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How Many Hours Do You Need to Work to Achieve Success |
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Successful executives and professionals have always had flex time – it is just that the flexibility lies in working more hours outside the normal 40-hour work week. How flexible do you need to be in extra hours to achieve your career aspirations?
In all of our interviews with leaders and in our work with professionals, it is a common theme that they all work long hours. The attitude and experience is that success needs to be earned and it is difficult to put the required effort in while keeping to a regular work week. Successful people go beyond the “nine to five” mindset and it is the only way to move ahead.
A recent study by the Center for Creative Leadership (one of the world’s foremost leadership research centers) showed that commitment and motivation is directly related to the hours worked. The research assessed commitment and motivation throughout all levels of the organization and found the highest scores were for those people who worked beyond 50-hour work weeks. In the study, the average work week for executives was measured at 51.5 hours with 50.1 hours for managers and 47.9 hours for professionals. Despite the longer working hours, those with the extended work weeks did not report feeling overworked or loaded down by too much. They enjoyed their work. Interestingly, regardless of the age group, all generations of employees in those positions reported working the same level of hours.
Is it really as easy as that? The more hours you work the more committed and motivated you are in your work and the more success you achieve? I think there is a balance.
There is no question you need to earn success and that takes time – time committed each week beyond your normal working hours to invest in building your expertise and experience to achieve more. The test is achieving the balance between being committed and motivated to put in the right amount of time to earn success with the problem of becoming addicted to work and letting it take over your life.
Achieving that balance is the key to success both professionally and personally. I have not achieved that balance. Throughout my working career I have always worked excessive hours. Although I have experienced certain rewards there have definitely been losses in my personal life. Right now (and you know I measure my time) I work on average about 64 hours each week and have been known to move it up even higher. Am I just more motivated and committed to achieving success? No, I don’t know how to make the separation between work and not working. The excessive hours can wear you down and take away from what you have achieved. Success really lies in making the right cut of working and not working.
Success requires a commitment of longer hours but it also needs the ability to stop and shut off the work so you can relax, rejuvenate, and enjoy your relationships. When you can turn it off after 50 hours, you can set time aside to break from the work which is critical for better thinking, innovation, and overall performance. Just working more and more hours only makes you tired. There is a point of diminishing returns. I think it hits at 50 hours each week.
What does it take to achieve success? Yes, you have to commit to doing more than other workers but it also involves working smart and knowing when to stop. Working 50 hours each week is very reasonable to gain the career you want and move yourself ahead to more and more responsible positions. After that, you are just taking away from your ability to enjoy your success.
My wish for you in developing your career is that you work smarter than me. Commit the needed hours but know when to stop and enjoy the journey.
Just my thinking …
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