7 Steps to Cut Work Hours ...without losing your Job

My brother works as a systems engineer in one of India's top
technical institutions. The result is, we hardly see him anymore! Initially he
used to come home by 7 pm but now it is after 10 pm. He works Sundays as his
center works 365 days, 24x7. We complain about not seeing him enough but have
slowly given up, as he is totally exhausted when he gets home. The time he
spends at home is spent sleeping. I used to email him when I wanted to talk to
him though we lived in the same house! Now that I live in another city, things
don't seem to have changed much as I still don't get to see him and still
email him. However, my family worries about him. If your workplace or company
culture centers on long hours, it is hard to leave your office early. It is not
just my brother, but also all his colleagues work insanely long hours. This is a
predicament with the entire engineering industry, especially those in the
service sector like BPOs and other companies. Those who work in these companies
work long hours because either it is the company culture or, unless you work
long hours, you aren't considered committed enough to get a promotion.
However, US-based columnist and career expert Penelope Trunk says, "The
cost of not leaving work early is high: A half-built life and career
burnout."

This couldn't be truer. Too many people of our generation work
at full speed and it is impossible to do so without risking your personal life.
As a result, many have an early career burn out, fall ill, and spend less time
with their families and friends. Last October, a 32-year-old software engineer
dropped unconscious at work, after a heart attack!

Here are seven steps to cut work hours, without losing your job
or burning out before you reach your career potential.

Step #1

Announce it. Go public by letting everyone in your office know your schedule
ahead of time. If you plan to take a vacation, announce it to your co-workers
and boss and keep talking about it. The more people know about how much you have
been preparing and are looking forward to your trip, it is less likely people
will ask you to cancel it. This strategy can be used not only for vacations but
also for classes, dinner, time with friends and family, etc. "I have to
take my mother to the doctor at 7 pm on Thursday" or "My relatives are
visiting on Wednesday and I've to take them to X at 6 pm."

Step #2

Take Control. You can do small things to cut long work hours without making
yourself look bad and more importantly without others even noticing it. Don't
announce to others: "I don't work after x time." Instead, say you
have another appointment and suggest another time. Refuse to take meetings on
Mondays and you're less likely to have to prepare for it over the weekend.
Refuse appointments after 6 pm and you are less likely to miss dinner at home.
Ignore your phone while you write your report and you're less likely to stay
late to finish it. Better still, make it known you switch off your work mobile
after office hours, and don't appreciate being interrupted. You cannot do this
every time, but you can do it enough to make a difference in your life. Figure
out what matters, and spend your time on that.

Step #3

Don't be a Garbage Can. Quality is what matters. People don't lose a job
for not working overtime but for not doing their work well. Career expert
Penelope Trunk says, "The person who builds a career on doing the most work
commits to living on a treadmill. The work will never be done, and you will
become known among your co-workers as someone who never turns down an
assignment." This means you will become the person who is the "garbage
can" where all work in the office is dumped. So find out what criteria
people use for promotion and work enough hours to churn out impressive work. 'Quality
over Quantity' should be your mantra.

Step #4

Learn to Say No. Once you have clear short-term and long-term goals, it is
easy to spot the person you don't need to impress, the project that will never
be on your resume, or the hours worked that no one will notice. Refuse such
assignments. The best way to say no is to tell people, "Sorry, I won't be
able to do that as I have to complete Z by Saturday." This way people will
see what is most important for you, and that their task has a lower priority.
Prioritizing is a way to help your company, your boss, and yourself. You will
not be considered irresponsible or lazy when you say "no" to others
this way. More importantly, your co-workers will know you as the person who won't
accept every assignment and not as the one who lives for work and never turn
downs an assignment. Your best tool for saying no to a project is to know your
boss's goals. Because if you worm your way out of work that doesn't matter
to your boss, so that you can do work that does matter to your boss's goal,
you are more likely to get away with it.

Step #5

Respect your Personal Life. Create a personal life outside your workplace
and respect it. If you don't have one outside your office, then there is no
reason why you can't live in your office. In addition, you won't feel thea
actual need to leave work and head home or to a friend's place or to the gym.
Moreover, if you don't develop a passion for life outside of work, then no one
will think twice about asking you to do more work at the office. A simple
example is the sudden change in attitude of co-workers towards a person who got
married or has a new baby. They won't ask or expect the person to work the
same hours as they did before the change. This is tough on single person but if
you respect your personal life, be it spending time with your friends and
family, your hobby, or a significant other, others will too. If you let others
know it is important to you, they will back away. If you don't respect your
own personal life, don't expect others to respect it.

Step #6

Find a new specialty. There are some professions where unseemly hours are
inevitable, take a call center employee for example. Therefore, when you begin
your career, you are in a better position to determine if you want to stay in
this particular career or move to another, as these hours are something you have
to keep up with for the rest of your life. If you feel mismatched and feel you
have no personal life, this is the best time to change or even opt for a new
career. A career change is easier when your career is new than if you have
already invested a decade into it. However, remember it is never too late. You
can always go in for a career change, if you are unhappy with the hours and the
work. It is silly to suffer silently as this is your life.

Step #7

Set clear limits. I need to cut work hours or work lesser hours is a vague
goal and you will not know how to cut back on the hours. Instead, set clear
limits like-will not work on weekends or will get home by 6 pm or have dinner
at 7:30 pm or go to a movie every Wednesday with friends or family. These are
concrete goals and will help you cut back work hours and organize your personal
life. Have a clear after-work schedule for the week similar to your work
schedule. This way neither your work nor personal life is neglected.

If you systematically follow the steps above, you will
effectively cut back your long work hours without losing your job and can
survive even if you have a workaholic boss or a workaholic workplace. Make a
conscious, organized effort to take responsibility for the number of hours you
work and you will be surprised at how the quality of your health and
relationships improve, in and outside your workplace.

Metros like Bangalore and Chennai are seeing a rise in young
engineers who make 80-100k a month but live a highly stressful, unhealthy life.
Ulcers, chronic backaches, chronic fatigue syndrome, myositis, and sleeplessness
are becoming very common. It does not make sense to spend your youth working
madly, earning money at the cost of your health and relationships and then in
your old age, spend the same money to cure illnesses because you ignored your
health while you were young. It is not logical. As for personal relationships,
there is no point in regretting about not having spent the time for the people
who matter may die or move away.

Cut those long work hours. Work less and live more.

Deepa Kandaswamy

The author is the founder-moderator of the IndianWISE e-group

mail@dqindia.com