I was at a wedding last night and saw my former boss, Simone*, from my part-time college job. I updated her on my life – personal and career. It was nice catching up, but something she said really made me take a step back and think.
Simone was amazed at the job I had, the company I work for and the overall career journey I’ve been on. While it is nice and I’m proud of it, the one thing that I wish I had differently was better work hours.
When you have a family (and a life) it’s not ideal to be out of the home 11 hours a day. I’m not able to greet my kids when they come home from school and although I take them to school in the morning, it’s usually a rushed affair so I can catch my train. Forget about having time to myself!
When I mentioned to Simone that all I really wanted was to work 9-5 she laughed at me. She told me no such thing exists. While I was surprised to hear her saying that, it made me realize that that she may be right.
In the past 10 years we’ve seen advances in technology that we never could’ve imagined. It opened up a whole new world. Literally. Now, I don’t work on a regional team, because we’ve gone bigger. We’re global.
While being global sounds great and efficient, I’ve been experiencing something quite the opposite. In fact, one of the major changes I’ve seen is the elimination of the 9-5 work day.
We can’t always communicate with the rest of the world between 9-5 EST, so having 7 or 8am meetings isn’t really THAT bad, is it? At least we don’t have to do 2am meetings like the folks in Hong Kong or Japan. Silver lining I suppose.
Now that were global and can communicate on a whim with anyone anywhere, we’ve been scheduling meetings outside of normal work hours to accommodate multiple time zones. While increased communication is awesome, it definitely has its drawbacks.
Below is an infographic from OnlineMBA.com. I don’t know of any of the statistical information is accurate, but who doesn’t like a picture that proves their point?
I for one am glad I’m not the only one wishing for the return of the 40 hour work week. I hope more companies/bosses join this team. After all, after 120 years, will Hashem ask you why you didn’t work longer hours?
What are your thoughts? Do you work a 40 hour work week? Do you wish you do?
*Name has been changed.
Until next time,
Shaindy
