WHY WE SHOULD GO HOME ON TIME…

I always received forwarded email, most of them are junk mail and of course spam mail. But today when i open my yahoo mail i got my attention to this forwarded email talking about people who stay up late at work, best to describe them is workaholic, I myself spend most of my time in worked but not to extent that i will become overworked and even forget to do things for myself, i mean i have a life outside the office that is the only time i can breathe from a very stressful day. This is quite inspiring for everyone especially those who are working in a corporate world.

Mr. Narayana Murthy is undoubtedly one of the most famous persons from
Karnataka. He is known not just for building the biggest IT empire in
India but also for his simplicity.  Almost every important dignitary
visits Infosys campus.  He delivered an interesting speech during an
employee session with another IT company in India.  He is incidentally,
one of the top 50 Influential people of Asia according to an Asiaweek
publication and also the new IT Advisor to the Thailand Prime Minister.

Extract of Mr. Narayana Murthy’s Speech during Mentor Session:
I know people who work 12 hours a day, six days a week, or more. Some
people do so because of a work emergency where the long hours are only
temporary. Other people I know have put in these hours for years.  I
don’t know if they are working all these hours, but I do know they are
in the office this long. Others put in long office hours because they
are addicted to the workplace.
Whatever the reason for putting in overtime, working long hours over the
long term is harmful to the person and to the organization.  There are
things managers can do to change this for everyone’s benefit.  Being in
the office long hours, over long periods of time, makes way for
potential errors.  My colleagues who are in the office long hours
frequently make mistakes caused by fatigue.
Correcting these mistakes requires their time as well as the time and
energy of others. I have seen people work Tuesday through Friday to
correct mistakes made after 5 PM on Monday.  Another problem is that
people who are in the office long hours are not pleasant company.  They
often complain about other people (who aren’t working as hard); they are
irritable, or cranky, or even angry.  Other people avoid them.  Such
behavior poses problems, where work goes much better when people work
together instead of avoiding one another.
As Managers, there are things we can do to help people leave the office.
First and foremost is to set the example and go home ourselves.  I work
with a manager who chides people for working long hours.  His words
quickly lose their meaning when he sends these chiding group e-mails
with a time-stamp of 2 AM, Sunday.

Second is to encourage people to put some balance in their lives.  For
instance, here is a guideline I find helpful:
1) Wake up, eat a good breakfast, and go to work.
2) Work hard and smart for eight or nine hours.
3) Go home.
4) Read the books/comics, watch a funny movie, dig in the dirt, play
with your kids, etc.
5) Eat well and sleep well.

This is called recreating. Doing steps 1, 3, 4, and 5 enable step 2.
Working regular hours and recreating daily are simple concepts.  They
are hard for some of us because that requires ‘personal change’.  They
are possible since we all have the power to choose to do them.

In considering the issue of overtime, I am reminded of my oldest son.
When he was a toddler, if people were visiting the apartment, he would
not fall asleep no matter how long the visit was, and no matter what
time of day it was. He would fight off sleep until the visitors left.
It was as if he was afraid that he would miss something. Once our
visitors’ left, he would go to sleep. By this time, however, he was over
tired and would scream through half the night with nightmares.  He, my
wife, and I, all paid the price for his fear of missing out.

Perhaps some people put in such long hours because they don’t want to
miss anything when they leave the office.  The trouble with this is that
events will never stop happening. That is life!  Things happen 24 hours
a day. Allowing for little rest is not ultimately practical. So, take a
nap. Things will happen while you’re asleep, but you will have the
energy to catch up when you wake.

Hence,

"LOVE YOUR JOB, BUT NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR COMPANY BECAUSE YOU
NEVER KNOW WHEN THE COMPANY STOPS LOVING YOU" –