NOTABLE
» 74% of workers in the US say they work on Sundays
Owl Labs makes “collaboration technology” products, but also publishes an annual State of Hybrid Work report that is now in its 10th year. Among its key findings this year: 74% of workers in the US say they work on Sundays, with 24% often working “a few hours” and 21% working the “full or near-full day.” And the younger you are, the more likely it is that you work on Sunday – 76% for Gen Z, 62% for Millennials, 42% for Gen X and 34% for Boomers.
QUOTABLE
» Winning Words
Somewhere along the line, most of us bought into productivity as a chief value in life. The lie that came along with this value was that the more work, the greater would be the productivity. The end result: rest is dangerous to productivity. We can only rest after the work is done. This is stupid, frankly, but most of us live as if we really believe it.
– GORDON MACDONALD
“Rest Stops,” Life@Work, Volume 2, No. 4, July/August 1999
I found it hard working really long hours when I was my own boss. The boss kept giving me the afternoon off. Sometimes he gave me the morning off as well.
– MICHAEL ADAMS
A character in The Best a Man Can Get by John O’Farrell
Being closed on Sunday was a relief valve. I doubt I’d be in existence today if I tried to make it seven days at the pace I was going. We dearly needed the sales. That’s why we were open 24 hours a day. But it was a wise decision to close on Sunday.
– TRUETT CATHY
founder of Chick-fil-A, on his decision to close his original restaurant (the Dwarf Grill) on Sundays (from Life@Work, Volume 2, No. 4, July/August 1999)
DOABLE
» 3 Key Plays
1. Define Your Rules and Your Exceptions
Working on Sundays intuitively sounds like a bad thing, but it’s hard to know if that’s true without knowing how that practice fits within someone’s full schedule.
If Sunday is just another day at the office – one of seven days when you log in for eight or more hours – then trouble is brewing. On the other hand, maybe a Sunday-through-Thursday (with Fridays and Saturdays off) works just fine for you and your organization.
The key, in my experience, is to establish your norms and when and why you are willing to deviate from them. Those norms can change depending on things like your age, how new you are to a role, and what’s going on with your business. But when they change, it should be intentional.
You’ll want buy-in on your norms from the people who matter, especially your family, because you need them to hold you accountable. If you need to work weekends for two months to finish a key project, that might be acceptable for everyone. If those two months turn into two years, then you’re risking burnout that you might not see on your own.
2. Count and Share the Costs
Many of us work too many hours because we struggle to say no when no is the right answer. We want to help. We want to be good team players. And, most likely, we enjoy and get satisfaction from playing a role in creating organizational success. But every yes comes with a cost, and we need to count those costs.
Here’s a phrase I’ve heard used, especially with demanding bosses or clients: “We can do that, but here’s what it’s going to cost …” The cost might be, “I’ll have to work all weekend and miss my daughter’s soccer games” or “that sounds like a small change, but it will take about 20 hours to make it happen” or “if we spend our time on that, we can’t also work on this other high priority.” As often as not, the response from the boss or client will be something like, “Oh, well in that case, let’s do it next week. I don’t really need it by Monday.”
3. Manage Your Rest Like You Manage Your Work
Bob Foster, Sr., and his wife Marion left the corporate world in 1961 and turned Lost Valley Ranch into a premier guest dude ranch. In other words, they started a business where people paid money to work while they were away from their work.
“Contrary to what many may think, rest is not necessarily synonymous with inactivity,” Foster said. “In other words, a lazy person or a sluggard can be a very stressed person. To me, rest is a change of pace, a place to get your foot off the accelerator and stop.”
If our time off from normal work isn’t truly restful, then it’s just adding to our stress. But if we can clear our minds and refresh our souls – whether that means a nap on the couch, a hike up a mountain, or a week helping with cattle – then we can return to the job more productive than when we left.
The Monday Playbook delivers a quick, motivational plan to help you win your week as you tackle universal challenges in leadership, business, and life.
