Some people consider working 60+ hours per week almost an honor. Many people take pride in being on time or late to work. You should make sure that you have enough time to take care of any other obligations or hobbies.
Some jobs and sectors have a direct relationship between the hours worked, and the outputs. This is not true for knowledge workers. It is not guaranteed that you will be able to come up with more creative ideas or develop a new strategy if you work 12 hours per day. The opposite is true.
Are you looking to improve your job? Your doctor might recommend a 40-hour workweek. These are just a few reasons.
You don’t have to do everything on your list. You’ll have to prioritise the most important tasks when time is short.
You will become more aware of how your priorities affect the outcomes of what you do. This awareness can be accompanied by a greater comfort in saying no or not to low-impact work.
If you have 10 hours worth of high-impact tasks but only 8 hours to complete them, you need to be more efficient.
The amount of time you have to work will dictate how much. You will be less productive if you give yourself less time. Once you can make time constraints a habit, your work will become more efficient.
While delegation can be stressful at times, it is important to remember that people grow best when they take on new challenges. The more you help your team to grow, the greater the collective potential to accomplish great things.
You may have a bad habit if you work too hard for too long.
You can stop the cycle of work overload by taking a step back. What is the reason you work so much? Is it because you are being forced to work 60 hours per week by your boss? Do you have 60 hours worth of high-impact work to do? Are you used to working 60 hours a week? You might be surprised to find out the answer.
Jonathan Schooler, an associate professor at the University of California found that writers and physicists often have their best ideas when they’re not actively working on projects.
What did they do? They did anything but work.
When you go for a walk or to the gym, great ideas are often generated. You’ll also be more creative and have more time for other aspects of your life. This can lead to many benefits in terms of health and happiness.
What does a 40-hour work week look like to you?
It can be scary to cut down on your work hours to 40 if you are used to working 60 hours per week.
This is your case, you can approach it as an experiment. Give it a try for a week to see what happens. Even if it doesn’t work for you, it could be a valuable learning experience. What could be the worst thing that could happen?
This month, try to do less work and not more. You could see a dramatic improvement in your performance.
