Tweet

60 Hour Work Weeks Can You and Your Career Survive Them

Written by: Alvah Parker

Article Overview: In the 80s while I was an account executive for AT&T most people in my organization worked normal (for then) business hours. By that I mean they arrived close to 8 or 8:30AM and left between 5 and 5:30PM. By 6 PM the office was empty. No one seemed to notice or care how many hours people worked. I had a boss nicknamed "Dry Cleaner Sam" because they joked he was "in by 10, out by 4".

60 Hour Work Weeks Can You and Your Career Survive Them

In the 80s while I was an account executive for AT&T most people in my organization worked normal (for then) business hours. By that I mean they arrived close to 8 or 8:30AM and left between 5 and 5:30PM. By 6 PM the office was empty. No one seemed to notice or care how many hours people worked. I had a boss nicknamed "Dry Cleaner Sam" because they joked he was "in by 10, out by 4".

Most of the time I left on time with everyone else. Several times however when I had a big sale pending I would stay late to get the contract in order or to put the final touches on a big proposal or presentation. On those occasions I would get teased by my colleagues. They thought I was nuts for not waiting until morning to finish the work.

How times have changed! I noticed the change beginning in the early 90s. Now what I had been doing voluntarily became expected. Everyone was staying late-sometimes to 9 and 10 at night, even later. 40 hour weeks became 50, 60 or 70 hour weeks. Long hours became a badge of honor for some.

Today 50, 60, or 70 hour weeks is the rule not the exception. Employees are penalized in their appraisals, pay and promotions if they don’t keep up those hours. Not only does this happen in large corporations, those in the professions especially lawyers feel the affects of this change.

What happens to children when both Mom and Dad have to work 60 hour weeks? I actually know attorneys who have two nannies, one for days and one for evenings!

I’m sure it is no surprise to workers that research is already showing that those who put in 50 hours a week have higher rates of hypertension which is a precursor to heart disease. Nancy Cleeland of the LA Times says, "Studies in Europe, Japan and the US have linked increases in cardiovascular risks and disease to a global push for greater productivity."

I recall one manager in my office noticing that all of the managers had gained weight in the year that we had been in that branch. When I looked around I saw he was right. We weren’t taking time for regular meals and the vending machine we used was filled with candy bars and high calorie snacks. It is no wonder that obesity is also a huge problem in the US today.

What once felt like a badge of honor because only a few were doing it, now feels like a requirement for everyone. No one dares make suggestions about lightening the load or leaving early to spend time with the family. Lawyers on the partner track know that is not an option if they are to bill the required number of hours. Others realize that long time unemployed workers would willingly work those hours just to have a job.

What can you do? The first step is to consciously put your health first. That means getting enough sleep, eating properly and getting some exercise. You will have little value to your firm if you are ill and not able to work.

Second begin to think of yourself as a free agent. This means that you take the responsibility for keeping your skills up to date. You also take courses, write articles and become known in your industry as an expert. You establish a good relationship with your network of contacts, people who understand your value and will help you if you need it. A free agent knows he/she can find work anywhere and can create good business for the firm or for him or herself if necessary. The less you are dependent on that job in your company or firm the more options you will see.

For many this solution will seem risky. The risk of doing nothing is even greater. Businesses today are totally bottom line focused and there is little loyalty to workers unless they have something unique that the business needs. If you have strong relationships and the skills, you are valuable to your current employer, to other employers and to yourself. You hold the keys to your own future.


Take action:


Take stock of you health. Find a way to have healthy meals, get enough sleep each night and exercise at least 3 hours a week.

Make a learning plan. Where do you need to upgrade your skills? What skills do you know so well you could teach them to others? What expertise do you want to develop?

Who is in your network? Who are the 20 people you could contact if you needed a new job? What clients would follow you? When did you last have contact with them? Make an appointment with someone you haven’t seen in a while. Plan to meet with the others in the next month.

What makes you stand out in your work? Find something you want to be known for and start letting people know. You can be the "Go to" person for _______.

Hire a coach to help you. A coach can hold you accountable for creating and implementing your plan. If you want to do it but get bogged down by daily tasks, a coach can help. I particularly like to help busy attorneys who want to create a book of business for themselves.

Related Articles
  IS A CAREER IN MANAGEMENT CONSULTING RIGHT FOR YOU
  Career Resources – How to Survive a Job Loss
  Service Pricing Strategy: 3 Steps to Finding your Average Billable Hours Target
  Working For Money
  What Do You Work For?

Article Tags: account executive, boss, business hours, family time, manager, work long hours



Related Forum Posts
Re: Books for the Entrepreneur - Another great book for internet entrepreneurs is The Four Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris MichelleJ
Re: When do entrepreneurs retire, if ever? - Why would you ever retire when you love what you are doing? Sell the business and start another one maybe - but retire - NEVER! You should all read, The 4 Hour Work Week - By Timothy Ferris. He talks about building your business so that you can take mini 'retirement's throughout your life, instead of saving it all up for when you are old. Great concept - what do you think??
Re: How to Manage Your Emails - GT has some great advice here and I have aspired to getting there, I am trying at the moment to unsubscribe from people who are constantly wanting to sell me things and to just keep the emails from those who actually give some good information amongst the sales pitches. It is hard to be ruthless, but if anyone has read "The Four Hour Work Week" the advice in there is to get rid of those mails, they distract you from your main task and are just time wasters. Michellej
Book: Comeback Moms - Comeback Moms: How to Leave Work, Raise Children, and Restart your Career even If you Haven't Had a Job in Years Monica Samuels and J. C. Conklin 2006 Jacket: Millions of educated, professional women are quitting their jobs to stay home and raise their children. That would never be you, right? You worked hard for your degree and even harder to get to this point in your career. Quitting now, even for a few years, would kill your career, right? That's what Monica Samuels thought when she found out she was pregnant... Over 60 percent of professional women who leave work to raise children want to get back into the workforce someday. If you even think you might want to go back to work, be it in one year or twenty, you need to lay the groundwork now for a successful reentry or your options will be limited. 1. Quitting: When is the best time to cut the cord 2. Feathering the nest: How to financially prepare before you quit 3. Departure strategies: leaving the office 4. Money and Power: Constructing a new life on the home front 5. Backlash: handling family, friends and angry strangers 6. One foot in, one foot out: How can they miss you if you don't really go away? 7. Part time: It ain't perfect, but it's doable 8. Going back: the when and how of returning to work full time 9. Career counseling: When you need a change 10. Entrepreneurs: True Stories Resources Index
Re: Should bad tippers be exposed on Social Media? - Should bad tippers be exposed on Social Media? No they shouldn't. I guess the customer must have used a credit card, or possibly a cheque (do people still write cheques nowadays? I haven't written a cheque since 2001 - after 7/11 my UK bank refused to send me a chequebook because they were tightwads hiding behind "the threat of terrorism" but I have done just fine without one) or maybe even an IOU. This is an excellent argument in favour of paying in cash... and I had almost been persuaded by the 4-Hour Work-Week argument that you should pay for everything with a credit card that earned you air miles... In a world of angry cry-babies, CASH is still KING!!


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Online Business Ideas: A Look At Various Options

Emotional Intelligence in Business

9 tips to increase ROI in PPC Campaigns

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.