I started writing this few days ago, but continuing this today that I’m in London, where I worked the longest hours of my career, makes this even more relevant.
Many, not to say most, professions may require to work long hours more or less frequently and that can be necessary for many reasons (unpredictability of the job, processes involved, external events, sometimes weather and seasonality of the job).
What I realised in the past years, is that often the problem does not lie in the length of the time spent working, but in the reason why and in our purpose.
Over the past 18 years I have experienced the two extremes: for many years I have worked an average of 12h-14h / day + too many weekends, then for few years I worked 8.5h / day, not a second more.
When did I end up loosing my motivation and my energy? With the second experience, when I was working my 8.5h / day on a super “safe” role.
Just few hours ago I was facing Foster + Partners headquarters in London, where in 2006 everything started for me and where I spent 6 as much “intense” as exceptional years. Because of the people I met, because of the exceptional professional experience that shaped my vision and because of the passion and drive that could be breathed.
True, time makes everything look better than it was: I surely can’t deny the lack of life balance and the tiredness of those years where I was pretty much living in the office.
However, why I can't say the same for my experience in the 8.5h/day place in Switzerland? Why in the first case I got positively emotional just by visiting the location, while in this latter case I have no positive memory?
First of all, I’m not writing this to encourage working crazy hours – not at all – there have been periods where working long hours brought me to the limit .... and I’ll get to the implications of doing this later on.
My point is that the amount of time spent working can’t be the only reason behind the issues that are experienced in a workplace or / and how we feel at work and in our personal life.
Whether we are working shorter or longer ours, the sensible subjects are the same: your purpose, feeling belonging to the environment, passion for what you’re doing, feeling useful and making an impact, respect,... If one or more of the above are missing, you can be working 8h or less, but you will still risk to face a personal crisis, a burn-out or a bore-out ... Same as if you work long hours without reason, on the longer term the same questions will arise.
It’s undeniable, sometimes working long hours is necessary: something happened and you lost time, a last minute information, it took longer than planned or simply, life. That is all part of a professional life.
It might even be that your specific role requires an exceptional engagement, but if you are fully motivated on what you are doing, you’re driven by it, you enjoy your professional life, that is not even an issue for you. You accept it, you design your life accordingly and your find your satisfactory life balance. Good for you.
Moreover, when working exceptionally long hours happens from time to time or for short periods of time (competitions, projects deadlines, working on a specific goal, exceptional charge of work...), it could even somehow be “beneficial”: if the adrenaline of the moment is positive, it could even reawaken a sense of purpose that we thought lost. You’re driven by a goal, a desire, you know that it will not last forever and you go for it. It’s like a 100 m run – if a short period – or a marathon – if it lasts longer. It’s hard and possibly painful at times, but you know why you are doing it and you see the finish line.
However, issues start when working long hours becomes an “habit” or not done with the spirit of purpose as described above. You start being used to stay in the office until late not being sure why, possibly socialising with others doing the same. One month, one year, many years and you do not even know anymore why you have to stay late... In this case, we’re not talking anymore about a race with a finish line. We are talking about a marathon without an end. You go, and go, and go .... Where to?
One day you start having the impression that you have been running, and running and running without a destination.
Have you ever asked yourself why? And if you did it now, what would the answer be?
It's true, I've been there, when we're in the vicious circle, our condition feels normal, besides believing that we do not have time to think about this: you think about "surviving" first of all!
However, exactly because you believe that you do not have the time, it is the time to take a walk, breathe, take a short break and ask yourself, why? Is it your choice? Someone else's, or most likely you believe that you do not have a choice?
If you did have a choice, what would that look like?
I feel very passionate about this subjects, because I have experienced it all: long hours with purpose, long hours without purpose and short hours without purpose. I perfectly understand the feelings and thinking behind them all and, despite being easier to think that we do not have a choice, we do. You do.
Get in touch to have a chat, I’d love to hear your experience.
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