Once upon a time, work took place outside of the home during designated hours. Today, that world is a fairy tale.
If you checked your work email this Thanksgiving, you're likely aware that at most companies there is an unspoken expectation that employees tend to emails at all hours.
It would be easy to blame heartless managers or short-sighted CEOs for the collapsing boundaries between work and life. But the causes of this cultural shift are far more complex. As Americans, we pride ourselves on hard work and self-sacrifice.
As human beings, we thrive on feeling needed. Neurologically, certain elements of work can be addictive. Studies have found that satisfying curiosity about a novel event -- say, a new and unread email sitting in your inbox -- releases dopamine in the brain, which conditions us to check again and again.
Despite the monumental shift in the accessibility of work, organizations continue to offer employees the same advice they did before the invention of the BlackBerry: Seek work/life balance.
The idea holds inherent appeal. Too bad it's a myth. See why on CNN.com
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