*This is a continuation of an earlier post*

I feel comfortable in assuming that everyone who visits my blog has, at some point in time, at least heard of Timothy Ferriss and ‘The 4-Hour Workweek.’

Reading about the man’s philosophy of ‘lifestyle design’ makes NOT getting excited about the prospects of streamlining one’s life and reducing outside stress very, very difficult. And indeed, Ferriss just happens to be one of the better known and more charismatic leaders of a rapidly-spreading counter current movement calling for less time spent at work and more time spent on ourselves.

The more one looks, the easier it becomes to find examples of people beginning to fight the system of the 40+ hour workweek with minimal vacations. CNN recently highlighted Edgar S. Cahn, referred to as a leader in “a national campaign that claims that speed kills. Its leaders say that Americans are so starved for time, our need for speed is destroying our health, families and communities.” And in response, a socially-concerned community-driven organization has emerged, known as TimeBanks USA.

Even on less dedicated fronts, many other blogs are joining in on the fight: in just the past two days, Get Rich Slowly analyzed bartering as a means of more efficient financial exchanges, and Newly Corporate shared “Tips For Getting The Most Out Of Your Vacation Time.”

At the moment, in and of itself, this still-budding philosophy is rather inconsequential. Followers of these blogs are predominantly young people still orienting themselves to the workforce, and they compose only a minority of all American workers. Nevertheless, they are fanning the flame, causing other to slowly adapt their thinking and become less hostile to actually taking time off in the interest of health and long-term productivity.

For now, however, this whole set of ideals sets in direct contrast to the “game” I described earlier, in which I should be dedicating every waking moment to some sort of resume-boosting activity, the game I will only play on my own terms.