Two 60s
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(Where did the 40-hour work week come from? See below.)
I once tried to deliberately work two 60-hour work weeks back-to-back – a kind of Thoreau "went to the woods … to live deliberately” thing. That, and I figured I easily owed it to those who got us through tough times before.
Fortunately, I love my work.
I’m pretty sure I’d done it before (especially in the early days of Give More back in 1998 – 2000). But here’s the twist … I did it with a clock – a sort of speed chess clock where I started it only when I did activities that contributed directly to my job (and stopped it for those “How was your weekend?” moments, bathroom visits, calls from The Spaniard (my wife), and personal web time.
60 hours of work. Two weeks straight.
Five things happened right out of the gate on Day 1…
- One colleague excitedly asked me what they could expect from me with the additional man week of time added to the two (20 hours x 2 weeks = 40).
- It took me about 10 hours at the office to get the first 8 hours of real work (remember … no personal, web, bathroom, lunch, commuting time included).
- I quickly realized I’d need 6 days out of the week to hit 60 hours (it couldn’t be seven – even as a 212er, I get the “all work and no play” thing – that link: daytime only – much too scary without the sun – squeamish stay clear).
- I gave much more deliberate attention to my time (small talk was out).
- I realized how lucky I was to have it be a choiceto do it.
So here’s what happened after two weeks …I failed.
Facts…
- Worked 106.6 hours (6400 minutes), 13.4 hours short of the target.
- 53.8 hours worked in the first week, 52.8 in the second week.
- Worked every day to hit the 106 total hours but Saturdays and Sundays were roughly half days (against my original rule of not working at least one day each week).
- Got more done but would have a difficult time proving it given the nature of my work.
Thoughts…
- I love my work and as a result tend to be addicted to it. Even so, after about 8.5 real hours of work (using the speed chess clock method), I found I was ready to break for the day.
- I’m not sure if I experienced diminishing returns or not. I don’t feel like I did but on the days when I went over 9 (nine real hours), I’m guessing there was some of that.
- I don’t think my family or marriage suffered but that might be one of those things you only learn about a several years later (“And that work experiment? What the hell was that? I’m out of here." Not likely from The Spaniard. "And during that wicked recession my dad would work more, trying "to create value in the world" he would say (roll eyes) … to keep things moving. Freakin’ Cat’s in the Cradle, man. That’s how I ended up like this, you know.")
- I’m guessing to be effective, the ideal real working hours number is going to be different for everyone. I’m confident it’s over 40 if we really want to do something wonderful but I imagine if you don’t like your work, that’s probably too much (but so is 20 probably).
- I think we need to make sure we understand we have an obligation to each other. The goal isn’t to work less. It’s to contribute to the world and bring our particular value to the table. If we focus on that, my guess is we’ll find ourselves in a much better place. Think about it … How can we show care without work?
(work (‘weurk): noun: an activity in which one exerts strengths or faculties to do or perform something)
(Did you hear about Joe?)
__________
40 hours
The 40-hour work week was established in 1938 as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act (starting as a cap of 44 hours until it locked in at 40 hours in what appears to be 2 years later). It was a factory worker and child labor protection issue rather than a scientific-study-end-all-be-all marker for optimal productivity.
Be sure you’re focusing on how much you can give with your time rather than how little of your time you can give. It’s a better bet for creating value (helping others), success, and ultimately, more fun.
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Sam Parker says:
Thanks for your thoughts, Everyone!
One of the reasons I did this was to experience what it really meant to work for 60 hours in a week. The funny thing about it… I couldn’t make it happen even when I was trying to.
What I hope to accomplish by sharing this experience is to help more of us focus on how much we can give with our time (how much we can help each other) rather than being so concerned with making sure we don’t put in too many hours.
I’m not a fan of the 60-hour work week. I believe in rest, family, relationships, and playing hard. And, I believe in work.
It’s the golden rule that has me thinking and writing about giving more. There’s a huge number of people who made big sacrifices to make our world a better place. I feel like we need to expect (and enjoy) more from ourselves and make sure we do our part… to stay awake and question the cliches and assumptions… to push things and be 212… to Smove and to love our people.
Thanks for being a part of it.
December 4, 2010
Rich Whitley says:
Interesting post, Sam. Sorry it took me a while to get to it — but it gave me a thought to pass along. Why were you concerned about the clock? …the “60 hours”?? If you make 10 Widgets per hour and need to make 600 Widgets, you will need 60 hours. YOUR work, on the other hand, does not produce Widgets. Your thoughts, posts, products and concepts are a never-ending flow. You DO, however have tasks to complete. If you gave yourself 6 or 8 or 12 tasks to do each day — regardless of time — what would you accomplish?
I suggest you use the clock to alert you when to attend a child’s ballgame, a recital, or what time to make a dinner reservation with The Spaniard — NOT to work. Get done what you need to accomplish in a day, week, month or year. Do one more or one less and when tomorrow comes, the sun will still rise. Love your work as you do, but why wrap it in a clock? Your 212 is brilliant. It is moving things by one degree, not one minute.
December 1, 2010
Gloria says:
I cook as a hobby. I pull a knife out of the drawer and it’s sharp. I cut tomatoes and eventually the knife gets dull. I can’t cut tomatoes as efficiently or as effectively. I take time to sharpen the knife. I then can go back to cutting tomatoes without making a mess. Same thing goes for my brain. I’m an independent contractor and make my own schedule. I put in more than my 40 hours and some of that time is spent getting coffee, making a personal call, etc. The breaks are not long or involved and they keep me productive. I have my own tricks – lists of daily MUST DO stuff, alarms, appointments strategically placed. For my business some of my best leads happen during this “unproductive” time. I now know when things feel stale, I need to make a change… take the day off, go get coffee… and amazing things happen when I get out of the way and let the universe conspire to get me what I’ve been working on.
Love the post. Thanks!
November 30, 2010
Melody says:
I really love this post (and this blog of course). Your experiment hit home with me in so many different ways. I’m an intern physician right now, and thanks to laws passed in the past several years, our work weeks are now “limited” to 80 hours a week.
I’ve been working an average of 80 hours a week since July now, and didn’t realize how much it had completely beat me down until yesterday. As an intern, you get dumped on so much during work – emotionally, physically, intellectually. You get bossed around by nurses, and patients, and patient’s families, and the resident physicians, and the staff physicians… consulting physicians… program directors… AHHH!
We have this work culture that no one really complains (which is pretty good) but also one where no one really admits that they are human. I’m expected to work this much (which includes 30 hours shifts -with no sleep- every 4-5 days), never make mistakes, and still have time to be a wife, a friend, a daughter, a sister… a whole person.
The expectations are really quite insane.
Anyway… sorry for such a long comment. Like I said, I really enjoy the blog, and I’m such a big groupie…. a S’mover for life! It’s just nice to see someone (the CSO? Chief S’moving Officer? No? Too cute?) admit that working so much is hard… to be so comfortable with saying “I failed”….
Thanks for being so honest. I needed to hear that from someone.
November 30, 2010
Scott Messer says:
If you want to be the most productive you can be, first know where you want to end up, what you wish to accomplish for the long haul. Then, continually ask yourself, is this the most effective use of my time right now? Am I doing high value, high impact activities? Of course, we can’t do that all the time, but you’d be surprised how often we are distracted with urgent but unimportant things.
November 29, 2010
aa momoh says:
i think that isu make mor money ih
March 8, 2010
Charles says:
As I go about the day, I try to do my best today,so I can do more
tommorrow. I try to do my best each day,so others can steal with their eyes, maybe the things that I do and the way that that I do it.
I try to correct my wrongs.
March 5, 2010
kate says:
I am thinking i should get these prompts at night – so i don’t feel drawn to learm more during “work” hours. but my nights are for my Family and sleep and books and magazine and the odd bit of guilty TV
I just wanted to tell you i really like your site – it inspires me and i like you owning up to the fact that you “failed” because the point of most things is to “learn” something so you can be in continuous improvement mode
At the end of the day – an exercise like this draws ones attention to the big stuff – as in “if i don’t get to my priorities NOW I will never have enough hours in the office”
January 26, 2010
Gail says:
I find I can get more work in if I keep my work at work and my home at home. I also find I can get more work done in a week if I don’t force how many hours I work in a day rather leave when I’m not productive and stay when I’m on a roll. On a bad day I’ll work 5-6 hours but can put in 10-11 in a row later in the week. I also work a later shift, noon to between 8:00 and midnight, I get more done after 5:00 when the interruptions seem to cease. I easily get 50 without a strain but force myself to stop there because I only get paid for 40 I don’t want to resent it later.
January 25, 2010
williamwong says:
As I type this comment from my work computer during my work hours I have to say:
I really need to get back to work.
Thanks for sharing your experiment with us and keep it coming.
January 25, 2010
Sean says:
Everyone must approach each day with the question of “How will I make a difference TODAY?” Each individual is responsible for their own “Intended Outcome” and they must OWN that outcome. If you stay on course, your day can consist of 6 quality hours or 8.5 hrs of busy-work…We can all look busy…”Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
August 31, 2009
Brian says:
I agree with Madeline. I believe that getting along with people in your environment (I mean really feeling comfortable in it), be it home or office is key to being as efficient as possible.
August 31, 2009
Madeline says:
I believe in humor in the workplace.. taking a little time for people, certainly not the bulk of my day, but some nonetheless. It keeps us productive and is good for morale. I also believe in the 212 ethic.. You have to know when enough is enough though. I over did it for some years, it was unappreciated and I lost valuable time with my family.
August 31, 2009