As I sit and type this, it’s nearly three in the morning. Working late, once again.
Or am I? What IS working late? Is working late just working past 5:00 pm – or is it working for a certain amount of consecutive hours in a row? Or is “working late” just a term we often use when we think we should be elsewhere, i.e. with the family?
In today’s day, business happens 24/7. If you’re a startup company – or any company for that matter, you probably can’t get away with 9-to-5 hours.
Of course, you may have “office hours” of 9 to 5, but there is always work to be done outside these hours.
There are many reasons for working outside the “typical” (or as I like to say, “old-fashioned”) office hours.
Some of these include:
• Email: Email happens 24 hours a day. Unless your company reaches only your local community, you’ll probably have customers and business contacts in different time zones. I often e-mail or send instant messages to contacts outside of “office hours”, because these are the times most convenient for the people I’m trying to reach. It’s not efficient to email someone and wait an entire day, only to need to ask them another question. Time is money.
• Phone calls: If your business relies on phone communication, you’ll have to decide if it’s worth “taking the call”. Try sticking to particular hours – once your customers realize you’ll answer the phone at 3 am, it will become the norm.
• Sales: If you operate an e-commerce website, or sell anything 24/7, it pays to have someone available as close to 24 hours a day as possible. If you have a large enough volume, you may require a sales team during all hours. You may want to watch your traffic and sales quite closely.
• Customer service: If you’re selling to customers around the world, you have to be proactive and reactive to situations outside of work hours. Your “office hours” will not do anything to prevent an outraged customer from tweeting about your product or service at 4:00 am. If you’re small, try to do this as much as possible (monitor from your phone, etc.) regardless of the hour.
• Competition: More likely than not, you have a competitor that is either operating 24-hours a day. Stay ahead of the game by providing flexible hours, or at least being aware of your competition.
It’s not viable for every small company to operate 24 hours a day. Not only is it expensive, but it’s hard to find good employees willing to work night shifts (outsourcing to another time zone may work well here).
Do what you can for now – just make sure it’s top of mind as you grow.
So, how exactly do I NOT become a workaholic?
While it may be true that you have to operate during hours outside of the old 9 to 5, it doesn’t mean you need to work more hours each day.
Try spreading things out and taking breaks. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t respond to every email within five minutes. If you have the option to, do some of this work from home. Delegate work to others.
Did I mention take breaks? Not just half hour breaks, but days/week(s) off. If you over-work yourself, you’ll be miserable. And if you over-work yourself to the point of sickness, who fills in to maintain responsiveness and productivity?
If you’re a creative person, you may find yourself constantly thinking of ideas outside of “work hours”. It’s hard just to sit yourself at a desk and say, “I’m going to think of the next great idea”.
Many of my creative ideas come while I’m in the shower. It’s important for me to think about work outside of the office – it allows me to think from a different perspective.
Some people just disconnect when they leave the office. Sometimes I’m jealous of this – however, having business on the mind at different times in different places often sparks creativity.
The bulk of the successful people I know do not work for an 8-hour period and then call it quits – they’re always thinking and working.
Just don’t overdo it.
Embrace the new “office hours” – I think they’re here to stay.
You’re right, the rules are changing. But I believe that regular working hours are allways better for productivity because of your body rhytme.
You’re single, no kids. I spent years living like that, with a wife and kids, long before computers and e-mail. It’s a high. But sooner or later the bill comes in.
Well said Ryan. Great thought. I also find myself constantly working, not just 9-5 but throughout the day and even when I’m sleeping, I tend to dream of some ideas for the business / blog.
I am definitely embracing the new “office hours.”
Great Post.
I am agree with Design Informer I work 24/7 even we stop working physically, Ideas and work planning always moving in the mind. Even I sleeping
Having worked for two very big, multi-national corporations I never gave much thought to the fact of constant availability. Both my previous employers outsourced to other time zones to deal with that, but as a startup, freelancer or small business that is most likely financially unacceptable.
When I started my freelancing business, I learned the hard way that customers/clients have become used to reach somebody at any time to answer to their requests and it took a while for me to establish official working hours. Like you pointed out, Ryan, when you answer the phone or email Saturday at 9pm, customers will take that for granted the next time they call. I now have official hours during which clients can reach me, even if I work outside of these hours.
On the other hand, I think these “new office hours” are a great relief to. At least for me, since my most productive hours are between 6am-1pm and 6pm-midnight. At a conventional job, I struggled through the afternoon, while now I just take the time to do personal stuff or relax and then work again at night.
I agree. About creative work, it is rather outdated to think that the best way to work is to grind out 8 consecutive hours a day, because the work is non-linear and the process unconventional. The 8-hour workday almost implies a time limit and forces a structure to the creative process, which is counter-intuitive. It is only favorable if all the concept brainstorming is done, and merely executing the idea is all there is to do. Working in bursts, to help process everything without burning the process out, seems to be the best for me. It may add up to be 8-hours a day, but its not 8 consecutive hours.
@Brad
“The 8-hour workday almost implies a time limit and forces a structure to the creative process, which is counter-intuitive.”
Well said – I couldn’t agree more.
@Brad
“The 8-hour workday almost implies a time limit and forces a structure to the creative process, which is counter-intuitive.”
Keep in mind the “creative process” needs structure to stay productive. With that being said, I’m writing this a 4:44am.
I think a structured work time is a good idea. Thing is what I think and what i do are VERY different. Personally I work flexible times, rather like a firefighter – I work when I am needed. Though I have initiated the Google 80/20 work ethic where I will use 20% of my time at my desk to work on actual work. That’s right, isn’t it?
@Simon
Haha, I think it’s the other way around…20% of your time on personal projects
On that note, I do think it’s important to veer away from work every so often – I mean, you don’t want to watch District 9 in it’s entirety while you’re supposed to be working (unless your job is in the film industry), but doing things that are somewhat related, or that can spark creativity is often beneficial.
Intimate midnight management tips from the professor – awesome read. “Just don’t over do it” has sort of been my motto for the last 12 months (roughly around the time I went full time online).
I know, at 28, that I can push my body pretty far – but when it starts to shut down, or if I start feeling like I’m pissed drunk when I’m sober… then I know it’s time to sleep.
Cheers,
Elijah
haha, true said, Ideas never come when u think about them
It’s hard just to sit yourself at a desk and say, “I’m going to think of the next great idea”.
Really like it, also of not overdoing one self is also very important, a tired/exhausted person is of no help And a break always helps in recharging and getting creative.