Does your job really require 16 hrs?
- 423 words | 5 mins read
- May 21, 2017
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 14, 2020
Who should read?
Someone who is clocking 12-16 hrs at work
Someone who is having trouble in fixing a routine due to higher amount of travel or requirement to operate in different shifts
Many of us are well read and hail from good pedigree and have made it to good organizations: start-ups, fortune 500s, etc. Therefore, we believe we are smart and work only as much is required to progress fast. But if you are a person who on an average is working for more than 12 hrs a day, there is a need to introspect and study your sub-conscious belief. Let us study some input metrics, which leads to certain output beliefs and eventually longer work hrs
Input: You believe all your peers are at par or better skill set. Output: You stop selling your skill, but start selling your time.
To solve for this, it is important to list your skills and job requirements together. Example, the job requires a management degree from a premier institute and you have it. Your peers may know stock trading, which your job does not require, but you should not get bogged down with it. Another flaw in our rationale minds is that we compare ourselves with skills of more than one person. The table below illustrates that at a time you should compare with one person
Input: You are moody.
Output: You are in inconsistent in your delivery. You end up mis-managing time and then end up stretching your work day
Patterns identification would enhance productivity here. Check for the days when you were productive and find what you made you energetic on those days. If wearing some kind of colors, eating certain breakfast uplifts your mood, then repeat that habit. Don’t try to wear a constant black & denim to imitate Steve Jobs if colors give you a better mood and productivity.
Input: Your hobbies, family time, and exercise regime are all stacked for weekend. You didn’t add any activities in a weekday besides work that make you happy.
Output: The feeling of impact only results from work during weekdays. Therefore, it is important to add certain activities to weekdays which give a feeling of impact. This could include getting up at 6:30 AM for a run, reaching home by 8:00 PM to have dinner with your wife and kids, reading a story to your kid at 11:00 PM. This would balance exercise and family time even over weekdays, giving you more time to pursue a hobby class on weekend.