Step away from the desk

Austin clocks in among most overworked cities in the nation

Austinites have longer work weeks than most Americans.

Nicholas McComber/Getty Images

A new study on work-life balance proves Austinites work harder than almost anyone else in the country.

Mobile technology company Kisi set out to determine which major U.S. cities offer the best work-life balance, and which ones could use an adjustment by examining work intensity, society and institutions, and livability. Overall, Austin ranks 10th-worst for work-life balance (No. 31 out of 40), but just as sobering is how overworked our residents are.

According to the study, Austin is one of the most overworked cities in the nation. Fifteen percent of Austin workers work at least 48 hours a week, the highest figure in the study, and, on average, the Austin workforce stays on the clock 43.5 hours a week, the third-longest in the country. Local workers arrive at work at 8:57 am but are on the road much earlier, commuting about 27 minutes just one way, the study says.

Austin falls toward the bottom of the list — No. 27 — for institutional and societal support. The city ranks low across the board, from healthcare and access to mental health to gender equality. However, Austin ranks higher than most cities for LGBTQ+ equality, at No. 19.

The Capital City redeems itself, though, for livability, No. 12, which takes into account overall happiness, safety, and access to wellness and leisure. This allowed Kisi to determine "whether their residents can enjoy their environment after office hours," the study says.

In general, the Lone Star State could stand to improve its work-life balance. Houston ranks lowest in Texas, at No. 37, and is the second-most overworked place in the nation. Dallas and San Antonio also rank in the bottom 10, Nos. 32 and 31, respectively.

Those who want to "work smarter rather than harder," says Kisi, should consider San Diego, California, which boasts the best work-life balance in the nation. Globally, that honor goes to Helsinki, Finland, which scores a perfect 100 in the report.

Austinite who kayaked 86 miles with one arm has Texas Book Fest debut

Photo by Daniel Cavazos

Avrel Seale is discussing his post-stroke kayaking expedition at the festival on November 16.

This year’s Texas Book Festival features more than 275 authors who have accomplished amazing things. But only one of them rowed nearly 90 miles down the Nueces River with one arm. (We think.)

Author of The River Nuts Avrel Seale is making his Texas Book Festival debut on November 16, and participating in the 4 pm panel "Memoirs of Adventure & Adversity Exploring Nature" in the Capitol Auditorium. He’ll talk about his feat of physical and mental endurance in a session alongside author Kevin Fadarko (A Walk in the Park) and moderated by outdoor journalist Pamela LeBlanc.

For all intents and purposes, January 19, 2018, was just another ordinary Friday for 50-year old author Seale. The writer and editor for the University of Texas' Marketing and Communications team was in his office on The Drag when he was hit with a devastating hemorrhagic stroke.

"My coworkers called an ambulance, which took me to Seton Main," says Seale. "I had emergency brain surgery that night that probably saved my life."

Avrel Seale Austin author Thankfully, Seale's story includes help from friends along the way.Photo by Daniel Cavazos

The stroke left Seale partially paralyzed on the right side of his body, with his right arm completely immobile. After two years of rehab and physical therapy — and still with just one working arm — Seale decided to undergo one of his biggest self-made challenges: attempting to kayak an 86-mile stretch of the Nueces River with lifelong friend Wade Walker in tow.

Seale's extensive journaling of the adventure would later become his 11th book, The River Nuts. The 182-page story didn’t just chronicle Seale and Walker's voyage down the South Texas river, but also covered the preparation for the journey in great detail.

"I had always wanted to. I thought it would be fun," explains Seale. "The stroke just forced me to find a different way."

Seale and Walker accomplished something that many others have in the past. Kayaking a river to the sea was not a groundbreaking idea, but few people — if any — had done it facing the same challenges as Seale did.

Avrel Seale Austin author with Wade Walker Avrel Seale and his rowing partner Wade Walker.Photo by Kirstin Seale

Someone who has had a dominant hand in a cast can understand how the immediate shift could test one’s patience. Even though most of the journey was spent cruising downstream — not to mention having someone else in the kayak doing the lion’s share of the work — there was quite a bit more to the experience than a spectator might expect.

From pulling up rudders to adjusting foot pedals that help propel the craft, using his functioning arm to man an oar, and helping set up camp each night, Seale started facing difficulties shortly after their launch. Sometimes he was his own worst enemy.

"I had mistakenly reversed the left and right pedal arms for both pedal drives when we first assembled the kayak months earlier,” he explains. “This led to us stripping the threads and losing one pedal completely."

In addition to the rigorous physical demand on the writer, he also faced mental roadblocks.

"The biggest mental challenge was the lead-up to the trip, both the painstaking planning and the very real fear of dying,” he says “By the time we got on the water, that stress and fear lifted, and it was all about making the most of a beautiful experience."

Avrel Seale Austin author Seale's stroke couldn't keep him from nature.Photo by Daniel Cavazos

Published by TCU press in the fall of 2023, The River Nuts came out after that year's submission deadline for the Texas Book Festival. Since then he’s also written The Hewetts: An American Saga in the Age of Vaudeville, Circuses, and Bands, a wild historical account spanning four generations of a family of self-made entertainers.

"I've written 12 books over the last 25 years, and this is definitely the highlight of my career so far," he points out. "Hopefully it will open even more doors for me. I'm tickled to death."

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