The Power of Doing Less: Why Time Management Courses Don't Work And How To Spend Your Precious Life On The Things That Really Matter

Chapter 1

THIS PROBLEM IS REALLY SERIOUS

KNOW WHAT “KAROSHI” MEANS?

On 30 November 2007 the Nagoya District Court in Japan accepted Hiroko Uchino's claim that her husband, Kenichi, a third-generation Toyota employee, was a victim of karoshi when he died in 2002 at the age of 30. He collapsed at 4am at work, having put in more than 80 hours of overtime each month for six months before his death. The week of his death, Mr. Uchino told his wife, “The moment when I am happiest is when I can sleep”. He left two children, aged 1 and 3.

As a manager ...