Rethink Your Hours

Are you one of those who glorify long hours? Maybe even have a T-shirt or hoodie saying something similar: " Working 90 hours a week – and I love it."

But does putting in more hours lead to greater productivity and success? It's time to rethink what long work hours mean for our health and productivity.

Our culture glorifies overworking, equating long hours with dedication, ambition, and success. While working hard is crucial, the idea that longer hours automatically lead to better results is misleading. Are you one of those professionals working longer hours simply because it's expected, not because it's effective – prioritizing appearance or presence over the actual output?

Cognitive abilities start to decline after 6-8 hours of continuous work. Research shows that extending work hours to 10-12 hours per day can reduce cognitive performance by up to 20-30%, resulting in slower reaction times, impaired decision-making, decreased creativity, and more mistakes.

Consistently working long hours means risking your health. For some, it manifests in mental health issues (such as depression or anxiety). For others, it manifests in physical disorders (such as cardiovascular symptoms or sleep disorders). The deterioration of health is an insidious process: you do not notice it before it's too late. Speed blinds you, and you don't recognize the warning signs. I know what I'm talking about, for I've been there. Not just once but twice.

Working smarter, not harder, is better. Techniques like the Pomodoro method, time-blocking, and prioritizing tasks can help maintain high productivity without extended hours. It's not the time spent but the quality and focus during that time that counts. My favorite approach is 90 minutes of deep work, repeated thrice daily, with at least 30-minute breaks. On rare occasions, I add an extra 90 minutes.

Success should not be measured by hours worked but by quality of work. Shifting the focus from time spent to value created promotes a healthier, more sustainable approach to work.

Reflect on your work habits:

Are the extra hours necessary, or do cultural expectations drive them? How productive your extra hours are? What work do you put into your extra hours?

You might allocate those extra hours to simple, mechanical tasks, but not any planning, decision-making, or personnel issues, for that matter.

Yes, you say, but I must.

In that case, it's time for self-reflection.

Have you risen to the level of your incompetence (remember the Peter Principle)? Are you unable to delegate? Does working extra hours reflect some deep feeling of insufficiency? Etc.

If you cannot eliminate the extra hours, maybe you should hire a coach. Or pivot.

Whatever, do something. It's your health in jeopardy.

#CoachRisto

#CareerPerceptions

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#RETHINK

#timemanagement