📹 Working Hard is Ruining Your Career 🛑
If you work hard, you’ll succeed right? This is the message that you were told over and over growing up – but it’s the reason you …
What are the causes of presenteeism?
Presenteeism is a phenomenon where employees are expected to work even when they are sick, despite being sick. This is due to a combination of factors including unrealistic expectations, job insecurity, large workloads, understaffing, excessive time pressure, and a culture where being sick is not socially acceptable. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) reported that presenteeism more than tripled between 2010 and 2018, highlighting the growing issue of absenteeism in the workplace.
Why is presenteeism good?
Presenteeism, a form of absenteeism, can be managed effectively to improve employees’ mental health by providing a sense of achievement, structure, social support, and inclusion. Adjusting work demands to health conditions can aid recovery and facilitate a gradual return to full working capacity. Research by Maria Karanika-Murray and Caroline Biron suggests four main types of presenteeism: functional, dysfunctional, overachieving, and therapeutic, some of which can be beneficial. This approach allows employees to return to work activities without waiting until they are fully healthy.
What is the problem with presenteeism?
Presenteeism can be more disruptive than absenteeism, with productivity lost due to presenteeism being 7. 5 times greater than absenteeism. Unwell employees can pass on illnesses to colleagues, leading to a domino effect that wipes out half the office. Additionally, not giving employees time to rest and recuperate can hinder their return to optimal performance, leading to burnout. To address this issue, investing in employees goes beyond monthly pay packets and adopts a holistic approach to staff well-being. This will lead to a better working environment, happier, and more productive employees.
How does presenteeism affect productivity?
Presenteeism is a growing issue in workplaces, affecting productivity and employee well-being. To combat this, employers should prioritize mental health awareness and offer health, well-being, and wellness training. A supportive environment and open communication can promote a healthier, more productive workplace. To become more aware of health and wellness, employers can take management and awareness courses.
What are the dangers of presenteeism?
Presenteeism, a prevalent issue in the UK, is causing productivity loss, poor decision-making, and lower team morale. It costs an estimated £29. 3 billion and has negative implications for SMEs. Presenteeism is when employees attend work when feeling unwell instead of taking sick leave, resulting in employees not performing at their full capacity. It is crucial for SMEs to understand the dangers of presenteeism and take steps to address it effectively.
What are the factors affecting presenteeism?
Presenteeism is when employees prioritize work over their well-being, reporting for work when they are sick, ill, or injured. Factors such as understaffing, job insecurity, and poor work-life balance may cause this. Presenteeism, on the other hand, occurs when employees consistently show up to work despite illness or injury, leading to a greater loss in productivity. Symptoms of presenteeism include a drop in productivity, frequent mistakes, skipped lunch breaks, and feelings of apathy towards their job.
What is the best example of presenteeism?
Presenteeism is the issue of workers attending their jobs even when they cannot function effectively, leading to negative consequences on productivity, quality control, and staff well-being. It is a result of absenteeism, where employees miss work beyond the usual leave policies due to illness, personal issues, or lack of engagement with the job. On the other hand, presenteeism occurs when employees come to work despite being ill, stressed, or unable to work at full capacity, driven by a sense of obligation, fear of job loss, or lack of paid leave.
Does overwork increase productivity?
Overworking negatively impacts employees’ productivity levels, negatively impacting business performance. Research indicates a correlation between overworking and employee productivity, with overworked employees often performing poorly in their duties. Studies suggest that productivity levels are higher when working less than 40 hours per week, rather than more than 50 hours per week. This post aims to explain how overworking can affect team productivity, highlighting that even motivated employees can be negatively affected by long working hours.
What is the culture of presenteeism?
Presenteeism occurs when an employee returns to work despite illness or other medical condition, resulting in reduced productivity and increased errors. In the UK, the number of sick days taken per year has halved since 1993, but the average worker only took 3. 6 sick days in 2020, during the first year of a global pandemic. The ONS statistics show a steady decrease in sick days since 1995, with the latest annual figure being 4. 1 sick days. This represents a significant reduction in sick days over a 25-year period.
How can Labour affect productivity?
Labor productivity is the output per worker or hour worked, influenced by factors such as workers’ skills, technological changes, management practices, and changes in other inputs like capital. Multifactor productivity (MFP) is output per unit of combined inputs, typically including labour and capital but can include energy, materials, and services. Changes in MFP reflect output that cannot be explained by input changes.
In Australia, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) produces measures of output and inputs for various industries, sectors, and the economy as a whole. Productivity growth contributes to economic prosperity and welfare for all Australians.
📹 Why Employee Happiness Matters, and What You Can do to Build a Better Workplace
In this interactive webinar “Why Employee Happiness Matters, and What You Can do to Build a Better Workplace,” Harvard …
If there is one thing I learned in 7 years of content marketing is that working hard only rewards you with MORE work, higher expectations and no recognition, therefore it’s not worth it. Do the bare minimum and you’ll do fine, prioritise yourself and your health first. Companies would replace us in 3 seconds if we were too burned out to keep going – we don’t owe them any loyalty.
I have been overlooked six times for promotion while working hard putting in long hours and bending over backwards to be as productive as possible. I have decided that dying of a heart attack is not how i want to make an impact at my job. So i have decided to cut out all the overtime and favours i do and just enjoy the chaos it creates for everyone else.
My wife lost a family member who was a high executive of a big pharmaceutical company. He died of a heart attack in his office due to stress. He was 45 years old and was considering leaving the job. His boss died a year before in the same office, guess what a heart attack due to stress. Nothing is more valuable than your life.
In my 12 years of employment as a CPA hard work usually means more work. The employees who your boss favors (The buddy system) get to go out to lunch and have fun (and get promoted) while you sit back and do more work. I’ve observed this dynamic at 3 different accounting firms. My wife also observed similar behavior at a large winery. Hard work doesn’t always pay off. Hard work is only “hard” on you and usually doesn’t pay off unless you own the business.
One good thing i leaned from my toxic boss is don’t work hard. Just do the bare minimum and set very firm boundaries. Threw loyalty out the door. My boss and my co-workers are not my friends and will never be after my interest. Learned to love and value myself. Learned to cut losses after decades of working hard.
Use to be guilty of this until someone who retired from HR after 40 years said to me that; the “performance records” were used to see who the department the company can get the most out off for less to benefit the company. He said if you do more then you should and do things outside your contract just once, it creates an expectation and as soon as you miss one inch, management will come done on you like a ton of bricks because they want you to retain that work standard regardless of the lazy workers or your contract. Because you make up for the lazy ones! So I stopped being stupidly early for work, only worked my hours regardless of company needs and only do the bare minimum I am required to do. I no longer try to prove myself anymore and act a little like one of the lazy workers. Because the lazy ones are, funnily enough, more thought off! Heaven forbid you upset one of the lazy workers! They always get away with murder in the work place. So now, I put me first. If I am not getting what I need to get the job done, I act like the lazy workers and sit there until my manager does their job by ensuring I have the necessary resources to do my job effectively, if not, I put my foot down. Now I being treated with the respect and thoughtfulness I always wanted 🙂
Problem with working too much is. The more you work, the more mistakes you make. The more mistakes you make, the more reasons the boss has to keep you working for the money you’re earning now. He/She knows how MUCH you work and will keep you there without a raise because you’re a worker bee. Congrats!
I recently took PTO as scheduled with my employer for Christmas break, all of a sudden something high priority comes up and my team and myself wound up working at least 4-5 hours a day over Christmas break to make up lost time due to construction delays, etc.. Just meeting and planning, accomplishing little. 1 week turned into 2 weeks, and essentially ruined everyone’s planned break over the holidays when 99% of the company is essentially on a freeze during the same period. Small thanks in emails about how “great” the milestones were – but no way to make up the lost time with family or compensate for the lack of break – day 1 on the following week – full schedule, full steam ahead…
This article is right on time. Thanks Jennifer. We need to stop glorifying overwork! These jobs will post your job before your obituary is posted. Please. I just told my job that I had to implement work-life balance and desired to work no more than a 40 hour standard week. Of course, they wanted me to work a lot more. Nope. It’s been said that working 10 hours per week increases your chance for heart ❤️ attack. I can’t do it anymore! You will have to rely on the slackers and those that have done enough to get by!
Even though I’m young (I’m 29), I try not to overwork. I work as much as I can, but if I reach my breaking point, I stop. When I was a new nurse, it was so hard for me to say no. Over the years, I learned to say no to my supervisors and my boss. If I’m not feeling good, I call off because I can barely function. I try to work if I can, but if I’m really sick, I tell them that I can’t come to work.
Wow, I’ve experienced this myself in the past. Putting in crazy hours, being the only person in a dark office on the weekends, working for free because OT wasn’t approved, thinking it would all pay off. It didn’t. I was literally a pay grade below everyone else on my team, including new hires who I helped interview and train. I did a long hike and it totally changed my outlook on life, including putting work into perspective. Biggest takeaway – I quit trying to impress others and only cared to impress myself. Whether that would be learning new skills, or wanting to accomplish something specific on a certain project. Only when I stopped “caring” is when I finally got promoted and I’ve seen my salary jump quite a bit in the past few years. I can still go pedal to the metal, but I’m totally ok with taking my foot off the gas now too. Does ‘working hard’ put off a certain vibe or something? Who knows, I don’t care!
I work in automotive production. Floor workers do about 12 hours almost every day. Office people work about 32 hours a week. Honestly after the 10th hour of working the physical labor our bodies hurt and we are tired and don’t work as good. I try to explain to the office people that 12 hours every day isn’t good for people. You really aren’t getting the best out of someone after the 10th hour. People are dropping parts and knocking stuff over and making bad parts they are so tired.
At one of my jobs, my project leader said in a meeting that he was now working at what he used to think of as 110%. I spoke up and said that was fine, but what happens when crunch time or a crisis comes along and you have to work harder? I understand what you mean – don’t be a slacker, but if you give more and more, the company will take that as your baseline.
7:13 is very well said. This is exactly what I’ve tried to tell folks who create their own goals/agendas and end up looking bad even though they are technically good at their profession. You see this a lot with software engineers that dump tons of hours into a feature (or something else) that they find personally engaging or inappropriately label as important, but management and customers couldn’t care less, plus you are costing them money. I’m not sure why this is so challenging to digest.
I work in trucking specifically hauling fuel… Taking time off is discouraged. As a matter of fact, at my last job, my terminal manager wanted me to “sell” back my vacation time. Her argument was that I could “pocket the extra money.” I was a top performer and she believed the company, specifically her terminal, would be hurt by my abscence.
Thank you for this article… I’ve been working so hard to make my seasonal position a permanent one…. I finally found this job I love with people I love to be around, doing work I can be proud of, and I feel it all slipping through my fingers… I have been feeling like I’m not enough, and no matter how hard I try I’m just not enough… I have been feeling like I have no choice but to work harder, get my numbers up and prove that I’m the person they want to keep, but I’m getting tired… I’m losing hope… I’m starting to feel like I’m just no good no matter what I try, or how hard I try., I just want to rest, I just want to know that I’m not in danger of being unemployed, that I can finally get my parents the house they deserve because I’ll have my job the next day, but man this is starting to break my heart, this feeling of not being good enough to stay
I always remind my staff that they are entitled to their leave days, so I encourage them to make sure they go on leave and finish their allocated leave days every year. If your staff work their ass off and accumulate a ton of unused leave days to carry over into the following year, as their manager you’re not doing your job in helping to manage their workload.
As someone who spent the better part of a decade being a “hard worker”, I can tell you it’s not worth it. I was always taking on new responsibilities thinking it would move me up the ladder. To an extent it did, but it’s not even remotely worth it. I had multiple promotions, but minimal pay raises. I once even took a promotion that had NO pay raise. DO NOT EVER do that. I was laid off a year after that promotion. I’m not saying do the bare minimum, but start slow & job hop frequently if you really want to upgrade your career. Good workers get stuck in the grind with little to show for it. Move to a company that appreciates what ou have to offer.
Has anyone ever experienced that the harder you work and the more productive you are, especially when you are trying to prove yourself capable in a new position, the more work is put on you by managers until your work is so disproportional to other colleagues (who appear to get away with doing very little). And then when you try to raise the issue with your managers it falls on deaf ears… I am yet to find a solution to this. I’m not sure I can stand being one of those workers that does the bear minimum, but I get zero reward from going the extra mile. Please help! I can’t keep quitting jobs because i’m worried about burnout. Experienced this once and no job is worth that.
As I got older I’m learning this. I’m 2 months into a new job and I’m already thinking about quitting. My trainer has been with the company for 35 years and he’s beat the hell up. He can barely move around he works 7-10 days straight on average because the company knows he never calls in or takes a vacation day. I’m looking around and a lot of the tenured workers are in this condition and I’ve come to the conclusion that this company doesn’t care about the well being of its employees, just the numbers. It’s really sad, the company is all these workers know in life and I ask them why don’t they retire, it’s the same answer most of the time which is they can’t afford to retire. I refuse to let a billion dollar company destroy my mental/physical state like they did to these workers. They scheduled me 14 days straight and I said no way, I’m calling in sick for 2 days just to let them know my boundaries.
i’m stuck at an underpaying job with a team that has no money to hire the number of people necessary to do the job, and they overload us. My supervisor is aware of the overload but he still whiplashes when minor mistakes are made or one of the million things I have on my plate are delayed. I’m on pins and needles trying to anticipate errors and having to hear it from him bc it ill reflect on my yearly performance and the meager raise I’ll get…we got a license to acquire skills from Udemy, but I can’t find much time to spend on that bc again, I’m overworked.
Out of 12 workers, two were let go because of the pandemic, 2 retired and 1 works half days .. did they replace the 4.5 workers lost? No, and being the office go-to, it was given to me .. without a pay raise. I recently asked for a pay raise and my own cubicle to make ALL THIS POSSIBLE WITHIN 40 HOURS, and I was denied. I asked tho, so that’s something. I’m also looking for another gig, so that’s something too 🙂
Thank you for this. For my whole career (25+years) I’ve instinctively resisted the idea that presence equals productivity. I saw managers and colleagues basically twiddling their thumbs because that meant “good.” My gut said otherwise, but unfortunately, I’ve always worked for such people, have been a serial “rule breaker”, and occasionally tried to explain my POV but to no avail. Never fired though because I did bring a lot of value. Just wish I didn’t carry such angst for being an outlier but that’s a psychological issue 😂 I look forward to joining an environment that understands but sadly I think we have a long way to go.
Rule #1… Work smart, not hard. My 30 year programming career was spawned from a teenage programming hobby on a VIC 20, for those of you who are old farts like me. My college education tuition and living expenses were paid by the government, so no student loan debt. For 25 years I went to work to play and they throw lotsa money at me. These days it gets even better. For the last 6 years I have worked from home, only put in 1-2 hours a day, full benefits, 4 weeks vacation and a 6 figure salary. Because I started early, built a solid foundation, from the age of 46 on I have been semi retired on a 6 figure salary. Work smart, not hard people.
Yes, I wish I’d known this when I was younger. Even while working in an office where they printed an audit of everyone’s work & the supervisor knew how hard I worked, I watched as others got promoted while I got 1 percent raises once a year. Oddly enough once they see you can produce high numbers they will expect that everyday while not respecting you at all. Try to be social with the boss, at least a little & don’t become the office work horse. If you have office meetings where you are allowed to ask questions, try think of a good question or two. They love that. Makes it look like you really care & gives them a chance to talk more, which many supervisors love.
Yep it DOES NOT work at all. I spent my 20’s trying my hardest to be a really great employee. Never late, rarely take time off. Always open to learning new tasks but it got me NOWHERE. I have had jobs where they will hire more employees and pay them more than me but never give me a raise. Also when you come to me saying you will give me 10 cents more is a slap in the face.
I can’t!!! It’s not in me!!! I just worked 2 hours over my approved overtime coz the work needed to get done (work that got pushed for a project my CEO said was priority over everything). Why am I still hourly when I report directly to the CEO? Exactly because I do shit like working 2 hours over my approved overtime.
When it comes to hard work specifically, I would set my boundaries in regards to the amount of hours I worked. However, I was a more efficient worker which would often result in me having to complete the work for others. I was able to finish tasks quickly and correctly, and because management knew they they would give me the work of people who had a specific role they didn’t feel the need to rush to fill or people who couldn’t do their jobs correctly. I was doing double the work and it was almost expected that I do everything myself.
Honestly, it’s unusual to see someone get promoted for “only” working 40 hrs week. It’s rare. I’ve always avoided overtime work unless necessary and I’m definitely on a slower path. I’ve still been promoted a few times but it’s definitely a slow track to the top compared to my peers who sold their souls for the company and moved up faster.
I’ve heard complaints about this from other coworkers. They feel unappreciated for doing “more” and drowning in work while I can go home on time and I’m not stressed. As long as I finish my work correctly and hand them in on time, why should I do overtime? If the due-date of a task is by the end of the week, why should I need to finish it on Tuesday by doing overtime on Monday? It’s not like I won’t get new work after handing in the current one. But I’m at fault, because “it’s unfair that you can leave on time!”.
I see this a lot on my job. People who think showing up early to work and staying late will earn gold stars. Meanwhile, admin is off living their life during contractual hours. I learned to work smarter not harder by being bullied and harassed on the job before the one I have now. I was hoodwinked to believe I needed to do more. The reality is you need to observe what is most important and prioritize. I rarely stay late or come in early yet, I get done what needs to be done. No going above and beyond because it doesn’t translate to dollars. I no longer give my labor away for free.
Working hard vs working smart. When you work hard and regularly put in a ton of time and extra hours your coworkers will see you as the dept pack mule that they can just use to carry anything they don’t or can’t work out. Then you get burdened with all that extra work and when you try to get those removed you are seen as a problem. Be willing to work hard and put in extra hours when needed but don’t be that person who is the first to jump up and do extra menial work. Be strategic about what additional work you are willing to take on if it will benefit you as well in terms of showcasing your skills and getting noticed. Unfortunately it is still true that those who put in the 60+ work week are seen as “management caliber” cause they know they can work them to death for peanuts
I don;t work harder for myself or my company anymore. I work harder for the customer. I always feel if I am being pay, I should care about my job. So I care about my job not the company. For ex, when I work at MCdonald I make sure people food was clean and safe to eat. Sure I could lazy Joe that serve all kind of food, burn, drop, etc but IMO my job is to serve food to people and I intend to do it the right way. I do work slower then what the company want but my goal is the customer not the company. I don;t think we should work harder but we all should do out job properly. I am tired of going to walmart and getting ignore or mistreated by worker. It your damn job, serve the customer who helping to pay your check. (as long as they act reasonably)
Hard work, gets you more work, no authority, no promotions. you get to train all the new employees. Boss dumps on you. It was the way I was raised work hard get rewarded. Um no. I don’t do this anymore at new job and I am still a rock star. Still get paid and happy. Just get the job done and that is it. Hard for me to throttle back, but it gets easier. I always take my days off now.
This is such an important article. Thank you Jennifer for these eye-opening insights! I also really enjoyed this article format. 🙂 I needed these reminders as I recently started a new role and no longer want to give too much of myself and my precious energy to my job. I want to seek the right amount of balance for myself while still feeling productive at the end of the day. So far in my career, overworking myself and striving for perfection in all aspects of my job has never led to me getting a promotion, a higher salary, or better benefits. I am determined to break that pattern with this new role.
Binging your articles because my work has put me on minimum wage for being a Manager (with another clinical position as well) I’m extremely annoyed because I’ve turned that place around and have a ton of experience. But the fear of starting a new job, plus leaving the good parts of this one behind, is overwhelming. Your articles are inspiring me to start looking and realise my worth. Thank you!
wow you finally speaking the truth. you aren’t gonna be paid for working harder. so why bother. my last and current employer are both “employee owned”. but in reality the only employees that own the company are the c level staff. and they pretend we are all profiting from the hard work. but my annual bonus is not reflective of that.
The coworkers who care well for themselves are NOT who I would ever consider lazy. They do their jobs, take very good care of themselves, take vacations, always put their children/ spouse over their jobs, and know how to enjoy life. If o owned a company, I’m not promoting the over working one! I’m promoting the one who does their job but does not over do it! As one who over worked ever since I was 18, I stopped it at about 43. Single moms please stop over working yourselves. Spend more time with your children, go on vacations, go to Lunch, be an overachiever with them kids your raising not your jobs.
It is a problem! When you work as a handler and make a lot of pallets with cleaning liquids and detergents! Ideea is that whe have production lines and not a lot handlers! It is good that we have automatic pallets foiling! It is burnout! But I want to make a step further and be a production operator! Have to wait! My manager said to give him a week! I have 10 weeks at this job! Weird thing! Even as a operator you also handle boxes pallets in order to make boxes! The machine makes them! But I like to indtroduce the program more then foiling pallets!
This absolutely true. ‘Working hard’ will get you stuck in your position. The bar of expectation will also be different for you. Work for the skill level you want to attain. Once you’ve obtained that goal stay there and plan your next move, which inevitably does lead to changing jobs. They had me working 46 hours a week. I can tell you after 42 hours my productivity was shot. I was also thrown into a culture of not using PTO that was a first for me. Trying to use it period or trying to substitute it for a sick day was a horror show. I can tell you that you should put yourself first in the workplace, they are not your family, they are not your friends, they are coworkers. If you can’t tolerate your coworkers then you should absolutely leave.
It is the opportunities you get at work that help your career. I was working really hard and never got a chance to lead projects on my own. So getting to that next level was challenging because I never had that experience. Had several discussions with my manager on it and my career was not a priority and was stuck. So I quit that job and decided to go find other employers who would provide me with better growth opportunities. I feel that you should always evaluate how your job is providing you opportunities for growth and if it is 3 years and you are not going anywhere, it is time to go.
I used to work hard at a job i had a couple years ago. One day my boss told me “youre replaceable” and i just forced myself to relax since then. Now i do whatever i can and want as long as i dont get fired. Employers often hope and intend to pay you minimum for maximum output anyway from what i observed. So now i work for the pay i receive and i dont expect anything but respect.
After working for a few companies that would guilt trip and grovel over me requesting a day off or not going in one day because I was vomiting every 20 minutes, I left the traditional work force and started my own company. If I want a day off I just do it, if I want to plan a week or two off I just let my customers know their order will be delayed. Anyone with any kind of work ethic at all is better off starting their own company versus working for somebody else. Virtually ever workplace is toxic–at least in the US, and you are expendable.
My manager straight up said to me during a 1 on 1 that whatever work I do, even if its a priority for my position but not for him, he will put in a bad word about me to the higher ups and say I am not doing my job. He said even if I am performing well in all aspects of my work but my work does not meet his “work style”…whatever the hell that means…then he has every right to let me go. So pretty much he didn’t care that I had mounds of work piled up that I had to catch up with during my off hours…if I wasn’t doing his mundane tasks during my work hours then he would let me go.
I “work” my 40 hours and that is it. Technically it is more like 10 to 20 of actual work. If you take on more than you can chew, then it becomes the 40+ hours each week. I am like Peter Gibbons from Office Space – I do just enough to not get fired (but luckily I work at home and can avoid the boss glares). Promotions inside of a company are rare it seems any more, so job hopping is where the prestige/money is at. You want to make more and get a higher job title? Switch companies. The job offer is where you can make the most as companies like to give out small % raises each year (if any). I just switched 6 months ago and got a huge raise with a senior level title. Do I work more? Nope – actually work less since I can work from home 100% of the time and be more productive per hour.
I work in a field that’s billable hours. I probably fall in the 40-59 hours a week and my salary does not reflect that kinda demand which is one of the reasons that company is about to lose me (I gave my notice last week! Thanks for your help with how!) going somewhere where I get compensated directly for my time (I get paid a % of what I bill) and in a much more appropriate level and I’m only expected to work 32 hours to maintain “employee” status (I could be a contractor and work even less but as W2 I don’t have to keep up with my taxes), even doing that benefits are the same and I’ll ultimately get paid more for less hours. This company sees significantly less client and employee attrition than the one I’m leaving. It’s almost like having people work less at higher quality yields more or something…
Biggest mistake I made was coming out of the gates guns blazing. I broke all the records and consistently hit my goals Month after month almost burning myself out thinking that I’ll get a raise promotion. Unfortunately, the opposite happened and I received a very negative review stating that my high performance is not valued unless I’m able to lift everyone around me. Basically I wasn’t a team player. The culture is more geared toward sharing what’s working for me with the rest of my teammate rather then keep it all to myself. Now it’s expected that I continue to work hard my boss. The minute I slow down it’s a huge deal. Meanwhile the steady Eddie’s that do the bare minimum are getting promoted. Never again will I give it my all and try to hold back on my next position. It’s clear high performance back fired. I noticed the ones that do just enough or make improvements over time get the most praise from upper managment. The best thing I can do is post my achievements on Linked IN. Maybe a competitor will find value in my achievements. Thank you for the awesome articles.
Very important consideration is how your high performance and competence plays within the existing framework at the level above you. I’m saying that weird but a really good (though fictional) example is in the Steve Carrell version of Get Smart. He was an analyst who was excellent at his job, but also trained very hard to become an agent. Unfortunately, Max’s boss did not sign off on his promotion to agent because he was so good as an analyst that his boss considered him irreplaceable in that role. Max’s words were something like “So you’re not me because I’m great at my job?” You have to be aware of whether you are a direct report to a person who stands to look worse if you leave. That’s what ties in to the whole “Who knows about you?” thing. You can’t just be visible to your boss, or others who are in the same position as you or in different departments or whatnot. Anyone whose input would never be sought regarding your promotion, career-wise, is not useless but maybe less relevant. So don’t rely on being visible to the little people or anyone who directly benefits from you not being able to progress. The people who do this well are the ones who are most likely to “fail up” compared to you.
People conflate “working hard” and “being at work” a lot. They are very different things. I work long hours only when it is necessary to meet deadlines or there are a lot of things going on. Otherwise, I work 40ish hours a week. My boss (owner of company) has yelled at me in the past for not using vacation and putting in too many unnecessary hours. Now he barely monitors me because he knows that I get things done. People should be evaluated on getting things done rather than how long they are at work. All that being said, I do think about projects and work when I’m not “at work”. A lot. I’ve also been doing what I do for about 25 years so I really know what I’m doing.
Firstly, thank you for sharing your knowledge. I feel like I have been hit in the stomach, but it is ok, I love honesty as I know it will be good for me. I don’t usually comment on Youtube, but I can relate to this SO MUCH. I love my industry, but I hate my work days. I work 60 to 80 hours weeks, depending on the season, and always feel empty and unseen at the end of the day. But I don’t think I know how to stop. I feel stuck.
I’m so guilty of working too hard as I’ve put in my own hours even though I’m salary to finish a project or just plan something. I think we do this because there can be so much distractions in a day, commitments, and requests from everyone. perusal your articles I realize this is very unproductive as you start to feel resentment in others for not working as hard or even getting away with stuff. It’s always best to plan your day, how you are gonna plan and time yourself on each task. I finally realized I put in so effort to get little to no reward and got let go. Now we need to look out for ourselves first.
I’m currently giving my company 1 full week of free work every single month due to being a salaried employee who DOES NOT get paid for overtime. Yet it’s somehow required of us and at the same time necessary due to our understaffed situation where I am especially overworked thanks to my position. I get no accolades for all the things I do and never a thank you for any of it. Needless to say I’m on the job hunt now so I can leave this atrocious company.
Do not complain. That seems to be the key at my work. One guy literally stops working at 9 pm and watches articles on his phone until he goes home at 1030 pm AND calls in sick on monday often and is not a team player. Bosses know this and co workers have complained so why isn’t he fired…he doesn’t complain or gossip. And his working isn’t the best.
I don’t think “paying your dues” is necessarily toxic as long as you keep it in perspective. If being “the new guy” means a month of on-call shortly after training (and on-call is normally part of the job) that’s fine. If paying your dues means extreme extra hours and effort to hit the median, then I see it as toxic. If it’s just working through the standard progression of your career path, though, then it’s usually not toxic as long as you can establish reasonable boundaries. At least, that’s how I see it
I would say I never take a day off for my OWN business. Meanwhile working for someone else, yes I do take days off. I expect those days off. Also hard work is really important especially the first 5 years. Then you become very smart and you don’t need to work so hard later on. Today I work way less than before and earn way more. But I still needed those hard working years to achieve what I achieve now.
I worked in municipal government for 20 years. I used to take my full vacation time in the summer time, partly so I could take my disabled father outdoors, in the better weather. The amount of complaining from co-workers about this was considerable. Nary a complaint came from me when I was junior on the seniority list. One woman even loudly berated me as interfering with her maternity leave, until another woman stepped in, calmed her down and pointed out that my vacation time would not prevent taking the leave. The issue even became an item in negotiations when the employer attempted to limit summer vacation time at contract negotiations with our union. Otherwise, I took almost no sick days off.
When I was working in film production there norm was working 12 hours-5 days a week. Sometimes it would go into 13-14 hours. And. I know people who had to work 19 hours. But however there would be times (rarely) when a shoot would be done in 8-10 hours. Frankly most industries want to be done quickly as possible because time is money. Yes there’s industries where 60+ hours are the norm. But when you’re working in a industry your passion about sometimes you’re willing to sacrifice to get ahead. But also know when you need a break. Because after production was done I definitely gave myself a week in between gigs to recover.
Fuck all that, I work my ass off, outshine the actual fuck outta erybody, my bosses see it, like it, let me get away with a little more necessary corner cutting to get shit done, get slightly longer breaks, get to slide on over to flirt with the hynas a lil bit… My style works for me. Work your tail off when necessary, with a good attitude and watch how far you can go. Let the hate begin, I give zero F’s. Maybe I just work for a better group of bosses.
I’m guilty of working too hard, working long hours, and working multiple jobs to achieve my goals, but what I’m figuring out as I have for the past 25+ years that companies will kick you to the curb real quick and keep the dead beats to maintain their profits, which I don’t blame corporate America for; however, the statistics that were shown and the rising of costs of living. Most people have to work longer hours and/or multiple jobs in order to keep a roof over their heads and feed themselves; otherwise, those people will land of the streets homeless because over 75% of America doesn’t care and think you’re lazy.
Taking time off doesn’t really improve your health or reduce your stress level overall. To improve your health and reduce your stress, it requires changing your work life. A 2 week vacation here and there won’t fix it. So I’m calling bogus. What this article suggests is that it’s your fault that you have problems. No, it’s the nature of work. And it’s privileged to suggest you should just find other work if it’s making you less healthy. Newsflash: All work is unhealthy. Virtually nobody does well at it. To do well, you need to work 5 hour workdays. And exercise. And while you’re working, 45 minutes work, 15 minutes break, repeat. What company allows that? None.
I work in a bank have been working for 18years. As my father left us I need to concentrate on some of our household property and assets. My salary at present is quite good enough, but looking after household assets I might not get that significant amount but as not living extravagant life it will do hopefully. I work 50-55 hours a week in 5work days. In my job most of the time my bosses are chasing me for supreme standard which I am feeling extreme stress. I am being accussed most of the time not appreciated. I am getting sick, my family time is interrupted, my hobbies are sacrificed. Should I leave?
I took few days off in November and went to the seaside(even if it’s winter). I’m planning to take again some days off at the end of the year, stay home with my children. I just don’t care anymore. I can’t do this anymore. Being slapped for my hard work over and over again…not worth. I’ll do plain basics in 2023 and add some little extras if needed or if I feel to. But I will stop ‘digging my own grave’ this very moment! 💪
This is funny. The reality is that there are a lot of people without talent that will notice when someone works a little late and start trying to destroy them and their career before they actually make an impact. These people are more of a hazard than actually burning out. Some jobs were never meant to be 9-5 jobs. Some jobs have flex time. Some people want to finish something before they go home. Most people that obsess about other people’s burnout have never been in the military or had a blue collar job – they are usually the spawn of college loans and entitlement. Granted – the best cure for coming close to not giving a sh*t is to start being very strict about 9-5 until you’re refreshed.
I havent realized how toxic my work culture was even though everyone outside the company was telling me so. Working a million hours and I did them all. I was trying so hard because my boss plays favorites and i felt I had to work harder to be seen. It ended up making me sick, i had to take a leave. Now I am back, and everyone treats me like i dont deserve what i want because “i was ooo”. I realize working hard didnt help me, it only got me sick. But I have tried to raise more visibility of my work and I am evidently not successful at it. So basically i feel i lost credibility for being sick, which makes me realise the toxicity is even worse.
There is a negative feedback loop for hard workers. If you work hard (and do a good job), they will keep bringing you more and more to do because management knows they can rely on you. If you are a lazy bum, though, management soon learns that you cannot be trusted and they give you only the simple or small projects to work on. BUT, when the next recession shows up the lazy bums are the ones that get let go. And if you have a good boss that recognizes your talent, you get raises and promotions that the poor performers never get.
Working hard can also mean, working HARD. I’ve worked at jobs where you were required to cover all your sick coworkers, or the work of people who had quit and had not been replaced, and do all their work, without overtime. To do this, you need a sixth gear. This is another type of toxic situation where the owners are cheap and just want to drive people to the ground for short term gains.
I worked with a guy at Caterpillar Inc. that done repairs on the engines. He had worked for 3 years straight with not one day off. Not to mention he didn’t work for less than twelve hours a day. I personally worked 8 months straight at John Deere as a laborer without a day off. It’s the suck!!! One coworker literally went insane due to the mental abuse/ stress.
Guilty. I think one of my greatest personality flaws is trying so hard at so many different things, that I inevitably do poorly at many of them. Usually the aspects that suffer, unfortunately, are in my personal life. It’s much easier to fall short of a goal you have for yourself than it is to fall short of a goal you have for someone else. It’s a very toxic mindset that I am trying to break. Currently I am looking at different employment opportunities due to the subject of this article. I believe that I focused too much on raw performance, instead of networking and building a brand. Hilariously my actual work output isn’t really even quantifiable anyways. So it’s not like management or anyone can even see it. The one caveat that I will bring to this conversation is working in a trade. In a trade, especially if you are an apprentice, your work output is everything. Your hard work is your reputation in the beginning in the trades. Once you graduate to more of a managerial position in the trades, this advice becomes very relevant though. Thank you for the article Jennifer.
I honestly don’t mind busting my ass at my job right now. I’m very good at my job and I was just promoted a few weeks ago after being with the company for exactly 1 year. I think that’s quite awesome, really! I definitely didn’t work 60-80 hour weeks either lol overtime is normal at my job but its mainly 1-2 hours a day, five days a week. We are seeing that kind of scale back now, so that’s cool! I would never tell someone to be loyal to a company who isn’t loyal to them, but I also don’t believe you owe any company loyalty- as messed up as it sounds. For me I just remember busting my ass at my old job for over 4 years and not only did I never see a promotion, I was never even considered for one. So coming to another company and not only being considered for 2 higher positions, but actually getting one? HA. No brainer. Don’t burn yourself out too hard, that would be my advice. Blood, sweat and tears go into family. I wouldn’t say a job is deserving of that.. any job really. Just my two cents!
Working harder than everyone at your workplace doesn’t translate to promotion at all. Been there done that and we’ll it didn’t pay out. Working smart is the best. We got to take care of ourselves more for our own good. Your job can be done by someone else but nobody can live your life. Save yourself first.
As an administrator I learned a couple of things 1) we are actually judged each time we’re not available/taking personal time, & 2) my managers had several “dental appointments” throughout the year. I learned they were hoarding their vacation time, and when you are laid off from a job you are reimbursed for vacation time, but not for sick time; (Which explain the “dental appointments” that can be claimed as sick time). So part of the not using vacation time, for those of us that have learned better … may be due to disguising time off as sick time, saving vacation time as a means to an extra check if/when we get laid off, & managers can’t be mad at you for taking care of your health; they are the ones that would actually get judged for complaining about your sick time in the form of dr appointments or not coming to work with a cold (flips the table😏). i’ve been through a few corporate restructuring’s. Love your website love your insights keep it up💕
Thank you Jennifer for this message. As a perfectionist I thought that I was supposed to do everything to my utmost, but God told me that what you said is correct…it is not good for us to do everything perfectly. The last almost 40 years of my life have been given to striving for complete perfection. What a change this is going to be. Thank you so much. ❤
I would like to say I have only had good experiences with this website and its nice to have somewhere to complain to. It helps my stress and I feel validated and heard even if no one replied back to me. I have changed a lot of things since last Friday and I only see myself getting better at dealing with work present and future jobs. Thank
The word “career” is perhaps the biggest bullshit possible. Working for american company outside US I can clearly see HQ has no idea the word “career” is understood completely different way out here. The effect is very clear: no one want’s to pursue “career” understood the american way as it means only far, far more work till You’ll eventually go broke. The most miserable in all of this is the company provides almost no training in basic skills required for everydays job that is specific to the industry and can’t be acquired outside company.
I don’t use my PTO because it equates to effectively a pay cut. If I use PTO, my overtime pay drops, therefore a smaller paycheck. My previous employer would pay me the remainder of any unused PTO, therefore increasing my income (it’s really nice getting a 200+ hour paycheck at the end of the year). My current employer does not pay out unused PTO. I have bills to pay and the extra money from OT is worth more than the PTO for me.
I am trying to work faster at Goodwill however I am working with one kidney I do keep working as fast never just stand around.. took time off last July to have kidney cancer surgery.soom 2 months because of COVID-19 business closer… always feel because I can’t figure out some big math problems ori don’t have a degree to my but and have learning difficulties in high school I end up with these Dead in at the bottom jobs and at 50 something what else can I do
This is also 100% true in the law enforcement field. Stand up street cops who work hard and actually do police work rarely get promoted passed the rank of Lieutenant. Most of these Police Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs were never good street cops yet they’re tasks with leading the department which makes zero sense.
You are so right on all points Jennifer. I work as a cleaner and one of the people I work for works 60+ hours a week and only gets paid for around 24 hours of work a week. It was good for her to take 3 weeks leave recently. As far as my cleaning work goes I don’t work long hours every day but I only get days off if I get sick.
I don’t know what’s going on with YouTube but about two thirds through the article a completely different audio started playing over the article audio. It was still you talking but about a workshop or something, which you didn’t mention here. At first I thought it was bad editing on your part but when I reminded the article it fixed it. 🤷🏾♂️
I like to work hard and doesn’t burn out you just need strategy work hard what need couple hours and then relax and maintain performance on the level that is how you beat managers and team leaders. As many hours per week you just need to work 40 hours because only need 2 days off if you work more than 40 because of money then stop spending lot money on stupid things or living expensive house just think people your health is priority
well this is a lie it’s either feast or famine in the states your ether working hard 12 hour days 6 days out of the week or working part-time some where making Penney’s and if your in the class she is talking about you are in the class that is more or less working for the fun of it because your smart enough to see market trends and take advantage of it in stocks, bitcoin, gold, or you know how to start your own business and are good at it or your just luckily good at something that is in high demand or you have a job where they just treat you well because you don’t have a crime record and are a little clever . if your in the 60%-70% of the population you are getting by government help with them trying to control your life or just barely getting by paying the bills month-to-month I get that she is targeting this demographic but what she is saying is just not true its feast or famine depending on how much knowledge you’ve acquired versus the other guy its true for the most part its a dog eat dog world with the winners being the ones with a knowledge mind set because our lack of knowledge is what is stopping us from finding happiness all forms of knowledge self-knowledge, knowledge of ones environment, critical thinking knowledge, medical knowledge, economy knowledge, general knowledge about people, literally all forms of knowledge and the the realization that there’s not one right answer there’s thousands of right answers. this is the one truth that works for me maybe it will work for you
The more you do the more they expect!!! I worked at a company for 24 years and finally quit because it was an extremely toxic work environment and the amount of work was ridiculous. My boss was a total POS too. I ended up working at a much smaller company with less money and benefits but I was going to be 6 feet under if I kept working at the other job. My new job has very little stress and a very manageable work load. My new boss is very nice.
There is also a difference between working hard at improving ones self and working hard on fruitless endeavors. Like yes you can bust your ass shoveling dirt all day and shovel more dirt than anyone else. Its not going to pay you much more than anyone else. However you can like I did work hard at improving skills that will get you a better job, or technical job. I have learning disabilities yet I didn’t sit on the couch complaining about that. I overcame these disabilities by learning how to overcome these disabilities. (Hard Work). I also early in my IT career worked 50 to 60 hours a week, taking on project after project and learning skills that I wouldnt have in my normal level 1 helpdesk support roll. Over time as I moved up in my career I average around 45 hours a week working now, and rarely work more than that. If there is an outage that I must fixed to get our systems working again, yea I work more hours. However the next week I will just work less hours. I do work hard, however my effort is into being smart about where that effort goes.
I’m an consultant working full time in a client. I work smart and build systems to optimise my time. Most of the days i’m more productive than my hardcoworkers. They take 2h doing something that takes me 30 min… i invest in learning and dedicate everyday one hour studying something, that way i’m always in the top of my game and can add real value for my clients.
My company does not offer PTO and no vacation. I work in the security field. I used to work my behind off and I never gained success, became angry and depressed and over weight due to stress eating. Now, I work less hours, and minimal overtime ( which is still more than coworkers) and boss has to do overtime others wint. I am now happier and healthier and losing weight
Love the article! thank you so much ma’am. In the culture I’m working at, the reason why men working +40 hours is because they have no personal life and the only way to feel matter is to communicate through work. And for other individuals like me, they start gossiping about how little work we (individuals who have lives outside of work) do! So what do you think we should do?
Hard work is not what you try to explain. Just because you are not good at your job does not mean if you work more hours to accomplish your goals mean you are not organized, or have good time management. Blaming others for you not being off better makes you entitled hypocrite. I have worked hard my whole life. And it takes time to move up. I went from a gopher to a technician, to supervisor, to superintendent, to Project Manager. What I did was learn the next job when I could and that meant during my time off. I have done nothing but move up through the years. This article clearly is completely false thinking, she clearly would not be moving up anywhere because will always think she is worth more to someone else. Not thinking that maybe I need to put time into myself to become better and then go after what you are worth.
I have always been smart worker. Working hard constantly is not my cup of tea. It is all about the impact and company problems that you can solve. For me it is never about doing 100 simple tasks fast and perfect, it is all about doing those few complex which even your boss cannot fully understand and comply. To be honest that always brings to me the shitty stuff but it is highly recognized vertically and horizontally. Also being at IT Solution Architecture(role between Technical and Business) it is very rare a boss to know more than you on specific topic, many of them are people managers.