How to stop the destructive culture of "hard" work – and live a better life

Speculations about whether some employees at Goldman Sachs work over 100 hours a week have brought a lot of attention to the issue of overwork recently. In this article, I will discuss how people can even think about putting in that amount of hours. I will also explain why I believe hard work (in the sense of working many hours) is nothing impressive – and what you could actually do to live a successful life. Just to be clear: I am referring to wealthy countries and to people for whom it is not necessary to work incredibly hard to generate sufficient earnings.

However, before we dig deeper into the topic, I want to ask you:

Can you identify with any of the following scenarios?

• You don't work efficiently and spend some time on social media and news-pages, to ensure you do not leave the office too early. You make sure the others see that you put in the extra hour.
• You feel bad telling your colleagues that you have to finish at 3.30 p.m. on a Wednesday because of a personal appointment.
• You work late night to optimise a Powerpoint presentation, the content of which would also fit in bullet points on a simple Word document. 
• You tell your friends that you worked 70 hours last week. And although you rant about the stress, you're really hoping for recognition.
• A relative tells you about an old friend and praises her to the skies for working so hard and diligently all her life. You dream of receiving the same compliments.
• You read in a blog post that successful people get up at 4 a.m. and you tell yourself to use your time more efficiently in the future.

Sounds familiar? I made a lot of such experiences and you probably did too.

But did you notice something? All these scenarios refer to work in the context of time. None of them to the content of the work or what you actually achieved.

My opinion: Stress and overtime have been abused as status symbols for far too long. Making a name for oneself by "working hard" (in the sense of working many hours) is an easy way to gain respect from other "high performers". Unfortunately, the psychological and psychosomatic consequences are devastating. 

"Working hard" is an easy way to gain respect.

It has long been scientifically proven that a 60-hour week does not make people happy. It's time to stop positively connoting "hard work". I say: We have to focus more on concepts like purpose, self-realisation and passion.

Now let me briefly summarise why we are stuck in a world of overwork - and what you can do to change that.

Why do we all work so "hard"?

Time is undoubtedly the most valuable resource in a person's life. And yet we throw away so much of it. Even though technological progress would allow us to work 4-day weeks (or even less), especially the smartest and best educated people spend a lot of their time at work.

Working too many hours is proven to cause physical, psychological and social damage. It is moreover evident that companies with overworked stuff suffer from a loss of productivity. 

So, why do we do it? There are many causes, most of which overlap. I would like to mention a few essential ones here.

1) For many, work is their main hobby

One of the shocking things I learned when I started working was how incredibly uncreative some of my colleagues were when it came to spending their free time. For a large part of these people, their only hobby seems to be consumption. The common answer to the question of what they did last the weekend was: “My boyfriend and I watched a new Netflix series and went to Ikea”. 

If you let these people work less, they wouldn't really know what to do with their free time.

A little exaggerated, you might say: If you let these people work less, they wouldn't really know what to do with their free time. They need the work, even if it does not fulfil them, simply because they need a (seemingly) meaningful occupation with which they can spend their lives.

2) Stress is a status symbol

Besides material status symbols, there are also many intangible ones in our society. In the world of work, one of them is stress.

The logic is the following: Those who are stressed

• have a lot to do,
• are in great demand,
• have desirable qualities,
• are rare on the labour market,
• and are therefore very successful, right?

That's why we are constantly surrounded by people who complain about how much they have to do. An overflowing to-do list is not a flaw you want to hide, but a medal you are proud to show everyone. The busy bee has a better reputation than the lazy dog.

We are constantly surrounded by people who complain about how much they have to do.

However, in most cases, the success of the busy bee is only an illusion. Studies have shown that organisations where people work less are just as productive or even more productive. It is tempting to equate presence in the office with performance. But what counts in the end is the result, not the working time. Psychologists say: If you constantly complain that you have too much to do, you are not providing solutions - you have a problem.

3) A misguided work culture has been established

Jobs with an extreme workload promise you the responsibility of solving big problems, learning incredibly fast and a general career boost. This allows companies to demand extreme dedication by offering the valuable label of "top talent" in return – a ticket to success at the top end of the labour market. No wonder companies that exploit manpower and have high rotation claim to hire “only the most talented employees”.

The pioneers of the waste-of-life-time-movement are often found in consulting and investment banking.

The pioneers of the waste-of-life-time-movement are often found in consulting and investment banking. Here, leading companies have managed to establish the ideas of excellence and high performance in a way where success is measured in working hours. So if you want to be successful in this working environment and if you want to gain respect and recognition, you have to put in an above-average amount of time.

Of course, many say: "I know the next two years will be hard, but I have to get through it and then I can look for something more relaxed". However, many who join a top consultancy or bank quickly adopt the culture of overwork. Even when they leave they are used to a misguided image of success. Because they have learned to define themselves through performance in terms of time worked and have built up a network of people who think the same way.

So, how can we get rid of the destructive culture of overwork?

I base this article on the assumption that the overarching goal of every human being is to be happy. The topic of happiness is much debated, difficult to define and widely studied. Researchers agree that certain conditions have a positive effect on almost everyone, especially the nurturing of interpersonal relationships. But there is no unified consensus how exactly happiness is achieved.

At the end of the day, whatever it is that enables a person to live a fulfilled life - it always has something to do with how one spends one's time. And that's why I question whether it is a good thing to always work hard. Because that leaves you little time to find out what actually makes you happy.

So here are a few approaches to escape the culture of overwork:

1) Find your passion(s)

You need a reason to work less. As soon as you have something to do in your free time that you are really passionate about, you have an incentive to work efficiently and to advocate fair working hours. You wouldn't believe how much more efficiently I work when I know the waves are good and I can enjoy the surf in the afternoon once work is done.

Unfortunately, we have never learned how to really look at our needs and passions. Finding out what fulfils us is easier said than done. Luckily exercises, workshops or other inspiration is just one google search away.

Whatever it is, one thing is clear: Hobbies that make you happy are those where you don't passively consume (Netflix, shopping) but actively participate (volunteering, sports) or, in the best case, create something (painting, making music).

If you pursue your passion, your colleagues will understand that you have turned away from overwork.

But here's the best part: If you pursue your passion, your colleagues will understand that you have turned away from overwork. I have often been admired for leaving the office strictly at 5 o'clock because I wanted to have enough time for my hobbies. Believe me, no one will expect you to work late if you join a volunteering event in the evening.

2) Become aware of the shortness of your life

The Roman philosopher Seneca knew that life is short and dedicated his famous work "De brevitate vitae" ("On the Shortness of Life") to the subject. I will take the liberty of quoting the great thinker here: 

“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested.”

What can we learn from him? Realise that your time is finite, then you will invest it in the things that are worthwhile for you. It is precisely this kind of thinking that gives the generations Y and Z so much power as employees to create more purpose in the business world.

3) Accept that work is never done

Calling it a day even though there are still tasks on the to-do list? I know from my own experience how difficult that is. Of course you can optimise your self-organisation, train yourself to set realistic goals, learn to prioritise and so on. And I am the biggest fan of smart work.

But let's be honest: especially if you work in a position of responsibility or you run your own project, there is always something to do. You are never finished. And you have to accept that.

You are never finished. And you have to accept that.

This is my personal experience: When you are aware of the fact that you cannot be done because there is always another potential task to tackle, you will stop feeling guilty about it. Once you have that acceptance, you can determine how much time you want to invest in a certain project on a certain day. And when you stop working at a fixed time, you look back at the great things you have accomplished, write down what you shouldn't forget the next day and leave the office with a smile on your face.

4) Pursue your own project(s)

Maybe your passion is in a field that involves work. Maybe your dream is to start your own start-up or your own consultancy. But why are you still spending most of your time in a job where all you do is complain about stress? Your time belongs to you, why do you just give it to some company? Have you ever thought about what you could achieve in an own business with the 60 hours you currently work for someone else? 

Your time belongs to you, why do you just give it to some company?

If your are running your own business, you may be stressed at times and you need to know your limits. But you are dedicating your valuable time to something that is worth it. Putting a lot of work into an own project can be fulfilling if you work on a vision that you stand for. Even if you work a lot, you will have a different mindset. Because you will not measure your success in hours, but in what you have achieved. And you won't tell everyone how stressed you are, you will talk about the vision you have.

A quick conclusion

Of course, I could have simply suggested that you switch jobs, to change to a company where there is less work. But that doesn't create a paradigm shift, does it?

I believe that senior management, banking, consulting, entrepreneurship, and statesmanship are compatible with human life. All it takes is enough young talents to demand a different work culture.

Yet, of course, I must say: choose your work wisely. It's time to say goodbye to the idea that you have to enslave yourself to your work ("at least for two years of consulting to start my career") in order to be successful in life.

You should actively manage your life time and question every now and then whether you are investing it properly.

Tobias is Co–founder at evolvia, an agile consulting collective that enables startups and innovative companies to integrate sustainability into their core business. Evolvia's approach is called "green & lean" and is based on the conviction that the potential for a green economy lies within the company and its' employees expertise - it just needs to be unlocked.