Clock out for a lesson on burnout.

Byline: Bob Welch / The Register-Guard

John de Graaf, a Seattle man who directed the PBS documentary "Affluenza," couldn't believe it.

The Tacoma School District last fall banned recess in elementary schools, de Graaf says, "to maximize instruction time to prepare the children to compete in the global economy."

"This," he says, "is nuts."

De Graaf, 58, sees the Tacoma decision as yet another sign that our culture has shifted into a dangerous form of overdrive. In essence, we're working far too much. And are now passing on the compulsion to our children.

"This is an issue we need to start taking seriously," says de Graaf, who will explore the impact of overwork at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Cozmic Pizza, 199 W. Eighth Ave. "There's not a politician of either party who gives the time of day to this. It's an absolute political blind spot."

Now, Bob Welch supporting de Graaf's slowdown offense is like Britney Spears promoting "Marriage for a Lifetime" seminars: I'd be the poster child for overcommitment except I wouldn't have time for the photo shoot. Still, I'm convinced de Graaf is right on.

"We used to ask someone, `How are you?' and they'd say, 'Fine,' ' de Graaf says. "Now, it's `Busy.' '

Americans work nine weeks a year longer than people in Western European countries, he says.

He points out that schools such as Harvard and MIT are sending letters to parents of prospective students telling them not to enroll their children in a string of extracurricular programs. "They tell the parents the kids are burned out by the time they get to college."

De Graaf says the go-go-go compulsion is fueled by many things. Among them:

Materialism. His "Affluenza" documentary and book of the same name suggest we put such a premium on "things" that we work longer to afford them.

Technology. "Socializing has been the victim. People sit in coffee shops with laptops and don't talk to anybody."

The increasing gap between the rich and the poor. The wealthy, he says, are compelled to retire early and buy luxury toys, which requires more work. The middle class gets in debt while trying to "keep up with the Joneses," then has to work more to pay off that debt. And "poor Americans have lost so much ground they have to work harder just to make ends meet."

Government and business' unwillingness to recognize the problem. "We have never had a serious national conversation about this," he says.

The result? We're far less healthy than most industrial countries. "We're dead last - 27th - of the 27 countries in the World Health Organization in terms of overall health," he says. "It's stress. Sleeplessness. Eating junk food."

Families are crumbling; "about one-third as many families as in 1970 regularly have dinner together or take a vacation together."

Communities are crumbling. "In Bob Putnam's 'Bowling Alone,' he points out that people don't have time to volunteer for the community."

Even the environment pays a price. "The longer people work beyond 35 hours a week, the less likely they are to recycle," he says.

De Graaf is part of the Take Back Your Time movement, which advocates public policy changes, such as laws placing limits on the amount of compulsory overtime work an employer could impose.

Beginning in 2003, the organization has celebrated each Oct. 24, which signifies the day we would be through working for the year - if we shortened our workweeks to those of Western European countries.

The irony, de Graaf points out, is that much of the impetus for the frenetic pace comes from baby boomers who once espoused that "all you need is love." "As a generation, we've forgotten some things we knew were important, like life shouldn't revolve around stuff."

I'd like to say he's preaching to the choir except, lately, I haven't been able to sing. I'm too busy.

More info: www.timeday.org.