Working more hours isn’t being more productive

We create the highest value not based on how many hours we work but rather on how much energy we are capable of bringing to whatever hours we work

Recently I was in the middle of writing a column about workaholism and overwork when former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, now a Republican presidential candidate, appeared to set me straight. Americans don’t work too much or too compulsively, he told The New Hampshire Union Leader. Rather, they don’t work enough.

“People need to work longer hours and, through their productivity, gain more income for their families,” Bush said during an interview with the paper’s editorial board.

His statement brought back memories of the time in 2005 when his brother, President George W. Bush, addressed a divorced mother of three at a town hall forum in Nebraska.

“You work three jobs,” he said to her. “Uniquely American, isn’t it? I mean, that is fantastic that you’re doing that. Get any sleep?”

Jeb Bush apparently views himself as a model for working longer hours and gaining more income for his family, especially in the years since he left office in 2007.

Privilege creates its blind spots, however. As football coach Barry Switzer once put it, “Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple.”

During the past eight years, Bush has been paid $27 million for giving speeches, serving on corporate boards and consulting for two banks at a combined salary of $2 million a year.

His remarks urging people to work harder prompted instant criticism from at least one major rival: “Anyone who believes Americans aren’t working hard enough hasn’t met enough workers,” Hillary Clinton said on Twitter.

Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, are even harder workers than Bush. In 2014 alone, Hillary Clinton delivered 51 paid speeches, netting more than $12 million.

Bill Clinton gave 53 talks last year, adding $13.5 million of income for the family. Between 2001 and 2013 he gave 542 speeches around the world, more than half in foreign countries, and earned a staggering $104.9 million for his efforts.

As criticism of Bush’s remarks spread, his campaign scrambled to provide further context. It’s not that all workers need to put in more hours, he responded on Twitter to Clinton, but rather that those working part time or unable to find work need to work longer hours - or, more accurately, any hours at all.

To the vast majority of low-paid workers, putting in long hours often creates as many problems as it solves. If you are being paid $8 to $10 an hour, you most likely still will not be able to afford high-quality child care, for example, and you are less likely to get sufficient sleep or to take care of your other basic needs. It’s also a fallacy that individuals spending more hours at work translates into a more robust economy. Today it is frequently the 1% who work the longest hours.

The opportunities to accumulate ever more wealth induce them, often compulsively, to stay connected around the clock and around the globe. Meanwhile many low-skill workers struggle to work enough hours to pay their bills. No one is well served by working longer and longer hours.

When Bush brags about how hard he is working, it’s not because he needs more money.

Perhaps, though, it is partly because he feels that he can’t afford not to work hard, given how generously he is paid for his time.

The same most likely is true for the Clintons, and even more so for the world’s billionaires.

The irony is that, the more time they spend building their fortunes, the less time they have to enjoy them or to do much of anything but work.

Nor is there persuasive evidence that working more hours translates into higher-quality work or even greater productivity, because so often it is prioritized above sleep, vacations and almost everything else. Overwork ultimately produces diminishing returns for workers at any level.

In a period of 12 hours, I had my own vivid experience of the costs of trying to work more hours. After reading Bush’s words on a Thursday night, I threw out the column I was writing about workaholism. Instead I woke up early Friday morning to start over on this column.

After a couple of hours of writing, I noticed that my brain was slowly shutting down from lack of sleep, and I felt as if I were rowing toward my destination through a sea of molasses. My deadline loomed, but I decided to stop working and take a 30-minute nap.

When I awoke, I felt refreshed and able to think more clearly and efficiently.

We create the highest value not based on how many hours we work but rather on how much energy we are capable of bringing to whatever hours we work.

We create the most value as human beings when we find a dynamic balance between work and rest.

Source | The Hindu | 22 July 2015