No matter how tough you think you are, the stress resulting from this work-longer-and-harder strategy is enormous. And that stress doesn't magically disappear at the end of the workday. You don't just leave your office and instantly transform into a relaxed, easygoing person.

As a culture, we have become more irritable, quick-tempered, cranky, and negative. Witness the outbreak of road rage and airline rage. We consume over fifteen tons of aspirin and roll upon roll of Rolaids in an effort to combat the nervous minds and jumpy stomachs caused by stress. Depressing? Well, more than twenty-two million people are taking mood-lifting drugs like Prozac and Zoloft.

Quality time with your spouse? Romantic evenings? Great sex? Fuhgeddaboudit! Over 50 percent of marriages end in divorce. Seen your kids lately? Been to a Little League game or the play they were in? A study of one thousand third to twelfth graders by Ellen Galinsky, cofounder of the Families and Work Institute, revealed that what's most important to children is that their parents bring less stress home from work and focus more on them when the family is together.

Yet the children of today's workforce, shuffled and shuttled from dance class to soccer practice to homework to bed, are managed rather than loved. And we wonder why so many have problems and act out.

Vacations, if taken at all, have become long weekends with a cell phone in the golf bag or a beeper in a backpack. It's no wonder that so many people are asking the same tough question: "How come, if I'm so successful, I'm not having more fun? And if I'm so 'together,' why do I feel so out of control?"

The high stress level obviously leads to burnout, so it's not surprising that a Wall Street Journal/ABC News poll found that more than half of all Americans would choose a new line of work if they had the chance.

Yeah, But!

"I'm going to work at this place for another couple of years, and then cash in and get out of the rat race," my hundred-hour-workweek seatmate told me. Many like him are willing to put up with the stress and sacrifices in their pursuit of the big payola.

The problem is not only that this "run, run, rush, rush, race, race" strategy creates stress and limits the quality of life, but, as you will see in forthcoming chapters, this work style also hinders performance, productivity, and creativity. "It's tempting to link the United States productivity boom to the long hours American workers put in, but it just ain't so," writes Ted Fishman, a business reporter for USA Today. Mindy Fried, a researcher at the Center for Work and Family, has found that overworked employees suffer from more stress and become less productive and capable than more rested ones. U.S. companies that have cut workers' hours have seen worker morale and productivity improve. They also have more success retaining employees. By American standards, the Dutch, who work a mere 1,370 hours a year, compared to our 2,000 plus, might look slothful. Think again. Their economy is the most productive in the world."

After recognizing how hard you are working, it's time to realize what you're missing.