How to reduce your hours at work

By: Katherine Chatfield

Fifty per cent of women aged between 25 and 39 cite work pressures as the thing that stresses them out the most, according to Australia’s Biggest Health Check, a survey of 25,919 people by Women’s Health in conjunction with Prevention, Priceline and Sunrise. A further 36 per cent of you say the pressure to balance work and family is a constant battle, and 32 per cent of you feel “extremely stressed” due to long work hours. “Women are unquestionably under considerably more pressure than men,” says Fuller. “The women I advise are usually working twice as hard as the men I see. Because women are so good at multitasking it’s hard to know our limits – we’re used to juggling a lot so it’s easy to take on more and more.”

STOP TRYING TO BE PERFECT

Warning: agreeing to do even more at work will not help you morph into Wonder Woman. (Who wants a gold headband anyway?) But it might turn you in to Ms Unhealthy. People who regularly work 10 or 11 hour days are more likely to suffer serious heart problems than those who clock off after seven hours, according to a study in the European Heart Journal.

“Working long hours becomes a vicious cycle,” says career psychologist Meredith Fuller. “You’re emotional, and physical resources are depleted so you’re less able to be productive during the day.

This means working longer hours to get everything done. It goes round and round like this until you burn out.” Prevent getting overloaded by asking yourself what percentage of effort you need to give a task, suggests Fuller. “Not everything needs 100 per cent attention. Some tasks only need 30 per cent. Some you can delegate to someone who’ll give it 70 per cent of their attention. Save your energy for the jobs that really need 100 per cent.”

Being engaged with your job makes you more productive during work hours, says Allan Watkinson, principal consultant for Sydney-based management consulting firm Gallup. “The more productive you are, the fewer hours you need to be there. When you spend fewer hours at work you have time to be fulfilled in other areas of your life. And people who are happy in all other areas of their life are more efficient at work – and so the cycle starts again.”

LAY DOWN THE LAW

If the neat cycle of engagement = productivity = shorter hours isn’t working for you, you need to get down to the nitty-gritty with your boss. “Give your manager a clear rundown of the other things in your life,” says Fuller. “Explain that while you’re committed to your job, in order to give your best at work you need to be able to enjoy other things.” Be strict with yourself and colleagues. “Checking emails or taking calls at home is still work,” says Watkinson. “Tell colleagues you’ll be available until 7pm, then you’ll respond to everything else in the morning. The voice message on your phone should say the same thing. If you don’t work in a life or death job, any reasonable manager should respect that. If they don’t, perhaps it’s time to think about whether you’re in the right role.”