Working Too Many Hours Is Counter Productive
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Working Too Many Hours Is Counter Productive
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 inspire
companies 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.
Working Too Many Hours Is Counter Productive - To learn more about this author, visit Alvah Parker's Website.
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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