Overwork Isn’t Just Bad For People — It’s Bad For The Company Too

Wait, but don’t executives love overwork?

I’m fully of the belief that 55 hours of work/week is a hard ceiling, but I also know a ton of people I’ve worked with over my life who run around screaming about headcount, bandwith, and deliverables with their hair ablaze — all the while telling anyone that will listen that they worked 82 hours last week — so I kind of gave up on trying to figure out where the truth really lies. It’s hard to argue with the idea that “being busy” is actually a function of your choices about what to prioritize (work vs. personal), so complaining about being busy is a little bit like complaining about being fat as you gorge yourself on bar nachos. That’s your deal, bro. If you want to be less busy, prioritize the right work and the right things and set a hard cut-off time for yourself. It’s honestly not rocket science.

Overworked bosses tend to be significantly less fair than others

What’s funny about the whole “Temple of Busy” discussion is that there’s documented research about the perils of overwork. Interestingly, then, “overwork” is like a micro-version…