Is Over-work over rated?

Do you relate with Anne Hathaway from the movie - “The Devil Wears Prada” who is a highly aspirational journalism graduate working under a ruthless boss. She changes herself to mold into a position that might bridge her dream job—changing her attitude, behavior, relationships, and everything around it. In the end, she learns that life is made of choices

If yes, then this article is for you,

Back in the B- School, our faculties and seniors prepared us for the ruthless battle for placements and packages. We were advised that after placements, corporate is no easy life. We will have to slog for even more hours than in college to succeed. If one dreams of working in consulting, one needs to be ready to sacrifice sleep to sustain. All the concepts of Work-Life Balance, and Fun @workplace started looking utopian. It seemed that the best days of life are about to end.?

These narratives and some other experiences shaped my outlook on the Corporate world. ? I started my first ever job with dreamy eyes. I was determined to give my best and make a mark for myself. I was very fortunate to get a lovely team, a dreamy work location, and most importantly a mentor and a guide. I started getting involved in as many projects as I could so that I could learn. The company always recognized my efforts and rewarded them.? Later on, I left the company to pursue a different career trajectory. In my stint of almost a year, I had a good share of both highs and lows.

?One year down the line, when I re-look at the period, I pondered some questions?

1. ?Would it be okay for me to work on holidays again??
2. Is putting extra hours every day at work normal?
3. Did I take a lot on my plate in order to learn and grow fast?
4. ?Did the rewards really make me happy after a point in time??
5. How to decide, how much is too much so that I am competitive but also have a good balance?
6. How to ensure that one sphere of life, doesn’t affect the others?
7. Is it sustainable in the long run?

While I was working, these questions seldom crossed my mind. It was all normal because everyone around me had a similar life. I felt fortunate that at least I have fewer family commitments. Maybe when I start working again, I would not want to repeat the same pattern of work.?

Here is why I changed my opinion

1. I realized that the pace with which I was working is not sustainable in long run and it can lead to fatigue and loss of interest to work at all?

2. It is important to maintain a balance within each sphere of your life to be happy. It includes health, work, family, friends, and yourself. Neglect of any area, will surely impact the other areas and slow down the progress.

3. Overwork or over-commitment is not just harmful to me but also sets the wrong precedence sometimes which compels even other colleagues to follow and later it becomes a culture of overwork?

4. I might start getting better at our work, but intellectually dumb in other spheres. ( it is difficult to follow or learn an intellectual simulating hobby in our free time/ weekend because all our mind wants to do is to be numb and do no less heavy lifting in the free time- So here Netflix fits the best)

5. Creativity got hampered, (one needs a relaxed mind to think afresh)

6. Not to forget, social connections and bonds are the most affected ones. Remember, it is a rarity to find a good friend/well-wisher who cares for you in this fast-paced world.

Was it just me? After talking to some of my friends and observing many, I realized that many of us have acted similarly (especially the ones who started working for the first time). For us working 11-13 hours of work was normal.

Maybe it was a culture of many companies that normalized overwork or our brains are still programmed to excel in the Industrial age where the number of hours of work was proportional to Productivity and Profit.

But is it the norm everywhere around the Globe?

Certainly not. In European countries like Germany, and France they work only during regular hours but still, business and the economy flourish there. Many countries have started considering 4 days a week model?

But in India, we still? follow the capitalist model of the USA?

While we are in Industry 4.0 and waiting for the transition to Industry 5.0, all we need is the skill of Deep Work to succeed. What sets successful people apart is their ability to focus on a task at a time rather than multitasking many.?

Of course, the above thoughts are one way of looking at things and can not be generalized. All I wish is for us to question our way of doing things more often because what we think is normal, might not be and if we have normalized the culture of overwork, then take a pause and reassess, the change starts with us.?

Let us strive for success in developing the skill of Deep work