The Art of Doing Less

This week, I was reminded of lessons we have learned countless times, yet have a really hard time applying long term through lack of personal discipline, an inability to say no and a misconception that if we work more, we will be more productive.  We won’t, yet we persist. Wait?  Work less and be more productive?  Yes!  But, don’t take my word for it.  Let’s explore!

The article that inspired me is called How Working Less Could Solve All Our Problems.  Really. By Rutger Bregman.  Almost 100 years ago, John Maynard Keynes, the brilliant British economist, predicted that our standard of living would increase to the point where we would only need to work 15 hours a week.  We have definitely fulfilled the standard part with our luxurious homes that have indoor plumbing, massive televisions, on-demand entertainment, connect anywhere telephones and appliances that take care of the most mundane tasks like washing the dishes and vacuuming.  But, we still persist in “working” 40+ hours a week.  Why?

First, we should be really clear that most people don’t actually work a full 40 hours, or more, but just spend the time at work or in front of a screen.  If you are a knowledge worker, as most of my readers are, you probably are only productive a maximum of 6 hours per day.  Yet, we persist past the point of productivity and pretend we’re getting more done, but all we are doing is getting more tired, frustrated and making mistakes.

At work, I try hard to keep people aware of the dangers of overwork.  In IT, it may sound good to not interrupt systems during the day and have people work overnight and weekends to make changes, but buyer beware because your people will inevitably be tired, make more mistakes and take longer to do the same thing. Research has shown that losing just an hour of sleep per night for a week will cause a level of cognitive degradation equivalent to a .10 blood alcohol level. So, we are essentially paying people to work as if they were drunk.  But, the policy where I work says we aren’t allowed to drink at work…  In the end, is the risk of poorly implemented upgrades worth the risk?  In my past teams, our goal has been to design platforms that are resilient, can keep running during changes and will have no impact if there is an issue.  This requires forethought and investment, but we end up with more stability AND rested people. We make changes midday on a Wednesday with no worry, rested people and fewer bugs.  

Despite a wealth of studies conducted over the past century, one resounding conclusion persists: longer hours at work do not equate to increased productivity. It seems paradoxical, yet the evidence is unequivocal. Scholars and researchers have consistently demonstrated that excessive working hours not only lead to diminishing returns but also contribute to detrimental effects on mental and physical health. Despite this well-established knowledge, the allure of overwork persists in many industries and cultures.  Not only that, but studies on shorter work weeks have shown that productivity can increase even when people work less.  Yet, we persist in measuring “productivity” based on the number of hours people spend in front of their screen. And, if someone makes the mistake of being super productive and finishing all their work in less hours, we reward them WITH MORE WORK!  Ugh…

This paradox may stem from deeply ingrained cultural norms and societal pressures. The belief that working long hours equates to dedication and success remains pervasive. Individuals often feel compelled to overwork to meet professional expectations or do as the boss does, writing emails through the evening and over the weekend.  If I can give any leader advice to make your teams happier, less stressed and more productive, it would be STOP!  Stop sending the emails after hours.  No matter what little tagline you put on the end of your email stating “I don’t expect you to read / respond”, it still has a stressing effect.  It is called the Email Urgency Bias, and it’s real. Employers, too, may struggle to break free from traditional notions of productivity, perpetuating a cycle of excessive work hours despite evidence to the contrary.  Personally, I have been advocating this for years, but am still sometimes guilty of it myself.  That’s when I go back and read some of my earlier writing from 2017 when I wrote When We Recognize The Wrong Things.  Part of breaking the cycle is to have leaders encouraging a balanced life including time off, not working the weekend and overtly recognizing those that take their time off to disconnect and pursue alternate interests.

It is high time we acknowledge the wealth of research and reconsider our approach to work. Embracing the concept that "less is more" in terms of working hours can lead to not only enhanced productivity but also improved well-being and work-life balance. By reevaluating our attitudes towards work and shifting towards more efficient, focused, and balanced schedules, we can pave the way for a healthier and more productive future.  A big part of this is learning how to simply say “no”.  In order to keep things civil and to quote myself from the article quoted before, “We need to feel comfortable saying I don’t know, I don’t agree, I don’t think that is a good idea, I don’t have the time to do that and I don’t want to work that many hours.”.  It should be normal course of business that we see the benefits of properly managing our collective workload.  

In the end, even with the wealth of research showing us the way, it all comes down to us.  Collectively, we need to band together to create cultures of productive people who work reasonable hours, stay healthy mentally and physically, and have time for leisure pursuits with friends and family.  After all, we are the people, and People Power Everything.

Have a great day and week ahead.  Stay balanced and stay well.

John

PS: If you like these, feel free to forward and encourage your friends, family, neighbours, colleagues, leaders, staff, and even mortal enemies to and subscribe to the People Power Everything Podcast (Version Francophone) which has bonus material from time to time.  You can also reach out to me at John@PeoplePowerEverything.com