There was a time when I worked 11-13 hours a day. I stayed in the office until late, came home at night on the last trains. I then lived in the Moscow region, and my journey from work to home took as much as 2 hours one way.
The next day, barely sleep, I had to get up early and rush to the office again.
I can not say that I did not like this rhythm. On the contrary, I felt the importance of my role in the development of the company. All this was much more important to me than personal time and family.
When my wife at the weekend said that I was only spending the night at home, that she would like to spend more time with me, I did not understand her request at all. What could be more important than work?
I was chewing food along the way, chattering that everything would come up without me, orders would not go to customers, and then I delved into the jungle of descriptions of corporate processes that only I myself could understand.
Already from one thought to leave before everyone else, I felt embarrassment and shame: how are they here without me? What will they think of me? Suddenly, everyone will decide that I am irresponsible and not serious about what I do?
But since then, my attitude towards overtime work has changed dramatically. I decided that I would not linger anymore. At interviews, I firmly expressed my disagreement on free processing.
Why did my attitude to free labor change after 6?
Because I realized a few very important things, here they are:
Firm problems are not my problems
Most often, overtime work is a manifestation of the company's system problems. There can be anything, for example, business processes are not automated: work that could take minutes takes hours.
Or, in order to save, the company has recruited fewer employees than is necessary for its effective work.
It turns out that the employee is given exactly so much work that he just physically does not have time to do it for the allotted working day.
If an employee is not delayed in such conditions, problems inevitably arise: orders are not being sent to clients, reports are not closed, documents are not transmitted, etc.
And this in turn causes a hypertrophied sense of responsibility of the employee. There is a sense of moral duty, the desire to stay and stay up late.
The fact that in many companies it is presented as a sacred duty of an employee (sitting up late) in fact is simply the fact that the organization does not use its resources effectively.
But instead of solving problems at the global level: to optimize business processes, organizational structure, IT, it closes the holes in the domestic economy with free overtime work and transfers the burden of responsibility for its own problems to employees.
It is just the same as in the port not to patch the holes in the ship, and then to sail the sailors into the sea to plug them with their own bodies, convincing them that if the ship sinks, it will be their sailors, the fault!
Where does all this energy come from?
In the public mind, workaholism is not even perceived as a problem, despite the fact that many psychologists put it on a par with such ailments as depression or OCD.
Anyone who works for 14 hours will most likely have an image of an energetic, purposeful, strong-willed person, rather than an unhappy person who put an end to his personal life and his health only because of his maniacal craving for obsessive actions.
But I always asked myself: “where does all this energy come from? How have I had enough and others have enough strength to live in such an energy-intensive rhythm? ”
And I have a theory on this, let me give direct evidence to her.
The fact is that we have a lot more energy than we think.
In our body there are reserve energy resources that our body “stores” for an emergency: danger, urgent need, etc. When such an event occurs, the body takes this energy from the reserves, as it were, and we feel a continuous surge of strength and vitality.
How does our body understand that the “critical case” has come and we can give the “green light” to use the “spare” energy? By stress level. Stress means danger. Stress means it's time to borrow energy.
It is not a secret for anyone that there is a rather stressful atmosphere in corporations: “tight deadlines”, excitement for the result, strict discipline. At the same time, the motivation system supports such a “charged” state of an employee. He constantly rides adrenaline wave, is subjected to stress and pressure.
It may seem to a person that he is simply very energetic and interested, since he has been working for 12 hours.
But his body has long been transferred to the use of this very reserve energy, working for wear.
And the consequences of such an attitude to their own health can be the most unpredictable: general problems with well-being, depression, chronic anxiety, not to mention problems in your personal life due to the fact that a person does not appear at home.
And it seems to me that this “spare energy” is needed not only for everyday purposes.
This is a more “subtle" level of energy resources, which supports our daily motivation, our creative forces, even our interest in life.
A person may not feel great physical fatigue, but at the same time his mental strength, his personal creative energy, his emotional mood decline.
What to do?
I understand that all cases may be different and do not want to generalize. This article describes only my example. It is quite possible that for you personally there is a need to linger, and I fully respect your choice.
Maybe someone recycle solidly paid (not everywhere "hatch" for free!)
But it is also possible that someone, having read this article, will understand that the only thing that makes him sit in the office until late is the sense of responsibility inflated by the employer, the fear of condemnation. Maybe these are problems in your personal life (I don’t want to go home to my family).
In general, I want to say that my policy of refusing to work in companies where you need to stay, served me well. This was a good criterion for employment.
As a rule, in companies in which it is “accepted” to linger, an unhealthy working atmosphere often reigns: abrasions, stresses, and a large number of organizational problems.
Rather, such a relationship is a pattern, rather than an accident.
And, on the contrary, there is a good chance that in a company where "night duty" is not encouraged, everything works smoothly, calmly, transparently.
And if you do not want to linger on the new work, try to avoid the "gray" companies.
Because the law is not written to such a company: it can start blackmailing, intimidating with dismissal and salary cuts. If the firm works according to the labor code, then it cannot just dismiss anyone or reduce wages.
Know your rights! Do not let yourself be intimidated!
And, most importantly, take care of yourself!
