You're Slaving Away At Your Job Too Much

Anyone who's ever been a teenager is likely familiar with the question, "Why aren't you doing something productive?" If only I knew what productivity means and how this dates back to the 1800s.

What is productivity?

The dictionary.com defines productivity as the quality, state, or fact of being able to generate, create, enhance, or bring forth goods and services

It is basically the measure of output of goods and services for the exchange of money.

Today we tend to measure productivity a little different. It is not so much of just output anymore but more so squeezing every bit of output that we can produce in a single day. It is about getting more done in a shorter period of time.

1800

In its earliest days, productivity was largely limited to agriculture which is the production and consumption of food. Additionally, fridges were only available in 1834.

Bill Greiner in his article highlights that high levels of productivity lead to high levels of savings, which leads to high levels of investment, which leads to high levels of growth, which leads to more jobs… you get the picture. Without high levels of productivity, workers live hand-to-mouth.

The idea of "getting stuff done" didn't really exist yet, suppressing the idea of productivity.

According to British economist, Angus Maddison per capita GDP (productivity) didn't change much during the first millennium following the birth of Christ. The next 500 years saw some minimal improvement. In the mid-1800s, the world changed dramatically and nothing has been the same since.

1900

Advances in technology and the resulting higher rate of production meant more employment was becoming available in industrial sectors.

The more hours that you put in working the factory, the more your output, hence the focus on productivity was focused on working more hours in the industrial revolution.

With the invention of the personal computer in the 1970s and the World Wide Web in the 1980s, productivity solutions were becoming more digital.

The 2000s and beyond

It became increasingly easier to utilise the internet and websites to make money.

Productivity was no longer constrained to a particular location or network.

Advancements in technology allowed everyday people like you and me to increase productivity through Youtube, podcasting, online courses, online stores etc.

Here is the reality 

This is you. You are always hard at work in the office typing away. You go in early and work late to make sure your boss is happy, you go home and you sleep for 4 hours, then you go back in early to make your boss happy. You give up your free time and on weekends to get more work done so that you can make your boss happy. 

And what do you get in return?

You probably get the same fixed salary as your co-worker.

Although your boss is grateful for all your effort, your boss is not going to give you a raise every month. You will most likely need to wait for 12 months before getting a raise in your salary.

What if I told you that at a 1% pay rise it might not even be worth it. 

Downsides of working that hard for that long

• You feel exhausted all the time.
• You won't get to have a life.
• Working all the time prevents you from thinking outside the box and being creative.

Mental clarity and creativity 

If you are stressed and exhausted all the time you won't have the energy, mental clarity and creativity to:

• Figure out what you actually good at doing
• Solve new problems
• Pursue projects that excite you

But you are getting more work done and getting recognition, right?

Not exactly.

Here is what the research shows:

One study from Stanford University debunks that belief. In his research, economics professor John Pencavel found that productivity per hour declines sharply when a person works more than 50 hours a week. After 55 hours, productivity drops so much that putting in any more hours would be pointless. And, those who work up to 70 hours a week are only getting the same amount of work done as those who put in the 55 hours.

Increasing hours by 40% did not produce an additional output of 40%, as you would expect, instead, it only produced an additional 10% of output.

Giving all your effort at work all the time every single time will just cause you to burn out and lose interest in its entirety.

Consider this

Think about this instead of slaving away extra hours at working and sacrificing weekends to work, you went home to:

• Just live
• Spend time improving yourself
• Reflect and meditate
• Find new ways to solve a problem
• Spend time with your children and family
• Volunteer
• Start a new business venture

Chances are any of these will reward you financially, emotionally, physically and mentally much more than staying late at work to make your boss happy. 

Conclusion

One thing I learned is that fear is always going to be a player in your life, but you get to decide how much. You can spend your whole life focusing on the fears, worried about the future, but the truth is all that we will ever have is what's happening now and the decisions that we make at this moment. So many of us choose our decisions based on fear based on the disguise of practicality.

Here is the story by Jim Carey:

Jim Carey's dad could have been a great comedian but he didn't really believe that was possible for him, so instead, he made the conservative decision to have a safe job and be an accountant. When Jim Carey was 12 his dad was let go of that safe job, and Jim's family had to do whatever it took to survive.

Here's the beautiful thing Jim Carey taught us from his dad, not the least of which, "you can fail at what you don't want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love."

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