Say NO to the 70-Hour Workweek

Sharing my 2 cents on Narayana Murthy's recent statement -

Such perspective is outdated and should be left in the boomer generation.

We need to re-define our metrics of success as it is no longer only work centered. It is not how many hours you clock while sacrificing your time and well-being for peanuts! It sounds like exploitation of labour disguised as patriotism.

Just by 4-5 hours of deep work per day, one can achieve a lot more than working 14 hours a day. Overworking leads to burnout, anxiety, resentment, and poor mental health.

Infact, we have studies that clearly show that a 4-day work week reduces stress, boosts productivity, cuts pollution, ensures better work life balance and increases happiness.

Before saying that the new generation does not work hard, start valuing them and compensating them fairly and watch them deliver. Let’s stop glorifying number of work hours and start valuing results and mental health and embrace a future where people aren’t treated like machines. Quality work beats mindless overwork any day.

Just as driving a car faster doesn’t make it more fuel-efficient, working longer hours doesn’t guarantee higher productivity. It's about optimizing performance, not just extending the journey.

Imagine a smartphone. You wouldn’t measure its effectiveness by how long it stays switched on, but by what it delivers during its operation. Similarly, evaluating a worker's worth based on hours clocked is like judging a phone by its uptime, ignoring the quality of the service, performance and the solutions it provides.