Like most entrepreneurs, I keep track of my hours – not only for billing purposes, but to get a handle on how I spend my time, what I do and how I can be more efficient.
Checking back through my time logs on Toggl, I discovered I have worked (on average) a high of 10.5 hours a day in April to a low of 6 in November. On an intellectual level, I know this is good. Better than good — excellent. The point of effective time management is to get work done in less time so I can do other things that help balance me out, emotionally, physically and socially.
However, the Pavlov dog in me says, “What’s wrong with you?? You’re not working 8-hour days! Get with the program. You need to keep going until you rack up your 8 hours!”
The myth that’s killing entrepreneurs
But then I thought – why? The short answer: Because we’ve always done it that way. Or at least we have in the United States since 1916, when the Adamson Act established an 8-hour work day (with overtime provisions), which was later upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Laborers in this country had been pushing for shorter hours for even longer than that. In 1791, Philadelphia carpenters went on strike, seeking 10-hour work days. By 1830, most labor organizers were pushing for a 10-hour limit.
What we forget is that these labor laws were enacted to prevent unscrupulous private employers from taking advantage of workers.
So if you think about it, we entrepreneurs are laboring (no pun intended) under a law established nearly a hundred years ago that was intended to protect private workers from enslavement – not to enslave them further. Requiring ourselves to work 40 hours a week (or more) is the myth that’s killing entrepreneurs. The 8-hour workday is obsolete.
There is something in the American psyche – maybe it’s that that push-push-push work ethic so many of us have – that makes us entrepreneurs feel like slackers if we’re not pumping and grinding a minimum of 8 hours a day. And there’s an element of weenie-wagging in this: “I work longer than you do. Nah-nah-nah!”
We need to stop that – all of that. Take a breath and, at the very least, ask ourselves why we feel the need to mindlessly adhere to a standard that was not intended for us and no longer serves much purpose.
It’s not about how busy we are, but what we accomplish that’s important. And if we can accomplish what needs to be done in 6 hours, why do we force ourselves to reach that arbitrary number of 8?
Overwork and health
We need to understand that there will always be more work to be done; in this ever-connected world, we could work 24 hours a day and still not be finished. And as business owners, we also need to be aware that we are our greatest asset. It does us no good to work ourselves to death. And that phrase is not an exaggeration.
- Your risk of having a stroke increases by 33% if you work 55 hours or more each week and the chance of developing coronary heart disease goes up by 13%. (Some sources say that the risk of cardiovascular disease increases by 60% when you work too long). This happens due to a deadly combination of additional stress of working long hours, the lack of physical activity and increased alcohol consumption.
- Chronic stress all by itself can lead to serious health issues such as high blood pressure as well as infertility, indigestion, allergies, migraine, diabetes, ulcers and skin disorders, It doubles the risk of depression, too.
- People who work more than 50 hours a week get less than 6 hours of sleep at night, on average. Not enough quality sleep decreases memory, increases weight gain, and causes irritability and other mood issues. None of these things make for good decision-making.
- And as we get older, our cognitive functioning – our ability to build new knowledge using existing knowledge – gets even worse when we work a lot of overtime, and could lead to dementia.
So…tell me why we are pushing ourselves to work longer? Shouldn’t our focus be on working smarter – and fewer hours?
Some ways entrepreneurs can work smarter:
- Shake off the 8-hour day, 5-day workweek mindset. Tell yourself you’re special (because you are) and it doesn’t apply to you. As an entrepreneur, you are entitled to work however long – or short – you wish. You are not required to work more than 8 hours a day. And it doesn’t make you a bad person if you work 6 hours a day.
- Set a workday and workweek goal. How long do you want to work? Do you dream of working only 3 or 4 days a week? 4 to 6 hours a day? Push aside your ridiculous guilt and go for it, then structure your workflow to make that happen, knowing that by X o’clock each day, you’re going to shut down. This “vacation mentality” also means you’ll be more focused on getting the essentials completed without giving in to distraction.
- Organize your day around the tasks that are most important to reaching your goals. If you want to get really serious, limit your task list to only 3 items, and move the others forward to a future date. When you finish the 3, you’ll feel great, you will have accomplished what needed to be done and it should be easier to shut up the nagging “you gotta work 8 hours” voice in your head.
- Minimize your distractions. Turn off your phone ringer. Shut down your email program. Close all browser windows that are not necessary to do the task at hand.
- Establish boundaries. If you work from home, tell your family members that they are not allowed to interrupt unless blood or fire is involved. And establish boundaries with yourself. Say, “I will not work on the weekend” or “I will take off two consecutive days each week.”
- Watch your self-talk. Stop saying to yourself, “Well, I can always put in a few hours on Saturday.” No, no, no! This attitude leads to sloppy work habits – and 50-plus-hour work weeks and ill health. Not only that, it says, “I’m incapable of regulating myself,” and that’s nothing to shout from the rooftops.
- Be flexible with your work. A few 10-hour days are going to happen; that’s the lot of the self-employed. Just don’t make a habit of it.
- Be inflexible with your “me” time. You absolutely must schedule quality time for what brings you joy. “But Jackie!” I hear you wail. “Work brings me joy!” Sure. And it also brings heart disease and stroke and diabetes and depression and dementia. Sorry to say, there is no free health pass for those who work themselves to death because they love what they do.
Where do you fit into this? What resonated with you? Please share in the comments.
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