Working Too Many Hours Is Counter Productive
How did we get to this 24 by 7 world? One person I know blames the
Blackberry. Even before the Blackberry though, we had pagers that made
people easily accessible. Oh sure without cell phones maybe our response
was less immediate but we still could provide 24 by 7 response.
When I started my career at AT&T people worked from 8am to 5pm. I had
a position in sales which included customer service i.e. helping the
customer to locate his/her equipment after it was ordered. Not everyone
took the customer service piece seriously. In fact sales being sales
most account executives wanted to sell not chase orders. I had
colleagues who actually “hid” from their customer’s service calls!
Now you can get away with that when you are the only game in town but
when competition is fierce you have to change your tune. So eventually
even AT&T got to having it the rule rather than the exception that
people worked long hours and were accessible 24 by 7. No more hiding!
As a youngster I remember jokes about doctors in the summer all being
on the golf course on Wednesday. “Don’t get sick on Wednesday unless
you are on the golf course.” Haven’t heard that in a while and I
actually had a Wednesday appointment with my doctor. She may not work 24 by 7
but the office is open for emergencies 7 days a week.
The pendulum has swung in the opposite direction now. We’re working
longer and harder these days and it has gotten really difficult to take
time for ourselves. I struggle with this myself. Last summer I took my
first vacation without my computer or telephone and went to Italy for
two weeks. Scary!! I survived and surprisingly last year was my best
year in business. Maybe it was because of the vacation?!
This year I have already put my July vacation on my calendar and made
plans to go to Santa Fe, New Mexico. I tell my clients that it’s
important to set some boundaries around the time we need for ourselves and
our families. I am very good about scheduling family time but setting
aside time for myself often gets lost in the rush. What about you?
Of course I work for myself so I don’t answer to anyone else. When you
work for a company, it becomes even harder to take good care of
yourself. The culture may reward those who put in extra time. Working
during vacation time may in fact be an unwritten requirement.
Not only do we need vacations on a regular basis but we also need time
for reflection and contemplation during the day. Finding this can be
extremely difficult if you are working in a culture that rewards people
for spending longer hours in the office. Grabbing a few minutes of
quiet time during the day may be hard but not impossible. (Check the
“Take Action” section for some quick break ideas.)
Making a few minutes of quiet reflection a priority in your life is one
way to get some of that time you need for yourself. When I was a busy
working mother, my children knew that when I came home from the
office, I went to my room for a few minutes before I started cooking dinner
and/or helping with homework. I needed that time to unwind and refocus.
Even if you just allocate a few minutes, it can be helpful. Hopefully
if you have success with small amounts of quiet time, you’ll begin to
add more!
We also need to have professionals, business owners and boards of
directors’ step up and be vocal on this issue. Professionals need to demand
their vacation time. Business owners and boards of directors need to
begin to advocate some down time during the day, the week and the year.
They need to reward their employees for taking all their vacation
time annually.
It is in the company’s best interest to do so. The stress of all this
work leads to health issues both physical and emotional for employees.
With health insurance costs so high perhaps this alone might inspirecompanies to pay more than lip service to allowing time to relax,
regenerate and reflect.
Take Action
1. Schedule some vacation time for this year. Put it on your calendar.
Select your destination and make plans.
2. Want some ideas for taking a quick break? Read “Ten Ways a Busy
Attorney can Take a Quick Break” on my website
http://www.asparker.com/ppts0706.html (You don’t have to be an attorney
to use the ideas!) Select one way to take a break and make it a habit.
Take a daily break.
3. Contact the Take Back Your Time organization at
http://www.timeday.org for ways you can support a movement to get
Americans (Canadians too) to take their vacation time and limit work to a 40
hour week.
About Alvah Parker
Alvah Parker is a Practice Advisor and Career Coach as well as publisher of Parker’s Points, an email tip list and Road to Success, an ezine. To subscribe send an email to join-roadtosuccess@go.netatlantic.com.
Parker works with successful attorneys who feel overwhelmed by their work and are willing to take action to create a more profitable practice and a more fulfilling life. Alvah also helps attorneys and others who want to change careers and find the work that is more meaningful and fulfilling. Alvah is found on the web at http://www.asparker.com She may also be reached at 781-598-0388
