The 80 – 100 hour work week! Does the thought of it instantly bring a feeling of overwhelm or do you get charged up imagining all that you can achieve with all that time?
A Business Insider article reports that Elon Musk has recently suggested people need to work from around 80 to over 100 hours per week to change the world.
In supporting business owners to be high achievers in their business and their industry WHILE ALSO creating the freedom and balance to live the ideal life they dream of, I should hear this and feel it’s way too much and not at all sustainable, for anyone. The truth of the matter is that… well, it depends?
What? Why?
You might be thinking that’s absolutely crazy. Nobody should work that much!
You might be completely burned out thinking “I get it. I work crazy hours just to keep my head above water. I wish things were different but that’s the reality.”
Then again, you might be thinking “I love it. I’m doing great things, making a huge difference… changing the world in my own way.”
The real question I have for you, the one that answers my response of “it depends” is…
With whatever number of hours you work on average each and every week, are you happy, fulfilled, healthy, and do the important people in your world feel the same about your volume of work?
Okay, that’s several questions in one but if you can truly answer YES to each part of that question then perhaps you are one of the few that can work 80-100 hours per week and it be the right choice for right now. Embrace it and work away doing all the great things you are doing. My advice to you is to periodically stop and step out for a brief moment to look at your bigger picture just to make sure it still is the right path for you.
Has there been a change in your marital status, do you now have kids, is your health declining or has it taken a sudden hit in some way? Just a few things that may necessitate you re-evaluating the volume of work you do and how you approach your work.
If, on the other hand, you answer NO to any one of the parts of that question then you are on an unsustainable path and it will catch up with you one day.
I think, at least to some degree, this is where most business owners are at.
How the 80 – 100 Hour Work Week Might Impact You
Overwhelm & Burnout
You might be caught up in working long hours because you have come to believe it is the path to success and it has now become habit, your new normal. You tell yourself it’s just what you need to do when you own a business. However, you frequently find yourself running on empty, relying on caffeine or something worse just to get through the day. You catch your inner voice questioning what’s the point when you cannot get ahead or wishing things were different. You’re not happy, you’re not fulfilled. More burnout will come and to what end?
Declining Health
Perhaps though you are not healthy and you do know it. If those long hours are at the source of your declining health and are preventing you from doing anything to reclaim your health, consider the path you are on. As you look at yourself in the mirror every morning does your self esteem take hit after hit and how does that impact your work performance, let alone your life beyond work? Are you at increasing risk of a major traumatic health event that could cut short all of your dreams, at work and in life?
Without abundant health nothing else matters!
Family Challenges
Finally what about those important people in your world? Is it killing you inside to continually miss your children’s milestone moments in life? Their first steps, their first day of grade 1, the dance concert, the big game, or so many other things? Are they headed down a troubled path because you’re always working and never there?
What about your spouse? Has the magic that was once there disappeared? Are your long hours a source of continual friction at home? Are you on a path leading towards divorce?
Shifting from the 80 – 100 Hour Work Week
If you can see the signs of any of these scenarios playing out in your world the time to stop, re-evaluate what is truly important to you, then take the steps to shift away from the 80 – 100 hour work week NOW before it’s too late. Your past does not have to be your future!
While working long hours may work for some, it will not for most. From wherever you are at change it possible. It will take time. It will take effort. It might require support. But it is possible.
Before you can change your current reality you must see the path you want to be on and the obstacles standing in your way. Proper planning can help you prioritize and launch your pathway to change so that you can be the high achiever you want to be in your business and in your industry while you can also create the freedom to live more and more of your ideal life with each passing day. Click here to see how I can help you with that.
Life is meant to be embraced, enjoyed, and fully lived; not merely endured!
Beginning with a degree in exercise science and kinesiology, Brent Haydey has evolved over thirty years as an entrepreneur; building four businesses, and as a health, executive, and life coach.