Split the Long Day

There are phases, when there is simply too much work at office. No matter how efficient one is, it requires working longer hours. The usual approach is to stretch the day into the evening, complete the work and then head home. Alternately, one may choose to start the day early to handle the additional load. Both these approaches require sacrificing personal life in favor of professional life in the sense that one gets to spend less time with family. While this approach of stretching the day may work for a short period, it can really be stressful, when needed to be done frequently.

While working on my doctoral thesis, I had asked this question to my advisor. At that point, I was staying alone and the question was largely hypothetical. I had a good rapport with my advisor and I admired him for many aspects. The technique, he shared, is quite simple actually. It involves still leaving office at regular time, no matter what the workload be, and spend the next few hours with kids and spouse. When the dinner is done and kids are in bed, it’s time for Phase 2. That is when one can put in a few hours to handle the extra load. This way personal life is not compromised at the expense of professional life, and kids still remember who their parents are?:)

A byproduct of splitting the day is that you also get a break and start Phase 2 with more energy and attention. Personally, I am more productive during the calm of the night. I have used this technique over the years and it has worked wonders for me. Lately, there has been a need of taking calls with colleagues located in very different time zones. I have adapted this technique and have been scheduling calls at 9 PM, instead of 6 PM. As they say, the advisor of doctoral thesis is advisor for life!