
It is essential to acknowledge that there are limits to our time and energy, and it takes courage to politely draw the line on impossible requests. This is not selfish behavior; it is a professional attitude to maintain one’s work rhythm and produce better results.
Chapter 2: Work-Life Balance is a Right and a Skill
One day, on the brink of burnout, Ji-hye makes a significant decision. ‘I will reclaim my stolen evenings!’ Instead of reducing her workload, she decides to completely change her ‘working method.’
First Skill: Build a ‘Wall of Focus’
Ji-hye sets aside 90 minutes for her most important tasks, during which she turns off all notifications and focuses solely on one task. Initially anxious, she is surprised to find that tasks that took her three hours to muddle through are completed neatly in just 90 minutes. The moment she realizes that it is not the ’length’ of working time but the ‘density’ that matters is crucial.
Second Skill: Design Your ‘Evening’
“What should I do after work?”
In the past, Ji-hye would have just stared blankly at the TV or fiddled with her smartphone until she fell asleep. But now, she actively begins to ‘design’ her evenings. Mondays are for reading books by her favorite authors, Wednesdays for walking in the local park, and Fridays for enjoying a delicious dinner with friends.
As her evenings fill with ‘small plans’ that she looks forward to, her days change completely. She now welcomes quitting time not as ’the end of work’ but as ’the beginning of enjoyment.’ She physically feels that resting well is the best investment for her tomorrow.
Third Skill: ‘Rest’ Requires Practice Too
We have learned how to work, but we have not learned how to rest properly. True rest is not merely a state of stopping work. It is an ‘active act’ of completely disconnecting from work and recharging the body and mind.
Sleeping all weekend or drowning weekday fatigue in alcohol cannot be true rest. Instead, it only tires the body further. We must find and consistently practice ‘recovery techniques’ that suit us, such as light exercise, meditation, or deep conversations with loved ones.
For Those Dreaming of an Evening Life
Months later, Ji-hye is no longer a ‘professional overtime worker.’ She leaves work on time, enjoys dinners with loved ones, and delights in learning new hobbies on weekends. The surprising thing is that her work performance has improved significantly compared to before.
Work-life balance is not simply an arithmetic concept of dividing work and life time 50:50. It is a process of regaining a life balance where we can immerse ourselves fiercely while working and return to our complete ‘self’ while resting.
Are you also longing for the lost evenings like Ji-hye? If so, remember this: the right to a life with evenings, to balance work and life, belongs to no one but you. How about taking the first step to reclaim that right today?