Like many here, I’ve thought critically about how the drive to “work hard” can counter personal well-being. I wanted to share some tips that have helped me achieve compensation in the 80th percentile for my age while working about 30hrs or less per week and having stellar performance reviews.
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Above all else, I try to find mission-driven organizations such as a B Corporation, whose values contribute to good work culture and will emphasize things like mental health (also look for the Great Place to Work certification). Note that ironically, nonprofits can be so stretched thin that you might not get WLB at them
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Once you’re within the company, find out from trusted coworkers how much they’re working. The best people to ask are those who left for a new company – exit survey, if you will. “What was it like working on the team?” Once a new opening comes, you can pivot towards those high performing teams with lower hours
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Master all the power tools that make you productive at your job. If you have an office job, I will encourage you to learn to code (if you haven’t yet, I recommend Python). By learning to code, you will understand how to logically write instructions for the computer to do a task for you and the principles are the same across all computing systems. For example, the pandas package can automate most Excel tasks, and it’s free. Also, Microsoft Power Automate can handle any repetitive task that involves clicking through stuff
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Also, once you can code, Application Program Interfaces (APIs) can be your friend. These are tools that various apps have implemented for you to interact with their system through code instead of the graphical user interface. Code is reusable, so if you can interact via code, it means you can do things repeatedly with the click of a button. Tools like Zapier are no code API connectors to do stuff between systems that don’t have a native integration
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It’s essential to be a kind, honest person to work with who can also set boundaries when something isn’t your responsibility. Understand what your priorities are and consistently execute on the things that your manager truly cares about. You want to establish a relationship where you go to tell your manager what you’ve completed without them feeling like they have to ask.
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If someone asks for help, always give them the tools to be independent rather than needing to come to you each time
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For your schedule, block off 12 to 1 pm for lunch and use the whole time to eat, stretch, quick walk or meditate. Also try Outlook Calendar’s MyAnalytics which will schedule a contiguous block of Focus Time of 2 hours everyday that shows as busy. Use this to get your flow work done without interruptions. It usually uses the morning if available so you can get most work done early
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Requesting time off can be guilt-inducing. There are some mindsets to have that will help. These mindsets include simply believing that “I deserve to rest.” Having a personal policy in your head will also make it easier to justify it to yourself and others, such as “I take time off after completing a big project” or “I always take time off for important life events.”
So there you have it. Burnout is a real concern and a career is a marathon not a sprint. I hope this gives at least one person some ideas to do more with less. I’m curious to hear any tips others have as well!