Excessive Work Hours Can Hinder Your Productivity
It’s good to have a schedule for each week, but too many appointments each day can be harmful rather than beneficial. Recent research shows that the more deadlines we set throughout the day, the less profound work we can get done.
A study published in the Journal of Consumer Research found that people who have an upcoming meeting – such as meetings, family events, personal affairs, etc. – cannot perform the larger tasks that their work often requires, even if they do have time for this. make them. According to the researchers, we tend to think that we have less time when we know that a border or deadline is approaching, and therefore, are performing fewer tasks due to this misconception. Moreover, for the same reasons, we are less likely to even try to launch “extended time tasks” or larger projects that we have.
Basically, when you know you have a meeting coming up, you don’t do anything. You look at your watch and think: “I have an appointment in an hour, so I better not start this important business yet,” or you unknowingly postpone even the smallest things, because this hour is more like 20 minutes. And if you have multiple appointments a day, you are actually setting yourself up for failure in terms of completing tasks. The more time boundaries you create, the more often this annoying phenomenon will occur.
So how can you avoid this productivity trap? First, don’t overwhelm your day with too many meetings if possible. If unavoidable, try to keep those busy days to a minimum. Try to schedule a couple of meeting days and a few open days to catch up. Also, schedule appointments early in the morning or late at night. Researchers recommend that you always leave most of the work day open for continuous and focused work on large projects.