3 Lessons I Have Learned From A Week of Working From 10 AM to 11 PM

Everyone must have experienced being part of a short project when you only have three to six months to prepare and you have to go all-in for one hectic week to reach the end. Be it a singing competition, an exam, or a contest.

I had such an experience at the beginning of September , which happened to be Milan Design Week. My company, as an agency that represents Italian brands in Asia, had to attend the event and get materials (photos, videos, interviews) from the brands exhibiting at the largest furniture trade show, a.k.a Salone del Mobile Milano. My job as a content writer was to write articles and social media posts every single day as a type of real-time update, which explains the weird working hours.

Here’s my daily schedule, started from September 4th to 10th:

• 10A M-12 PM: Team meeting with the CEO and the CMO to update progress
• 12-1 PM: Lunch
• 1–5 PM: Content writing and social media post scheduling
• 5–6 PM: Dinner
• 6:15–11 PM: Continue working

My last seven days were literally all about my work. I had no time to rest, exercise, or do anything I like.

That insane week ended on Friday, the last day of Milan Design Week, which was also the day I got my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine made me fall ill and I ended up in bed till Saturday afternoon.

It has been years since I’ve encountered such a situation and I was on two emotional extremes.

The excitement

On the one hand, I hadn’t felt such an adrenaline rush caused by working intensely for years, which frankly I enjoyed a little. It felt amazing to work so hard for something that has an end date and receive good results upon crossing the finish line.

I love small wins. I love being clear about my objectives, stepping stones, and final goals. I love that every morning I wake up and I know exactly what to do to reach the next step. I love working hard knowing that what I am doing today is contributing to the result, and I am just days away from it.

This project checked all the boxes for me and I loved involving in it.

And the exhaustion

On the other hand, I had never experienced such fatigue, not even when I entered the dance competition, which was pretty much 10 HIIT workouts rolled into one.

The workload was extensive and the pressure to update to match what was happening at the site hit me hard. I remember my hands were shivering while typing the third 700-word article of the day.

Whenever I took a breather, I imagined what would happen to me if I kept going like this for weeks or months even. This kind of intense work is probably the quickest path to burnout.

So what have I learned after working 11 hours a day for a whole week?

1. Strict deadlines boost productivity and efficiency but they also secure a fast burnout

Before entering this insanely busy week, I would never have thought I could produce three long-form articles and five social media posts (photos + caption) in a day.

Wrapping up this project has taught me that I am capable of so much more than I realize, I can work well under pressure, and I am driven by a strong motivation.

But it is not my natural state.

I’d rather work slowly to make sure my products are high-quality while still being able to enjoy the process, than putting all of my energy and effort to get the highest level of the productivity scale and eventually ending up feeling worn out, empty, and uninspired.

2. The adrenaline rush is only enjoyable when it is rare

When I was young, I entered lots of contests: a college entrance exam, a citywide English competition for junior high school students, and a regionwide dance battle for university students. While I certainly encountered hardships and challenges along the way, they remain the great memories I cherish, mostly because they were one-offs and I’ll never be able to relive them again.

This project was the first of its kind to me. I have never been into fashion, art, design, and architecture so joining this Milan Design Week, even from afar, was new and exciting to me. I was eager to explore the event, learn new stuff, talk to inspiring people, and admiring brilliant designs, which was why I felt that adrenaline running through my veins.

If projects like this one frequently occur, sooner or later, I will grow tired, bored, and demotivated due to being drowned in work too often. It is best to manage my expectations, work on dealing with stress and anxiety caused by high pressure, and spread my effort and interest evenly.

3. No matter how urgent the project is, your health and well-being comes first

My sleeping and eating routine was a complete mess during the last seven days. Whenever I was too busy, I would eat in my bedroom at my desk, sometimes for both lunch and dinner, and eliminate my one chance of having physical interaction with people who do not discuss work with me.

As I’m writing this article, I cannot think of anything else that happened that is not work-related. I was too occupied by my job that I couldn't even spare 10–20 minutes to write down my 10 content ideas for the day. I was so busy that I couldn’t roll out my mat to breathe and stretch or sit down at my keyboard to play something for some peace of mind. I put my work above all else, and I am paying the price by going through writer’s block at the moment.

I constantly tell myself that I don’t ever want to be THAT person who prioritizes her work and takes pride in being busy, yet I was halfway there just a couple of days ago. I traded off my personal time to help someone else reach their goals and purposes and did not give it a second thought. I compromised my health and well-being.

Never again!

It can be tempting to work overtime on a project for your own excitement, for your boss’ approval, or maybe for some extra bucks. But believe me, nothing is worth your happiness and well-being. We only have 24 hours a day, one-third of which we already cater to our employers and teammates, and another one-third for sleeping, hopefully. The remaining eight hours should be ours and ours only.

In an era where almost everyone is raving about side hustles, entrepreneurship, start-ups, and how young people should do more, work harder, and be willing to sacrifice for success so we can rest later, let’s choose to rest now. Let’s choose to go slow and steady. Let’s choose to not do it fast, but do it right.