Sourced from Business Insider | July 25, 2022 by Ed Zitron
OPINION: It’s time to stop working so HARD.
In 2018, Tesla's CEO Elon Musk said that you need to work around 80 hours a week to change the world. Research findings showed that Musk's contributions to the world are dubious at best, and he had it completely backward when it comes to his absurd work schedule.
Studies have shown that an ideal work day is actually around five hours long. Researchers have even suggested that a productive day is less than 3 hours a day. And it’s quite likely that there have been times where you feel like you've done 9 or 10 hours a day of work and didn't feel like you've contributed to anything.
Employees burn hours working on agendas, reports, summaries, presentations, and meetings. Along with other tasks that feel like work but ultimately fail to produce anything meaningful.
So it's time to do away with busy work and instead, focus on the act of working or the number of hours spent under the boss' gaze, employees and companies need to focus on results. The most successful employees are those who don't look like they "work hard" but instead effectively deliver value for their company while also maintaining a healthy balance with the rest of their lives too. It’s called working smarter, not harder. And it works.
The future of work should really focus on fewer hours, more outputs, and happier workers. Corporate America has gotten it all wrong. Thinking less of capturing and draining workers of their time, means more profit and producing more work. Companies and employees should push for a worker-friendly society that appreciates labor and outputs over nebulous concepts like "managing up" and playing to office politics.
The greatest companies will be the ones that embrace that society and see their workers for what they are. All professionals should be treated with respect, empathy, and gratitude.
