Cue the classic Nordic work-life balance. Rich Perusi, former New Yorker, has been living in Copenhagen for seven years.
People stay pretty tight to a 9 to 5 workday. But I do think that we get as much done in a short period of time here as we were doing in longer times working in New York.
One of the comments we actually heard when we first came here was a Dane saying, when she saw someone working late, “Are they doing it because they can’t get their work done? Is there something wrong with them? Versus, “Are they just trying to get ahead in working ?” There is a sense that,yes, work’s important and and you need to get your work done to a high quality, but you also need to make sure it’s balanced appropriately.
Sara Alhopuro is a diplomat who has shaped her work.