Protect Knowledge Workers From Relentless Schedules

Teams that enjoy work-life balance get more done.

learn more about Mercedes De Luca

By Mercedes De Luca

Shutterstock

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

As I write this, I'm preparing to head out on vacation with my husband. We're taking a road trip to Mendocino, and I can't wait to see the art galleries, commune with the majestic redwood trees and walk through the quaint town. It would be easy to fit my laptop into the trunk alongside my weekender and books to read, but I won't. When I log off the evening before my vacation starts, I will stay logged off for a full week. Unfortunately, mine is an unusual experience for American knowledge workers, but it shouldn't be.

Hardworking is not the same as always working.

If your employees operated heavy machinery or worked in potentially dangerous conditions, you'd adhere to rigorous policies, protections and regulations to ensure everyone stay focused and safe. But there are few comparable guidelines for knowledge workers. If your team is regularly clocking 10, 11 or 12-hour days, how do you get them to protect their machinery - their brains? How do you get them to pull back, rest and recharge?

Maybe you wonder why you'd want to do such a thing. A hardworking team is a great team, right? Well, that depends. If by hardworking you mean always working, then the answer is no.

Related: 14 Things Ridiculously Successful People Do Every Day

In the Harvard Business Review article "The Research is Clear: Long Hours Backfire for People and Companies," writer Sarah Green Carmichael cites two studies to back this up. The first, out of Boston University's Questrom School of Business, showed that managers couldn't spot the difference between employees who were actually working 16-hour days and those who were merely claiming to. And the second, from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, found overwork leads to health problems for employees and rising costs for businesses due to absenteeism, staff churn and higher health insurance premiums.

We know staff burnout is expensive. It's time we acknowledge we can fix this.

Here's a five-step plan for ending work martyrdom.

Whether employees are working nights, weekends or vacations because they think they should or because they believe they must, changing that behavior has to come from the top. Business owners and leaders must first acknowledge their own work can wait, and then they'll be able to convincingly say to an employee, "your work can wait, too."

Related: Are You a 'Positive' Procrastinator or Just Plain Lazy?

Here are five ways I've learned to do that in the past nine months, since I joined Basecamp, where this way of work is the norm:

  1. Break your goals into defined time periods. Our teams work in six-week cycles. Before the start of each cycle, I determine what needs to get done and map my work to fit in.
  2. Block off daily time for specific projects. Do everything you can to move forward on a particular focus area during that protected time before you turn your attention elsewhere.
  3. Establish work hours. If you tell your team you won't check email after 6 p.m., don't. That's harder to do than to say, so start small. Follow through one night per week, prove to yourself it can be done without catastrophe, and then expand this practice to the rest of your week.
  4. Stay present in the moment. If you respond to emails and texts while sitting in a meeting, you're not really being productive. Your divided attention works against you and your teams. Do one thing at a time, and stay mindful about that one thing.
  5. Prioritize. Something on your to-do list right now is probably not a real priority. Ask yourself which tasks can wait.

Related: How to Manage Time With 10 Tips That Work

Teams are more productive when they feel empowered to say, "Yes, this work can wait - it can wait until tomorrow, it can wait until Monday, it can wait until I get back from vacation." Making this the norm, however, won't happen until more founders and executives model work-can-wait behavior themselves.

Mercedes De Luca

COO at Basecamp

Mercedes De Luca is the chief operating officer at Basecamp, maker of software tools that help teams collaborate and communicate. During her more than 20 years working at tech companies in e-commerce and software, Mercedes has served as CEO at MyShape, vice president of global information technology at Yahoo!, and vice president and general manager of internet commerce for Sears.

Related Topics

Editor's Pick

Everyone Wants to Get Close to Their Favorite Artist. Here's the Technology Making It a Reality — But Better.
The Highest-Paid, Highest-Profile People in Every Field Know This Communication Strategy
After Early Rejection From Publishers, This Author Self-Published Her Book and Sold More Than 500,000 Copies. Here's How She Did It.
Having Trouble Speaking Up in Meetings? Try This Strategy.
He Names Brands for Amazon, Meta and Forever 21, and Says This Is the Big Blank Space in the Naming Game
Money & Finance

Revenue vs. Profit: What's the Difference?

The difference between revenue and profit is vital to understand in order to run a healthy business. Read on to learn all about these basic economic concepts.

Money & Finance

What Is Market Cap? Here's a Comprehensive Explanation.

Read on to learn how to calculate market cap, explore the different categories and understand how it influences investment analysis.

Career

Thinking of a Career Change? Here Are 4 Steps You Can Take To Get There.

Author Joanne Lipman on what experience and science tell us about successful job pivots.

Business News

A Mississippi News Anchor Is Under Fire for Quoting Snoop Dogg

WLBT's Barbara Bassett used the rapper's "fo shizzle" phrase during a live broadcast, causing the station to let her go.

Business Ideas

55 Small Business Ideas To Start Right Now

To start one of these home-based businesses, you don't need a lot of funding -- just energy, passion and the drive to succeed.