What I’ve noticed with folk like this is the double standards that they perpetuate. They’re usually great to work for as they’ll tell everyone around them to make sure that they’re not working all hours; that they use all their holidays; and that they don’t become a ball of stress. But do they look after themselves as well as they look after everyone else? Almost certainly not. 

A phrase that’s usually trotted out by campaigners against police states is useful here: who watches the watchmen? When you’re the boss, who’s there to tell you that you’re working too hard and that you need to take your foot off the gas a bit? Even if there is someone who can have a word, people who end up being in charge are usually fairly difficult to argue with. After all, they’ve got to be “high heid yins” , they know how best to do things. They probably don’t trust anyone else to do things properly either. 

But if you look at the people who have ultimate responsibility for everything, they know that they can’t work all the time and that would be less productive overall if they did. Even the most powerful man in the world chills out once in a while. There’s an article in Time this week where Obama says that however busy he is (and he’s a busy chap) he still usually has dinner with the family and watches Sportscentre on ESPN. 

Ultimately, as depressing as it may be, we’re all expendable. If we got knocked down by a bus tomorrow, someone would be able to take our place. There are a lot of buses around, so take some time out and relax. 

Why not chill out by hanging out down the sauna with the lads? New Kids on the Block did…