Americans are very busy. In fact, busyness is often a point of pride. As a nation, vacation days are rarely available and often remain unused even by those who have them. Expanding workloads and family responsibilities have virtually driven leisure and play from our schedules as everyone rushes from one task to the other. This overwhelming way of living is having a very real impact on our individual and collective well-being.

What are the economic, cultural, and health-related effects of this chronic busyness? Are there practical steps that individuals and families can take to drastically reorient their lifestyles- to relearn the value of leisure? And, why aren't we more like Denmark, a nation that leads the world in work-life balance and whose citizens consistently rank among the happiest and healthiest in the world?
 

Join new America NYC for a conversation on the importance of leisure and play with Brigid Schulte, author of Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has Time; Catherine Saint Louis, Health and Science Reporter for the New York Times; and Ambassador Jarl Frijs-Madsen, Consul General of Denmark in New York.