We're back to work. It shouldn't be this painful.

American work culture is a choice, and we can change it.

Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash

Happy end-of-Labor-Day, which Americans celebrate by returning to the office in full force. Did anyone else’s inbox explode on Tuesday? Because mine sure did.

This is a reliable pattern: After a quiet-ish August, the Tuesday after Labor Day is when American office-based work life kicks into high gear. Summer playtime is over; now it’s back to the grind.

Except that Americans don’t really get a full summer of relaxation. Americans work more than just about anyone else in any industrialized nation. Our productivity as of 2014 was 400 times what it was in 1950. Four in five Americans don’t take a proper lunch break, instead opting to eat at their desks or skip lunch entirely. On average, an American worker puts in 100 more hours per year on the job than a European.

I don’t know about you, but I would like my 100 hours back.