Work + Leisure = Weisure

 The line dividing work and leisure time is blurring right before our eyes, says one expert, and it’s creating a phenomenon called “weisure time.

“Many who haven’t already abandoned the 9-to-5 workday for the 24-7 life of weisure probably will do so soon, according to New York University sociologist Dalton Conley, who coined the word. It’s the next step in the evolving work-life culture.

“Increasingly, it’s not clear what constitutes work and what constitutes fun,” be it “in an office or at home or out in the street,” Conley said. Activities and social spaces are becoming work-play ambiguous, he says, as “all of these worlds that were once very distinct are now blurring together.”

Of course, we have technology to thank, or blame. 

It’s no coincidence, Conley says, that weisure has been growing simultaneously with the popularity of the personal computer, which has helped professionals with more tedious parts of their jobs — and has made many jobs somewhat more interesting.

Weisure has been fueled by social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, where “friends” may actually be business partners or work colleagues.

“Social networking as an activity is one of those ambiguous activities,” Conley said. “It’s part fun and part instrumental in our knowledge economy.” 

The story goes on to suggest the costs associated with the blurring of the lines between work and leisure.  As seen in cities such as Washington, DC and New York, the blurring of lines creates the need to be “on” all the time, and rewards instant responses to e-mails, IMs, and text messages.  As CNN notes, 

Perhaps more disturbing is the idea that weisure is changing us. “We lose our so-called private sphere,” Conley said. “There’s less relaxing time to be our so-called backstage selves when we’re always mingling work and leisure.”

Guilty as charged, according to CNN’s online quiz.  So much for work/life balance.

Read the story in its entirety.

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