Facebook
If you work the most hours you look the most desperate. You shouldn't look lazy, but don't be the hardest worker. After all, why do you need to work so much harder than the next person? Are you not as smart? Not as organized? Not as confident in your ability to navigate a non-work world? In many cases all three are true for those who work the hardest.
The fact that the hardest worker is not necessarily the most successful rears it's head before work even starts: A study conducted by Alan Krueger, professor of economics at Princeton University, shows that when it comes to workplace success, it doesn't matter if you get in to an Ivy League school, it matters if you apply. In this case what matters is ambition and self-image, not getting the best grades or having the best test scores.
Nonstop work offers diminishing returns after graduation as well. Marita Barth is a student at MIT in biological engineering. She is at the top of her field yet she makes time to play ice hockey and volunteer at local charities. When she talks about taking breaks from her lab, Barth says, I could not maintain focus and energy if I worked nonstop. I would completely lose perspective."
Don't tell yourself that you work nonstop because you love your work: If you really loved your work, you'd take a break so you don't mess it up. People who work longer than the typical eight hours a day start to lose their effectiveness quickly. "If you work all the time, you lose your edge," warns Diane Fassel, CEO of workplace survey firm Newmeasures and author of Working Ourselves to Death. "Often these people are perfectionists, controlling and not good team players. The hardest workers are "not the best producers in terms of efficiency and creativity."
Ironically, moments that elevate your level of success at work often require time away from work. For example, a grand idea that impacts your company’s bottom line probably won't come to you when your brain is entrenched in workplace minutia. Anyone can work the hardest, but only special people can sit on a rock and come up with a brilliant idea. In fact, even daily troubleshooting requires some mental space. Barth has found that, "It takes a lot of thought to see what's going wrong and make another plan. And at some point, if I spend too much time in the lab without a break, I'm not efficient."
If you can't stop working, you might be in for some bad news: Workaholism. Kevin Kulic, professor of psychology at Mercy College, says, "With any of those -holics, you are one if it causes you or other people a problem."
But some people purposely create imbalance. "For many people, workaholism is about perfectionism or avoidance," says Kulic. The hardest workers have actually lost the self-confidence to stop working. They are either terrified of making a mistake or a misstep, or they are terrified of the world that lies beyond their work – for example crumbling personal relationships.
Kulic cites the Yerkes-Dodson law that says too much or too little stimulation is bad. We need a happy medium in order to perform best. And Fassel cites worker surveys that support this law – the happiest workers have a workload that falls in between very heavy and very light.
This rule for working less applies to a job hunt, too. Many of you will be happy to hear that, "The amount of time you work beyond five hours a day has no impact on your ability to land a job" – good news brought to you by David Perry, managing partner of the recruiting firm Perry Martel International and co-author of Guerilla Marketing for Job Hunters.
Perry told me that a job hunt is like training for the 50-yard dash. "Everything is aimed at getting the interview. And you need to be mentally prepared." Just as an athlete does not over train for the race, a job hunter will also experience defeating fatigue if there's too much energy spent on the hunt.
Perry is adamant that the best jobs do not go to the smartest person or hardest worker but to the person who best reads his or her situation. So forget being the hardest worker because you need to be "bright eyed and bushy tailed." Get out from behind that computer each day, he says and "enjoy the rest of your life."
Subscribe -- free!
Loading ...
If you are white, you can get away with doing "just enough" work. This is the sense of entitlement that white people can enjoy. But if you are black or latino, doing "just enough" is not the way to go. Non white professionals aren't scared, but rather making a point to prove to white people that they are not all that entitled to what they think they are. But, to be fair, there are also hard working white people who go above and beyond, and I tip my hat to them with the same respect I would to a nonwhite professional who goes above and beyond.
Posted by JOSE on 02/15/2007 at 04:58pm | permalink | Reply to this comment
Jose sounds like he doesn't put in an honest day of work. Stop being a racist and whiner.
* * * * * *
I disagree. It makes perfect sense to me that white people don't have to work as hard as everyone else. I don't have hard facts for this, but there seems to be wide support for this idea just in this string of comments alone, so I would not be so hard on Jose for making this statement.
Penelope
Posted by Mark on 02/15/2007 at 05:49pm | permalink | Reply to this comment
Thanks so much for this article. I am not able to work more than 8 hours a day (due to personal reasons), and there was a time,when I completed single handedly a task that an entire "team" could not complete. My ranking during that review period was far below what i expected and the reason i was given was that other peers put in many more hours than me!!. Now,I dont claim to be a genius or something, but there was no way I could better my earlier accomplishment and i slowly started believing that most of my peers would alway accomplish more in terms of goals at work and that I would never be able to rise due to my not being able to work longer hours.
Posted by i_work_8_hrs on 02/18/2007 at 08:14pm | permalink | Reply to this comment
Great article. This hits home as at my previous company, I was in the Marketing Department for a number of years. There was no way to move up and so I started looking outstide. My supervisor really wanted me to stay at the company and then a Product Manager position became available, which we both thought might be a fit. I obtained the position and succeeded at the marketing-related tasks. Previously in the position, there were 3 people (1 PM and 2 other specialists). To learn the responsibilities and try to do the work of 3 people, I worked 70-80 hours p/week. I thought this would last for just a few months until I became acclimated into the position. However, it continued. Looking back, I believe it was my inability to say "no" to certain projects, especially if I had an idea for a new product, my new VP put it on the plate of things to be done. In any case, the end result was that I was let go (3 weeks after receiving a raise). So, the article is absolutely positvely correct that there needs to be a balance to be the best you can be at the current task at hand. I would be interested to hear what the author has to say about the current workforce reduction and "more is less" with 1 person do the tasks of what used to be a handful of people. Yes, in many cases, this is technology. In other cases, it's purely a cost-cutting measure (especially at public companies) to make the bottom line numbers. Any additional insights? Thanks again.
* * * * * * *
Hi, Farah. Thank you for taking the time to tell this story. I think we all learn best from each others' stories.
It seems to me that you hit the nail on the head when you wrote that this was about saying no. We all need to be good at saying no so that we are doing a job that we want to be doing. The same is true with your question about cutting back workers and asking them to do the same amount of work with fewer people — each person needs o set boundaries at work. If someone is asking you to do more than you feel comfortable doing, and you're doing it, it's probably your fault, not your boss's. After all, it's not your boss's job to mindread what your boundaries are — it's your job to tell her.
At any rate, it sounds like you learned all this pretty well in your last job. So maybe you will teach this to others — with your story and by example.
Penelope
Posted by Farah on 02/18/2007 at 09:18pm | permalink | Reply to this comment
I agree 100% with Jose. He's not a racist, it's the sad truth. We Latinos have much more to prove in the work-place, even if we have a college degree. If we don't work extra hard, we won't be considered for a promotion and we can possibly jeopordize our job.
Keep the comments coming!
Posted by Jimmy on 02/19/2007 at 03:54pm | permalink | Reply to this comment
Stef:
40 hours a week for 15 years is nothing to brag about. I started picking fruit in the fields of Florida, where it's extremely hot and you have to carry a 20ft. 50lb latter around and a bag full oranges, grapefruit or manderines, while walking on the hot sand. For all this, you get paid per container filled, not per hour spent sitting around. I also worked in contruction in Houston, right after I graduated from high school, at age 20 because of us having to migrate where the work was. While in construction, I felt the heat, cold, rain and humidity of this city and I always knew that I needed to save money to attend college, if I wanted to improve my situation, without any goverment help or loans.
I graduated 12 years ago and now I'm a Supply Chain Manager because of my hard work and dedication. I know the value of work and our work ethic has pushed us to succeed at what we do, because we know that manual labor is much much harder. However, there's people like you, that ignore so much and have so many priviliges that seems to think that we don't even speak English, well I'll tell you something, you're absolutely wrong. You couldn't be enjoying the prices that you pay, if it weren't for us. I doubt that you're bilingual, but I'm fluent in both English and Spanish. And finally, yes I do have a SSN. Please read and travel more, so that you can know what you're writing about.
Posted by Jimmy on 02/19/2007 at 04:54pm | permalink | Reply to this comment
I meant to write "Ladder" not latter.
Thank you!
Posted by Jimmy on 02/19/2007 at 05:58pm | permalink | Reply to this comment
While Jose might be right about racism/discrimination in certain circumstances, things are not that way at Wal-Mart where I work. White people can be dropped at a moments notice, but the company PR legion do not wish to be seen as discriminatory in any fashion, so for a colored/hispanic/asian/whatever it takes more to be fired, just so it won't seem like they are dropped for being the race they are. In fact, there have been several instances where a non white is taken to the office for something, immediately mentions the word "racism" and all is well. There are far more social help programs for non-whites than whites in case they have no job to boot. Sometimes it is not fun being an european immigrant in this country.
—-
As for the main article, there is a mention of "The hardest worker is the one showing most fear" which in my case is true. The first time I worked at Wal-Mart I got an above average evaluation 2 weeks before Sept 11. 2001. Out of nowhere I lost my job two days later, as did every other immigrant at that store, of all colors. Back at the same store I now have a different position, but even though my job ambition is the same high standard, it is about 20% of my output. The other 80% is fear and desperation, making me work 5 times harder. There is little help for white immigrants. The family is all overseas, and since I have only been here 7 years I don't have a solid social security fund. And Wal-Mart is looking for reasons to cut people, any excuse will do. For those thinking I should move up to a better job, my grades and schooling are all from overseas, and going through aptitude testing and refresher classes cost money and time, which I do not have. And here's a funny fact for you people. One of my team mates is a mexican who doesn't speak english, so she cannot be reached with the overhead speaker system, and the reason I have a radio is because I bought it with my own money. She has no radio. But when it comes time to choose whom to cut, she will remain, just so the company doesn't get accused of racism. Perhaps it would be easier if I was hispanic, companies would hire me just to show they are not racist, and it would take an act of congress to fire me, and if I do get fired, I have a legion of activist groups and social workers handing me stuff. That might be exaggerated, of course, but when one of my white co-workers went to socials to get help, she was told that "If you had been mexican…"
If there is a problem with the Anon Ymous name, it is because I don't really need Wal-Mart to read this and do a database search on employees. Looking to cut, as I said. Fear… best whip there is.
Posted by Anon Ymous on 02/20/2007 at 02:20pm | permalink | Reply to this comment
Contract employees set their own hours.
The desire to have more control over when and where and how much one works is attractive to a growing portion of the work force.
It's attractive to employers because, while the per hour rate might be higher, the cost of fringe benefits is lower and the employer gets what they pay for in terms of production.
For all the reasons mentioned, contract staffing will grow to become the majority of the workforce.
Posted by Dan on 02/28/2007 at 01:18pm | permalink | Reply to this comment
I work in a field (medical scientist) where 50, 60, 70+ hours per week is considered normal. You have to "put in the time" to stay afloat so that you can produce results and get funding. If I tried to work 40 hours per week, I would get kicked out of my training program. This kind of atmosphere makes it hard for me to explain to my peers why I want to change fields just to be able to have the time for myself and my family.
Posted by Erin on 04/26/2007 at 12:31pm | permalink | Reply to this comment
I love all the great comments. What I hate is when people twist other people's words and turn an opinion on a SECTOR (which should have been clarified) of a very large work force as a universal truth for the ENTIRE work force. There is so much truth in what Penelope is saying in MANY work environments that are office like settings in CERTAIN industries.
From 15yrs old until I got my first office job I worked various blue collar jobs in fast food, retail, and restaurants. I guarantee you I was greatly rewarded for my hard work, willingness to put in extra hours and great positive attitude despite the 60-80 hours a week was working to put myself through college (one full-time and two part-time. The key is to work SMART not HARD. I was many times disliked by lazy coworkers because I raised the bar at these jobs. Contests were offered to increase efficiency or output. AND IT WORKED. The incentive has to be right. I became management at many of these jobs. Now I have an office job and I see the emphasis on taking breaks when working long hours. They are important for focus and clarity. But I work in Finance and 40 hours usually does not cut it. It could have when I was at a large investment firm, but they have 26,000 people. They can afford to hire more people for detail intense jobs. BUT it took 60-70 hours a week as a TEMP there to get that job, to get noticed. I impressed them enough, by my dedication NOT skill, they helped me create a new position which they offered to me, in addition I changed the job description of the temp position I was filling. I eventually left that company because they weren’t pushing me to grow. I now work for a small successful firm where I learn something new everyday. It definitely took 60-70 hours a week for a few weeks to close our most recent $1.1 billion deal. But moderation is key. The next few weeks were more like 50 hours.
Hard work does pay off in the right industries. I recently moved to New York City where I am appalled at the work ethic in blue collar jobs. Many behave as if they have a right to get paid just because they showed up. This is shocking to me. Maybe they would find a not so blue collar job if they worked harder to get into management or tuition reimbursement programs as many of these jobs have. New York has a multitude of jobs on all levels and the Temp agencies are great tools to prove dedication and then get the on the job training and experience. BUT THEY WANT HARD WORKERS. The temp agency I worked for got me 17.50/hour, and I worked hard for it.
Lastly, yes as a woman I have to work harder, especially in a male dominated field. As I have many minority friends, yes they also work harder, but they also work smart and recognize when they are recognized and rewarded for hard work or being taken advantage of or overlooked. It is your right to find a different company. …SMART NOT HARD…
Posted by cmarie on 04/27/2007 at 12:43pm | permalink | Reply to this comment
I started at a young age working at a fish bait shop putting red wigglers (worms) in cartons. Red wigs are a favorite live fish bait. The job went like this; remove lid from container, count out 100 red wigs and put them in the container with one handfull of cow manure, replace the lid and invert, stack on the shelf to be sold. The worms migrate to the bottom, which will be the top when inverted and opened.
I can remember worrying about " was that 99 worms or 101 worms"? An adult would have been more prone to worry about the germs, but of course an adult would most likely not have such a job as it paid $0.01 per conatainer back in 1952.
I worked hard thinking about having my own money. My father, a university grad, ex military commander and top manager explained that people that make money do not have time to work. I learned and started working in a good paying skill trade, the office thing never appealed to me. At about age 25 Pop's statements, and there were many, started to make sense. I did not gamble with money. What I did and still do is save and invest. I still work, save and invest. I have no debts, kids have degrees that are paid for. My returns are equal to and sometimes greater than my working income. I spend very little on me and the wife. I give away more than I ever thought possible.
Many people that I work with want and need all the overtime that they can get. They just can't make it on base pay. It's sad to me that they never learned. I reckon they will always be "counting worms" and worrying.
Posted by Hop on 07/30/2007 at 02:51pm | permalink | Reply to this comment
these are some good points.
having been an employe of b&q i am used to most of these situations and have had firsthand experience of it but here in england its the opposite race card that has been discussed.
we had various people that took 2 hour lunch breaks go home when they like and drop people in the s**t for their own gain and if anything is said its racism and nothing gets done.
apart from being on of the worst run companys.the fashion for selection of managers and supervisors is that if someone is no good at their job or performs poorly then instead of addressing the issue they are made up to supervisor of duty manager and the racism is rife and the theft from employees is far greater than customer theft not that the store manager (givaway)cares as long as he is not directly effected.as someone who sloggs his b*****ks off it is soul destroying to see these minorities tearing the arse out of the industry.
Posted by DECKTWISTER on 10/31/2008 at 06:33pm | permalink | Reply to this comment
Lol – racism! Give me a break. I knew this article was written by a women when I read the title : "Don't be the hardest worker in your job or in your job hunt" – Pretty much sums up a WOMAN @ work. I only which I worked with only men @ work, so I wouldn't have to listen to the continuous soap opera that is a modern woman's life – I DO NOT CARE! Also, all of the women I work with put NO EXTRA EFFORT into learning anything and cry when they do not get their special way. I wish the west would collapse already so that we would not have to deal with the special rights that women take for granted.
Posted by Kevin on 12/29/2008 at 11:23pm | permalink | Reply to this comment
You should probably not have become Deejay at a strip club then, bud. It's not too hard to tell by your reply that you don't work too hard at self-improvement either.
I wish that more people would think before speaking (or typing, whatever the situation may be.)
PS: Great article. Great site, all around.
Posted by Really? on 09/13/2009 at 09:01am | permalink | Reply to this comment