what is it like to work 80 hours a week
Working too much is bad for both long-term productivity and wellness. Merely at that place are periods where y'all legitimately have to work more than usual (eg. when y'all're shut to crisis fourth dimension).
Here are some strategies people who work 80+ hours a calendar week use.
People famous for putting long piece of work hours
Although the archetype workweek usually counts 40 hours, some people put in much more than that. – namely, a number of successful people are famous for putting in long hours every week.
- Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, is famed for his fourth dimension blocking technique and working 120 hours per week.
- Indra Nooyi, the now sometime CEO of PepsiCo, was famed for getting up at 4AM, and focusing most of her solar day on work – she'd work until midnight everyday.
- Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, used to spend 12 hours a twenty-four hours working, during the start days of Amazon.
- Marissa Mayer, the one-time CEO of Yahoo, claimed to work 130 hours per week during her fourth dimension as CEO.
Their work week seems packed, yet these entrepreneurs manage to helm successful companies, and notwithstanding pb a life with their spouses and children.
So how do they do it?
Did you know?
There are 168 hours in a week, and 24 hours in a day. Merely, how much of that time exercise you really spend working, and how much time do y'all spend on other activities?
Sign up for a free account on Clockify time tracker and notice out.
The math behind the 80+ hours equation
There are 168 hours in a calendar week – that'southward 24 hours per vii days you have at your disposal:
- If y'all work for at least lxxx hours per calendar week, you have 88 hours for other activities.
- Yous have roughly 12,5 hours of complimentary time everyday.
- If you aim to sleep at least 7 hours per day, you are left with 5,5 hours for other activities: meals, socializing, hobbies, and other.
The more y'all work, the less free time you'll have per solar day:
- if you work 100 hours per week, you'll have a little more than 9,5 hours free
- if you work 120 hours, you'll have a few minutes short of seven hours free.
The raw numbers say that working at to the lowest degree lxxx hours per week is a manageable feat -but, the likelihood decreases equally the number of working hours increases.
Staying healthy in an 80+ piece of work routine
Putting in long hours every day virtually guarantees a burnout – so, it's vital that you take intendance of your wellness.
Make sure you e'er leave enough fourth dimension for meals, and slumber – they are your biggest allies in staying productive, considering y'all cannot properly piece of work when hungry, or sleep deprived.
Always brand sure you lot make the most out of the time you lot have free.
Meals
You likely won't have time to cook, so information technology'due south best that you lot call back about your meals in accelerate:
- opt for healthy snacks – e'er keep them at paw, in case yous go hungry, simply don't want to exit your desk. Depression carbs, such as nuts, are a slap-up pick, but you can also attempt almonds and grapefruits – they 'll help you feel full longer, and so you'll be able to work longer.
- fix meals in advance – cooking each solar day is time consuming, and so it's best that you batch cook, and freeze leftover nutrient for the other days of the week. But make sure it's all properly packed and stored in your freezer.
- Gild everything yous tin can online – many stores allow you to order your groceries, but also other supplies, online.
- Stay hydrated throughout the day – Drink a glass of water as before long as you wake upwards. When you experience a dip in your energy, drink a glass of water, and you'll feel instantly refreshed. The number of glasses you should beverage varies, but drinking iv to vi cups is one recommendation.
Slumber
A good sleep is probably your most of import non-work activity – afterward all, if yous're drowsy, you lot won't be able to concentrate, and then it'due south best that you don't take time away from your sleep.
You should nap whenever y'all get the chance – during commutes, or when you have a longer interruption in your schedule. You don't necessarily take to hit 7-8 hours of slumber in continuity every day – just make sure yous do sleep 7-eight hours during 24 hours.
If y'all're aiming to work more than lxxx hours per week, you'll be fifty-fifty more pressed for sleep, – if you have only almost v hours for sleep, make the most of this time:
- don't nap in a chair or sofa – slumber will be best if you sleep in your bed, the place which you take come to associate with rest.
- avoid sleeping in the office, and avert working in your bed – sleeping where you piece of work and working where you slumber is a red herring that simply confuses yous. It's best that you associate your work desk with piece of work alone, and your bed with balance solitary.
- in the evenings, avoid foods and drinks that will brand falling comatose more hard– caffeine and nicotine volition likely keep you from falling comatose at the designated time, then avert coffee and cigarettes at night. The aforementioned goes for alcohol – it blocks you lot from entering the REM stage of your sleep, which is a vital phase for your rest.
Piece of work
Yous may desire to piece of work 80+ hours per week, because you're facing a deadline, or yous're merely catching up on some loose ends in your most firsthand project. Or, maybe you're aiming to streamline your work routine.
In order to manage this, you'll have to consider the following points:
Keep in listen your priorities
Having a packed week means you'll rarely have fourth dimension (or be in the mood) to tackle additional tasks – so make sure that you dedicate the bulk of your time to the right tasks.
For example, y'all have 10 bugs in your programme – and information technology's an urgent affair that will likely have abroad a lot of your fourth dimension.
Out of the 10, you take 8 bugs yous tin easily fix, but you as well have 2 demanding bugs that, if solved, would get rid of fourscore% of your programme'south problems.
Of course, it would be neat to be able to cross out 8 bugs from your list – later all, it volition wait like you've achieved outstanding progress if you lot cantankerous off 8 items in your to-do list at the end of the mean solar day.
But, it's e'er best to tackle the 2 more than difficult, but also more meaningful bugs – this practise is based on the Pareto principle, which stipulates that 20% of the right efforts bring eighty% of your results. Once y'all're done with the 2 most hard bugs and improved your program past 80%, it'll no problem to tackle the eight remaining, easy bugs.
Continue in mind your goals
It's vital that you consider your master goals, and why you lot're dedicating 80+ hours in your work – are you working hard in society to promote your business to the right people, in an effort to piece of work less afterward on in life?
Or, are yous working two jobs to salvage coin for school?
Whatever your goal may exist, having it in mind is more than than sufficient to provide you lot with motivation to keep going – just make sure you're aiming at the right goal.
Once important lesson in keeping truthful to your goals is learning to say "No" to projects and tasks that have no real value for you – they'll merely accept away from the time you could be focusing on more important, goal-oriented activities.
Leisure time and breaks
The way you lot spend your leisure time has an of import bear upon on how productive you can exist during work hours :
- If you're in a good mood afterwards a quick dejeuner out with friends, yous'll likely be more than productive once you resume piece of work, considering happiness helps productivity.
- Or, if you accept but taken a xv-minute walk effectually the neighborhood park, you'll likely clear your mind and exist able to solve pressing issues once yous render to your role.
Always business relationship for your breaks and leisure time, every bit they will help you power through your work.
Breaks
Curt breaks help you charge your batteries – brand it a habit to implement breaks during your piece of work routine.
If you've already re-filled your cup of coffee during break 1, went to the bathroom during break 2, you can utilise pause 3 to plan the leisure time you'll accept during the week – nothing motivates amend than knowing that rewards are awaiting you in the future, then keep them in listen.
Leisure fourth dimension
Yous should spend more time on your leisure activities than you lot do on regular in-between-piece of work breaks. And, in regards to that, your reward-activities should terminal longer, and be more elaborate – yous work a lot, and then you deserve quality downtime.
These activities can exist annihilation y'all enjoy:
- a long walk
- a dinner out with your family unit
- going out to catch the latest 3D installment with your friends
- going to a football or basketball friction match
During this time, only unwind – don't retrieve about your projects, or the work that awaits you tomorrow.
Schedule your days
It's important that you lot create a straightforward schedule for your work days, and stick to information technology – if you lot take everything written on newspaper, you lot likely won't stray abroad from your target hours.
Make certain to create to-practise lists, identify your priorities amid the to-practice list items, and block specific time of solar day for them – set full general or specific goals you lot'll want to accomplish with a task, or group of tasks.
The difference between a schedule for a regular work week, and a work week that lasts at least lxxx hours, is that you should aim to schedule everything:
- most important work assignments
- accompanying tasks
- meals
- time off with friends and family
- workouts
- bedtime
- miscellaneous other activities
Keeping to the math is crucial with a busy work calendar week, because it'due south the just manner for yous to stay on rail.
Example of a schedule
So, you have a borderline for a projection endmost in, and y'all want to work 80 hours within a week, to finish everything on fourth dimension.
Even if you're planning to work for 12 hours, bare in mind that not all the piece of work yous'll practice will exist priority, meaningful work – you'll likely spend a certain amount of fourth dimension of priority tasks, and a certain amount of time on accompanying tasks.
Here is an example 24-hours breakup, for a 12-ish hour workday:
6AM – Make sure to get up early, to become a head outset on your twenty-four hours.
6:10PM-6:20AM – Do to ease into the day refreshed and alert.
6:20AM-6:30AM – Take a shower, preferably a colder one, to make sure you're fully awake.
6:30AM-seven:00AM – Don't skip breakfast – it'll provide yous with the initial boost of energy you need to start your work day correct. It's best that you fix your breakfast the nighttime before (utilise ingredients that can final through the night in the refrigerator). Or, opt a nutritious meal you can make quickly, such as a protein shake, or a yogurt and fruit parfait.
seven:00AM-vii:30AM – If you commute to work, use this time to pre-start your work 24-hour interval – for example, reply your most important emails, or get through some client contracts and proposals.
7:30AM-7:40AM – Get through your schedule and consider your priorities for the 24-hour interval – this may be the negotiation with a potential big customer, or finalizing an of import project proposal.
Either style, y'all'll want to block most of your work hours for these tasks – 3-4 hours per block is the optimal amount of fourth dimension for you lot to fully focus and perform deep work, which is like to being "in the zone". If you ever experience tired during this dedicated piece of work fourth dimension, have a v minute break.
seven:40AM-eleven:40AM – Once you get to the part, starting time working on your priority tasks – if you do your deep piece of work capabilities, y'all'll eventually be able to spend three-4 hours of pure, uninterrupted work time. Brand sure yous parse the task that requires deep work, into smaller sub-tasks – if you've parsed information technology into 4 sub-tasks, classify an hour to each task. And so, track fourth dimension you spend on these sub-tasks – watching the timer count up will encourage and motivate you to fully focus.
11:40AM-12:00AM – Utilize this time to reply some more of import piece of work emails, or conduct some client calls – these activities are corking for you to ease out of your "zone" before lunch.
12PM-12:30PM – Lunch break – information technology's best that yous order in a healthy repast to your office, or bring a pre-prepared 1 from home. You'll save time yous'd otherwise spend going out for lunch.
12:30PM – 4:00PM – some other time block for your most important work tasks. You can brand this time block less about pure piece of work, and implement longer breaks. Science shows that our brains experience cycles of 90 minutes of loftier frequency activities, followed by 20 minutes of low frequency activities – y'all can aim to work for ninety minutes, and and so rest for 20.
If you discover this suspension-fourth dimension to be too long, you can try out the famed Pomodoro technique, and piece of work in 25/5 cycles, in which you work for 25 minutes, and take breaks for five minutes.
💡 Clockify pro tip
For the ultimate Pomodoro experience, effort the Clockify extensions for Chrome and Firefox – you'll become a congenital-in Pomodoro timer that notifies you when your 25-minute work session is done, and reminds you when it'due south time to resume piece of work after your 5-minute break. Yous can as well ascertain custom time for your work sessions and breaks, and include a recurring longer break.
iv:00PM-5:00PM – Depending on your usual set of assignments, utilise this fourth dimension to work on tasks that are less immediate, but withal vital for progress:
- call back a squad brainstorming session
- attend a coming together
- schedule an international conference phone call
These activities are great to make you ease out of your working day.
5:00PM-5:30PM – While commuting home, check your inbox once more – use this time to answer whatsoever additional inquiries and questions you lot get by email.
You can likewise use this time to lodge in some groceries and missing supplies directly to your firm.
Or, if you'll accept to take hold of up on more work at home, utilize this time to take a nap.
v:30PM-6:00PM – Make and eat your dinner.
6:00PM-7:30PM – This is the fourth dimension y'all can spend on leftover tasks, if you find that you have any – maybe you didn't have the time to tackle some important matters while at the office, such as planning for a launch event, or going through your business goals for the side by side quarter.
7:30PM-vii:45PM – Plan your work day for tomorrow – write upwardly a to-exercise list, and put priority task at the top of your listing.
Y'all can create a template schedule and fill up it out each day – your morning routine, meal times, and leisure fourth dimension volition probable remain the same, as well as the time you cake for your most important activities, whatever they may be.
Your conference calls, meetings and other customer-related activities volition likely be a wild card – but, you can block your less busy hours at work, or some of your time at abode, for whatever unexpected activities.
vii:45PM-9:30PM – Time reserved for leisure fourth dimension meant to help you unwind from work, also as socialize with friends and family. You can become out for a quick drink, watch a movie, or simply conversation with loved ones.
nine:30PM-10:00PM – Start getting prepare for bed – have a shower, read a chapter of your favorite book in bed, or listen to some soothing music, to help you fall comatose faster.
10:00PM-x:30PM – Try to go to bed at this fourth dimension – you'll get between 7-8 hours of sleep until information technology'due south fourth dimension to wake upwards at 6AM tomorrow.
This schedule shows that you've spent:
- well-nigh vii,v hours on deep work activities
- almost 4 hours on accompanying activities
- and about 25 minutes on polishing your schedule
Although that's not something you'd expect from a strenuous work twenty-four hours, you've as well managed to
- piece of work out
- eat three meals (including the often-skipped breakfast)
- go to bed at a reasonable fourth dimension to get 7-eight hours of sleep
- spend some leisure time with family and friends, or maybe even on a hobby
Y'all've gone through a significant amount of piece of work, and you've managed to stay healthy while doing it.
Although eating right, sleeping enough, and practicing your deep work capabilities are the crucial elements to consider for long workweeks, at that place are actress tips that can aid you along the way:
- "If information technology's fun, it'south not piece of work" – When you work on something y'all enjoy yous're able to work longer – if you're planning to be a high achiever, make certain you're pursuing a career in something you lot enjoy.
- Set timers and alarms for about of your activities – yous'll stay on track, and won't get carried abroad past only 1 blazon of activity.
- Commutes – If you didn't have fourth dimension to work out, take a walk to work instead of riding a double-decker or taxi. It may seem counterproductive, but it actually helps you ease into the solar day the way a regular workout would.
- Prioritize socialization– you likely won't take time for casual get-togethers with friends everyday, just leaving time for a big social event, say a altogether or anniversary dinner, is something worth reshuffling your work for.
- Don't just sit in your office – rather, alternate between siting and standing, for different tasks. For case, you'll probably need to sit while writing a projection proposal. But, when taking a telephone telephone call, there'due south no reason why you tin't stand, or walk around the role. If you lot practice this, you'll get some exercise while working, but also, break the monotony of sitting in 1 place the entire day.
In the end, practice you really demand to work 80+ hours per calendar week?
Working for fourscore+ hours is farthermost, and not recommended as an everyday exercise – but, if you stick to a strict routine and block your time, information technology is possible.
If y'all observe that you're able to eat enough, sleep enough and be happy despite working long hours, it's fine for you to go for it. Just, refrain from working eighty+ hours all-yr-round. Pursuing such a schedule for 2 or 3 calendar week in a row is enough -in the long run, working less is usually sufficient for staying productive with your piece of work.
The near important part in managing to piece of work eighty+ hours per week is taking intendance of your health. Eat when you're hungry, have a nap when you lot're drowsy, go out for a walk when you find you tin no longer stare at your reckoner – take intendance of you, then you tin have intendance of your fourth dimension.
Preventing career burnout
Although information technology's perfectly fine to put in overtime work for short periods of fourth dimension (similar during loftier-time flavour or crunch time), making this a habit is not sustainable in the long run equally it leads to serious health and work issues. Check out our weblog post about career burnout and how it affects your health to larn more.
Source: https://clockify.me/blog/productivity/how-to-manage-efficiently-working-80-hours-week/
0 Response to "what is it like to work 80 hours a week"
Post a Comment