With all the rushing around, it often seems like work is consuming our lives—and it very well may be. According to Sylvia Ann Hewlett, Americans today are working about 16 hours more each week than they were five years ago. Sylvia, founding president of the Center for Work-Life Policy and co-author of the report "Extreme Jobs: The Dangerous Allure of the 70-hour Workweek," says our responsibilities are increasing, much due to the fact that our companies are expanding globally, forcing us to liaison with people in different time zones. Jean talks to Sylvia about how to rein it in and maintain a work-life balance.

• Women, more than men, find it hard to sustain these jobs. Nearly 80 percent of women who hold an extreme job say they can't keep it up for more than a year.
• Let go of the male competitive model. Women think that if they somehow don't get on that track, they fail, but that's not the case.
• Understand that it's not that women have suddenly got wimpier—the work market has just gotten much worse.