Why Working Too Much Can Actually Make You Less Productive
If you feel the need to work even after you technically have no work hours, you’re not alone. But did you know that people in your situation report that it makes them feel less productive overall? It’s counterintuitive, but it’s true. Here’s what you need to know about why you should call it a day at the end of the day.
Working extra hours makes you feel burnt out
Conventional wisdom is that if you work too much, you’ll start to feel overworked and burnt out, but Slack’s latest survey of about 10,000 office workers shows just how bad things really are. Two in five respondents said they regularly work after hours, and 50% of them say it’s because they feel pressured, not because they want to. What’s really interesting, however, is that those who feel pressured report a 20% drop in productivity throughout the day, which Slack attributes to a “focus on quantity over quality in many aspects of work.” In other words, when you work more than you should, feel more stressed about it all, and don’t take time for yourself, the overall quality of your work can suffer, not just the quality of what you do in your free time.
The most common reason these workers give for why they work so much is that they don’t have enough time in the day to get their work done. One in four respondents say they spend too much time in meetings, and the same number say they spend too much time on email.
How to stop working overtime
So, it seems pretty clear that working outside of normal business hours is not a good idea for a number of reasons. But how to stop? There are a few things you can do to combat the feeling of lack of time to work that keeps you working beyond your allotted time.
First, you need to figure out what you do with all your emails. You have several options for managing your incoming messages, such as the 4D method for quickly deciding whether you’ll delete, delegate, or snooze any incoming message, or the LIFO method , which allows you to view your inbox at scheduled times, starting at the top and top. working down.
Then start timeboxing or planning out every second of your day and make those blocks of time visible on your work calendar. Whatever email management system you choose, make sure you only use it for the allotted time. Try half an hour in the morning and 20 minutes after lunch, and then 10 minutes before you leave for work. Include these clearly defined boundaries in your schedule, as well as all the other things you need to do in a day. If you’re having trouble deciding how long each task will take, spend a week or two tracking your time using an app to see exactly how much responsibility each of your responsibilities requires.
Finally, if you have a say in whether or not you have meetings, try making a rule of one meeting day per week . Research has shown that too many meetings suck and reduce your productivity, so do your best to minimize the number of meetings and consolidate necessary meetings into one day. Then do everything you can to make important meetings truly useful and effective .
Remember that your productivity needs breaks . Working too much is bad for you, so prioritize getting away from work and not working. Use the methods above to get more done during a typical day so you can get away without feeling the need to do more, and then go out and enjoy the free hours.