Everyone I know is working 100-hour weeks — at least, that’s what they say.
In some cases it may be true some of the time. For most people, most of the time, it is a myth to which we happily subscribe. We want to feel that we are heroes working and succeeding against all the odds. 24/7 working is part of the myth which makes us feel special.
If 24/7 is true, then it must be an odd sort of working. This is what I find in my work, which takes me to dozens of different organisations every year, across most industry sectors:
- Going to a meeting at 5.30pm is an extreme sport: I am likely to be killed in the rush of people trying to leave the office. Fix a meeting after 6.30pm? Forget it, unless you would like dinner.
- Emails and phone calls: over 80 percent of my business emails are received between 8.30am and 6.30pm Monday to Friday. Most of the rest either come from people on different time zones, or from self-employed people. Wage slaves do not seemed to be enslaved outside normal working hours.
- Websites: again, over 80 percent of the traffic to my websites comes between 8.30 am and 6.30pm Monday to Friday.
- Rush Hour: one of the joys of my work is that I normally avoid rush hour. I start before it and finish after it. Rush hour gives a clear indication of when most people start and finish work
If 24/7 working is true, then what are people doing in all that time? It would seem they are not meeting, they are not in the office, they are not sending email, nor are they on the internet or making calls for business. Perhaps they are in the pub complaining to colleagues about how hard they work.
There is nothing much wrong with puffing up our self-image by talking up how long and hard we work.
The danger comes when we believe our own propaganda. Then we talk ourselves into depression. Of course, we will have tough times. But if we can celebrate the good times more than we moan about the tough times, we are likely to live better and do better. It’s our choice.
(Photo: showbizsuperstar, CC2.0)
