Dear readers, according to a recent report, Singapore is the most tired country in the world in terms of fatigue score. Singapore has a fatigue score of 7.20, which is the highest in the world. Singapore is followed by Mexico (2), Brazil (3), USA (4) and Japan (5).
There are also two other rankings in the report: (a) most amount of time spent at work and (b) most amount of time spent on internet. Singapore was ranked second in the world for the most amount of time spent at work, with 2,238 average annual working hours. And Singapore was ranked third in the world for the most amount of time spent on internet: 7 hours 2 minutes on average daily.
I was not surprised at all by the report. I am so overworked and tired that I have to drink coffee and tea throughout the working day to keep myself awake. Also, I spend quite a lot of time on the internet. Since last year, when I work from home, I am still kept as busy or in fact busier by the pace of work.
Despite such a hectic work schedule, which keeps me tired, I always view it positively. I am always Grateful to have a job for a living, to have some form of contribution to the community from my work and I treat work as a process where I could learn to be a better man, for myself and to others. And despite work being a process which I spend so many hours every day, I always ensure that I do not treat work as the only reason for living on earth. I am mindful that I have other more important commitment and contributions in life, other than work.
As a person with a flair for numbers, let me dissect the 2,238 average annual working hours for you readers!
With many people working 5 days a week and minus-ing 11 public holidays in a year, that means to say, Singaporeans work on average 249 working days a week. Let us then take an estimate of annual leaves per employee here at 18 annual leaves per year, that give us 231 working days per Singapore per year on average.
So if we divide the 2,238 annual working hours with 231 working days on average, we will get 9.69 working hours per Singapore on average. So it means, Singaporeans here work an average of 9.69 hours! And if we base it on 24 hours a day, that means to say we spend 40% of our working day working!
Some food of thought for you?