You Aren’t Working Hard. You Are Overworking.
How to work hard without killing yourself in the process.
This is the 23rd edition of The Essence.
Not so ago, I avoided any article or research which exposes the dangers of overworking. I was your typical workaholic, consuming many motivational clips each day and prioritizing the hustle over relationships, sleep, health, and everything else.
I couldn’t tell the difference between hard work and overworking. It’s why I avoided content exposing overworking. I didn’t want to be discouraged from working hard. But I was forced outside my bubble after repeatedly getting sick due to overworking and leading a disastrous lifestyle.
Don’t get it twisted as I did. Working hard is one thing: Overworking is another. Hard work is good. But overworking is dangerous, unproductive, and quite deadly. Here’s why and the guide I followed to work hard without risking my health and mental stability.
Overworking can be a silent killer
Stanford organizational professor Jeffrey Pfeffer and his findings terrified me from overworking. He argued in his book, Dying for a Paycheck, that 150,000 deaths in the United States, and one million in China, can be attributed to overwork.
In Japan, overwork deaths are so common they created a term for it: Karoshi. The Japanese also have a word for those who commit suicide due to overwork: karōjisatsu. The phenomenon is also widespread in other parts of Asia.
Overworking leads to mental stress, which leads to depression, and then comes suicide. Overworking also leads to physical health damages such as heart attacks and strokes. Then comes death.
Michael Simmons asked 23 successful entrepreneurs what their biggest health mistake was. All their answers were similar to Kimberly’s.
Kimberly Fink used to work 12-hours a day, six days a week. When she started noticing symptoms like lack of energy and fatigue, she figured to see the doctor when things slow down. And, of course, they never did.
Kimberly procrastinated on her health until eventually, she had to have several emergency visits for abnormal bleeding, pelvic pain, and shortness of breath. On her last visit, tests revealed she had endometrial/uterine cancer as well as two blood clots to her lungs. She had to undergo a radical hysterectomy followed by eight months of chemotherapy and radiation. She was 32.
“The consequences were huge,” Kimberly said. “I still work hard, but not at the cost of my health. I no longer think that success comes before everything else.”
Kimberly didn’t die. But many have. Never underestimate the dangers of overworking. It can be a silent killer: One you don’t see coming.
Little productive work occurs after 50 hours per week
Several organizations and independent researchers have looked into the physical, mental, emotional, and social effects of working beyond the standard 40-hours a week. Notable findings include:
Working +10 hours a day is associated with a %60 jump in risked cardiovascular issues.
10% of those working 50–60 hours a week report relationship problems. (The rate increases to %30 for those working over 60-hours)
Little productive work occurs after 50 hours per week.
Individuals working 11 hours or more of overtime have an increased depression risk.
Normal overtime companies only have %23 with absent rates above 9%. High overtime companies have %54 with absent rates above 9%.
We overwork to get more done. But, as revealed by research, little productive work occurs after 50 hours per week. I’ve noticed that myself. After working more than eight or nine hours, I begin to perform the most shallow work you can imagine. I become busy. But not productive.
What’s the point of overworking if you’re not productive? If you can work well for more than eight hours a day — and you have good reasons to overwork — go ahead. Just don’t sacrifice sleep, health, eating well, working out, etc.
But if you can’t be productive working longer, unless necessary, don’t overwork.
I usually now don’t work over 50 hours a week. Yet I’m more productive than ever. It is not about how many hours you work. It’s about how much you get done. Focus on the tasks, not the hours.
Deep work will help you overcome overworking
“Deep work is hard and shallow work is easier and in the absence of clear goals for your job, the visible busyness that surrounds shallow work become self-preserving” — Cal Newport.
Newport is a computer science professor, author, and regular academic papers contributor. Yet he still doesn’t work after 5:30 pm and rarely does on weekends.
He outlines four rules of deep work in his book, Deep Work. The first rule is to block out time for deep work. Use those 4–5 hours each day for the hardest tasks, which require ultimate focus.
I’ve blocked out the first hours of my workday for deep work. I chose those hours because they are quieter, and they are when I’m most energetic. I try to perform the most difficult tasks, like writing, at those hours.
It has been a game-changer for me.
When doing deep work, you also need to cut all distractions. Newport explained that an interruption, even if short, delays the total time required to complete a task by a significant fraction. That’s why I’ve picked the quietest hours for my deep work period. I also set my phone to airplane mode before throwing it in the drawer.
Avoid the causes of interruptions as much as possible.
Newport’s second rule for deep work is to get used to boredom. Embrace it. The ability to concentrate on hard tasks for long hours needs good tolerance for boredom. Newport’s advice is to train this ability by exposing yourself to boredom. I do so by allowing myself time to do nothing but think, which is not truly boring at all.
The more you’re used to stimuli like social media and Netflix, the harder you’d be able to concentrate for long hours on not-so-fun tasks. That’s why Newport’s third rule for deep work is to quit social media.
I have done that long ago. I don’t have time for those time-sucking, addictive apps. I only sign in from time to time. And when I do, I usually regret it.
Yesterday, for example, was my first rest day in a long time. But I ended up wasting most of it on YouTube, feeling super overstimulated after. The endless content, news, and novel information I consumed overwhelmed me. I intended to spend the day reading a lot and watching lectures. But only 30 minutes there stretched to more than three hours. And by then, there was no time left for reading, family, and any good use of my spare time.
Quit social media. Or incredibly limit your usage of them.
The last rule of deep work is to deal with shallow work the right way. Don’t allow your schedule to be dominated by shallow work, like answering emails. Cut down shallow work and be organized and productive about how you execute such work. The last tasks I commit to in my workday are what’s considered shallow.
The Pomodoro technique also helped me to focus and be more productive, reducing my need for overworking. Work for 25 minutes, rest for five, and do so four times until one Pomodoro period is over. Then, rest anywhere from 20–30 minutes before doing another cycle.
Takeaways
Hard work is a necessity to survive today: Capitalism has no mercy. But there is a thin line between hard work and overworking.
Hard work doesn’t mean sacrificing sleep or neglecting your mental or physical health. Or worshiping work and leaving no time for family, learning, and other meaningful pursuits.
Working smarter, using Cal Newport’s deep work strategy and the Pomodoro technique helped me be way more productive. And since I was doing the work in its time, I no longer much needed overworking.
You can also try tools and outsource some tasks to limit the time you spend working. Learn to disconnect by pushing your unfinished tasks to the next day by writing them down in your notes. Get clarity on your priorities and learn why you’re overworking in the first place.
Know there is more to life than work.
I wrote this piece around July 2021. You can find the original here.
Thanks for reading and until next time,
Mohammed