Addicted to Punishment?

[oddlots]

I stand at desk all day like Rumsfeld so I can't see why anyone's complaining... but something at the back of my mind keeps saying "this is crazy" so I suggest this woman might be on to something:

It’s a heresy now (good luck convincing your boss of what I’m about to say), but every hour you work over 40 hours a week is making you less effective and productive over both the short and the long haul. And it may sound weird, but it’s true: the single easiest, fastest thing your company can do to boost its output and profits — starting right now, today — is to get everybody off the 55-hour-a-week treadmill, and back onto a 40-hour footing...

The work-addiction is like a fun-house-mirrors experience after a while and I suspect it's largely culturally imposed as opposed to rational management strategy.

http://boingboing.net/2012/03/14/ame...ork-weeks.html

[nedtheguy]

Re: Addicted to Punishment?

redacted

[jiimbergin]

Re: Addicted to Punishment?

I know from my tim at many companies that this is true. Each new company l joined had the actuarial and accounting departments working unnecessary hours. I immediately stopped all those extra hours and somehow the work still got done.

[thriftyandboringinohio]

Re: Addicted to Punishment?

I've seen it the same in manufacturing. A couple times a years, in a real emergency, you can rally the employees to a genuine surge of output with a few days of overtime. If you try to do it routinely, productivity falls back to trend despite extra hours worked.

[wayiwalk]

Re: Addicted to Punishment?

The last 2 years without a true vacation (other than time off because I'm exhausted, nothing special in terms of a vacation because I'm a poor engineer ) in engineering consulting at a big firm. We're an international firm and we routinely can compare work mindsets across regions. Here in the northeast, we have a work until you drop mentality (compared to elsewhere in the firm, where it is work until you drop but take the time off as needed). Part of it is our clients (town/city/state) don't have the budgets that they once had to pay for our services, so we need to juggle 10 to make 6.....this is also the nature of consulting, too, having more on your plate than just 40 hrs.

The interesting thing is the pushback from the 30 and under crowd, not willing to accept this as a way of life.....but the boomers are now running the show and that does set the tone.

[photoncounter]

Re: Addicted to Punishment?

Looks like the study was primarily done on people with manufacturing jobs and I think the 8-hour concept would still apply for such jobs . A lot of the jobs now involve an internet-connected-computer, which means one is not "actually" working 8 hours a day.

[aaron]

Re: Addicted to Punishment?

I am at work right now.

after hours

[Kadriana]

Re: Addicted to Punishment?

My husband and brother were discussing this topic this morning. Both are IT guys and talking about how useless they become if they work too much.

[lektrode]

Re: Addicted to Punishment?

my obs is that it depends... one can keep plowing ahead, fairly productively, IF one feels he's 'getting ahead' of the pile or at least gaining on it, meaning the goal is in sight - but if the pile is just getting bigger or they're falling behind, then working longer just leads to collapse...
and dunno about anybody else, but i'm good for about 5hours of sustained effort a day (but when i say sustained, i mean constant output: no coffee breaks, no lunch, no bathroom breaks (until no can hold it no more), no celtel yakkin; just 'gitter done' and go home (and i'll put up my 5 hours vs the typical 8hour wageslave's 'scheduled' output any day of the week: arrive at 8, break at 10, get ready for lunch at 1130, lunch from noon to 1:15, break at 2, start getting ready to leave for the day at 4:30 and 'punch out' at 5 )

but then, this is the self-employed person's way of doing things, vs the 'just punchin my time card til its over' mentality of the typical employee these daze...