September 26, 2005

I received my October 3, 2005 Business Week magazine in the mail with a compelling cover story, “The Real Reasons You’re Working So Hard…and What You Can Do about It.” Feeling the need to be validated, I couldn’t help but directly go to the article that quickly establishes what I’ve know about the common theme of my work life:

• Working More Hours: More than 31% of college-educated male workers are regularly logging 50 or more hours a week at work, up from 22% in 1980.
• Long-Hours Premium: Over the past 15 year, real pay for a 55-hour workweek rose by about 14%, but pay for a “normal” 40-hour workweek hardly budged.
• Less Sleep: 40%of American adults get less than seven hours of sleep on weekdays, reports the National Sleep Foundation, up from 31% in 2001.
• No More Sit Down Meals with Others: About 60% of us are sometimes or often rushed at mealtime, and one-third wolf down lunch at our desks, according to a survey by the American Dietetic Assn.
• Communications Overload: To avoid wasting time, we’re talking on our cell phones while rushing to work, answering e-mails during conference calls, waking up at 4 a.m. to call Europe, and generally multitasking our brains out.

Daily Rigor: Why I’m Working So Hard

I have a two-hour commute per day. It’s a natural way of life for me now, but work life has become increasingly more complex now that I’m in charge of Tom’s marketing department. My days are longer due to the commute, but I can’t leverage that time for work so I still put in a minimum of 10 hours of work. I’m out of pocket from my personal life for 12+ hours per day out of the house. Even when I’m home during the week, the time is condensed.

Sleep, Smeep: Sleeping’s Over Rated…At Least This is What I tell Myself

I definitely understood the sleep statistic in the Business Week article. On average I get maybe 6 hours of sleep per night, but when things get busy (at least two times during the work week), then I only get 4 to 5 hours. The past week is a good example where I refused to let my work diminish my time with my Mother who I flew down to see a concert. I altered my work schedule trying to get to the office by 7:00 am so I could squeeze in 10 hours of work so I could leave by 5:00 pm. Even then, I was stuck in traffic until 6:30 or 7:00 pm. I’d pick Mother up and we’d play until 11:30 pm or so. Then I’d start over again and wake up at 4:30 am.

Playing hard is worth it, even if it means messing up my sleep schedule. I can always drink more coffee, but I’ll never get more time with my Mother. As Jonathan told me, “I love that you make your Mother a top priority! I can’t believe your hours right now. I admire how much time you’re carving out for her since you have the VAR sales training and everything else on your plate. But when do you sleep?” I told him, “I only average 5 to 6 hours of sleep during the work week. On the weekends, I try to make it up by napping in the afternoons to cut down my sleep debt.” I have a love/hate relationship with sleep. I think it’s a waste of time when there’s much we want to squeeze into our day. I see sleep as a necessary evil and try not to think about it or the shortage of it.

Information Overload

I’m a natural born planner and organizer. Even I’m challenged with my new responsibilities for Tom. My old way of time management no longer works, but that’s another forthcoming blog post. Now I try to use ideas from blogs or anything else I can get my hands on that makes sense.

Free Time? Limited, but I Love My Life

Yes, I spend a lot of time working in the office and outside the office for Tom. I also work on our startup. I’ve always worked more than the average 8 hour day since I became a knowledge worker. There are times when I feel overworked or stressed out, but I’ve learned a “just-in-time” approach to my work deliverables and no longer find it stressful. I spend work time thinking creatively about my work, applying new ideas from books or other people. I try to find time blocks to reward myself like audio books in the commute or time reading my books.

I’m working these hours because I love challenging my mind. I’ve worked hard to manage my career to get to this level. How much vacation time do I get? I used to get more with my previous employer, but the circumstances were different. Is technology a plus or a minus for me? To be determined. I’m not an early adopter. I haven’t hit a saturation point, yet. I think I’ve managed things better to give myself more time to myself without losing my work productivity, but I’m also constantly looking for ways to improvement it. Do I foresee that I’ll ever be able to take a vacation, completely and turn work off? Nope. That’s a work life that I’ve chosen at this stage in my life. In reality, I believe Work Life Balance doesn’t exist. I do believe in Work Life Tradeoffs.

The Smart Lemming Diary is a series that chronicles a journey of laid-off worker, who becomes a Vice President of Sales Operations & Marketing for a small entrepreneurial healthcare technology company. For previous entries in this series, click here.

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• Smart Lemming Diary: The Real Reasons You’re Working So Hard Part 2
• Smart Lemming Diary: Post Acquisition and Processing a Loss during Management Transition