Print

Comment

Email

Digg

Del.icio.us

Reddit

Twitter

My brother works as a systems engineer in one of India's top technical institutions. The result is, we hardly see him anymore! Initially he used to come home by 7 pm but now it is after 10 pm. He works Sundays as his center works 365 days, 24x7. We complain about not seeing him enough but have slowly given up, as he is totally exhausted when he gets home. The time he spends at home is spent sleeping. I used to email him when I wanted to talk to him though we lived in the same house! Now that I live in another city, things don't seem to have changed much as I still don't get to see him and still email him. However, my family worries about him. If your workplace or company culture centers on long hours, it is hard to leave your office early. It is not just my brother, but also all his colleagues work insanely long hours. This is a predicament with the entire engineering industry, especially those in the service sector like BPOs and other companies. Those who work in these companies work long hours because either it is the company culture or, unless you work long hours, you aren't considered committed enough to get a promotion. However, US-based columnist and career expert Penelope Trunk says, "The cost of not leaving work early is high: A half-built life and career burnout."

This couldn't be truer. Too many people of our generation work at full speed and it is impossible to do so without risking your personal life. As a result, many have an early career burn out, fall ill, and spend less time with their families and friends. Last October, a 32-year-old software engineer dropped unconscious at work, after a heart attack!

Here are seven steps to cut work hours, without losing your job or burning out before you reach your career potential.

Step #1
Announce it. Go public by letting everyone in your office know your schedule ahead of time. If you plan to take a vacation, announce it to your co-workers and boss and keep talking about it. The more people know about how much you have been preparing and are looking forward to your trip, it is less likely people will ask you to cancel it. This strategy can be used not only for vacations but also for classes, dinner, time with friends and family, etc. "I have to take my mother to the doctor at 7 pm on Thursday" or "My relatives are visiting on Wednesday and I've to take them to X at 6 pm."

Step #2
Take Control. You can do small things to cut long work hours without making yourself look bad and more importantly without others even noticing it. Don't announce to others: "I don't work after x time." Instead, say you have another appointment and suggest another time. Refuse to take meetings on Mondays and you're less likely to have to prepare for it over the weekend. Refuse appointments after 6 pm and you are less likely to miss dinner at home. Ignore your phone while you write your report and you're less likely to stay late to finish it. Better still, make it known you switch off your work mobile after office hours, and don't appreciate being interrupted. You cannot do this every time, but you can do it enough to make a difference in your life. Figure out what matters, and spend your time on that.

Step #3
Don't be a Garbage Can. Quality is what matters. People don't lose a job for not working overtime but for not doing their work well. Career expert Penelope Trunk says, "The person who builds a career on doing the most work commits to living on a treadmill. The work will never be done, and you will become known among your co-workers as someone who never turns down an assignment." This means you will become the person who is the "garbage can" where all work in the office is dumped. So find out what criteria people use for promotion and work enough hours to churn out impressive work. 'Quality over Quantity' should be your mantra.

Step #4
Learn to Say No. Once you have clear short-term and long-term goals, it is easy to spot the person you don't need to impress, the project that will never be on your resume, or the hours worked that no one will notice. Refuse such assignments. The best way to say no is to tell people, "Sorry, I won't be able to do that as I have to complete Z by Saturday." This way people will see what is most important for you, and that their task has a lower priority. Prioritizing is a way to help your company, your boss, and yourself. You will not be considered irresponsible or lazy when you say "no" to others this way. More importantly, your co-workers will know you as the person who won't accept every assignment and not as the one who lives for work and never turn downs an assignment. Your best tool for saying no to a project is to know your boss's goals. Because if you worm your way out of work that doesn't matter to your boss, so that you can do work that does matter to your boss's goal, you are more likely to get away with it.

Step #5
Respect your Personal Life. Create a personal life outside your workplace and respect it. If you don't have one outside your office, then there is no reason why you can't live in your office. In addition, you won't feel thea actual need to leave work and head home or to a friend's place or to the gym. Moreover, if you don't develop a passion for life outside of work, then no one will think twice about asking you to do more work at the office. A simple example is the sudden change in attitude of co-workers towards a person who got married or has a new baby. They won't ask or expect the person to work the same hours as they did before the change. This is tough on single person but if you respect your personal life, be it spending time with your friends and family, your hobby, or a significant other, others will too. If you let others know it is important to you, they will back away. If you don't respect your own personal life, don't expect others to respect it.

Step #6
Find a new specialty. There are some professions where unseemly hours are inevitable, take a call center employee for example. Therefore, when you begin your career, you are in a better position to determine if you want to stay in this particular career or move to another, as these hours are something you have to keep up with for the rest of your life. If you feel mismatched and feel you have no personal life, this is the best time to change or even opt for a new career. A career change is easier when your career is new than if you have already invested a decade into it. However, remember it is never too late. You can always go in for a career change, if you are unhappy with the hours and the work. It is silly to suffer silently as this is your life.

Step #7
Set clear limits. I need to cut work hours or work lesser hours is a vague goal and you will not know how to cut back on the hours. Instead, set clear limits like-will not work on weekends or will get home by 6 pm or have dinner at 7:30 pm or go to a movie every Wednesday with friends or family. These are concrete goals and will help you cut back work hours and organize your personal life. Have a clear after-work schedule for the week similar to your work schedule. This way neither your work nor personal life is neglected.

If you systematically follow the steps above, you will effectively cut back your long work hours without losing your job and can survive even if you have a workaholic boss or a workaholic workplace. Make a conscious, organized effort to take responsibility for the number of hours you work and you will be surprised at how the quality of your health and relationships improve, in and outside your workplace.

Metros like Bangalore and Chennai are seeing a rise in young engineers who make 80-100k a month but live a highly stressful, unhealthy life. Ulcers, chronic backaches, chronic fatigue syndrome, myositis, and sleeplessness are becoming very common. It does not make sense to spend your youth working madly, earning money at the cost of your health and relationships and then in your old age, spend the same money to cure illnesses because you ignored your health while you were young. It is not logical. As for personal relationships, there is no point in regretting about not having spent the time for the people who matter may die or move away.

Cut those long work hours. Work less and live more.

Deepa Kandaswamy
The author is the founder-moderator of the IndianWISE e-group
mail@dqindia.com

Page(s)   1