WEBVTT - How to cope with 12-hour days

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is about how to manage your energy when

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<v Speaker 1>you regularly work long hours. I recently received a letter

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<v Speaker 1>from a Before Breakfast listener who was dealing with this

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<v Speaker 1>scenario in her particular industry. She noted that she regularly

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<v Speaker 1>worked twelve to thirteen hour days with no flexibility in

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<v Speaker 1>terms of when I start or end my day, and

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<v Speaker 1>obviously no working from home and a seventy minute minimum commute.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm struggling to stay afloat in terms of my relationships

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<v Speaker 1>and self care. Our listener rights between the hours and

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<v Speaker 1>my drive. I'm lucky if I get six hours of

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<v Speaker 1>sleep a night. What advice do you have for dealing

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<v Speaker 1>with the schedule like this? I responded to our listener

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<v Speaker 1>that long hours can be really challenging. I know that

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<v Speaker 1>some industries and organizations pride themselves on grueling hours. In general,

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<v Speaker 1>I think this is a big mistake. From studying time logs,

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<v Speaker 1>I found a definite point of diminishing returns. Most people

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<v Speaker 1>cannot do productive work for more than forty to fifty

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<v Speaker 1>hours a week over a sustained period of time. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>what's often happening is that places with reported seventy or

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<v Speaker 1>eighty hour work weeks are actually only featuring forty to

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<v Speaker 1>fifty hours of real work. But there can be a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of sitting around, being available, though not on or

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<v Speaker 1>waiting for other people. I think recognizing this aspect of

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<v Speaker 1>long hour jobs can help with managing energy, and there

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<v Speaker 1>are some other things to try to first whenever someone

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<v Speaker 1>is feeling overwhelmed, I recommend tracking time. It's good to

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<v Speaker 1>know the exact dimensions of long weeks. Our listener says

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<v Speaker 1>she frequently works twelve to thirteen hour days. Does this

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<v Speaker 1>mean they're all twelve to thirteen hours or are some

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<v Speaker 1>days shorter? Is there a pattern to when these shorter

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<v Speaker 1>days happen? What is the rhythm of these twelve to

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<v Speaker 1>thirteen hour days? Are there periods of holding and periods

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<v Speaker 1>of intensity? The most important question, does she generally have

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<v Speaker 1>weekends off? Needless to say, five twelve hour days are

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<v Speaker 1>more manageable than six or seven twelve hour days per week,

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<v Speaker 1>so this matter is quite a bit. Once she has

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<v Speaker 1>the landscape of her time plotted out, she can start

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<v Speaker 1>to figure out how to strategically build in rejuvenating non

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<v Speaker 1>work activities. If people work long hours during the week

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<v Speaker 1>but generally have weekends off, then the answer to this

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<v Speaker 1>question is pretty simple. Push the bulk of your relationship

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<v Speaker 1>time and self care to your days off. Weekends are

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<v Speaker 1>real days, two they really count. We don't need to

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<v Speaker 1>write them off as irrelevant to our schedules. On the

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<v Speaker 1>sleep front, while it's better to get the same amount

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<v Speaker 1>every night, someone who sleeps six hours four nights per

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<v Speaker 1>week and nine hours three nights per week is getting

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<v Speaker 1>fifty one hours a week, which is about seven point

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<v Speaker 1>three hours a day on average, which isn't about at all. Likewise, well,

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<v Speaker 1>it's better to exercise more days of the week than not.

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<v Speaker 1>Someone who exercises consistently for sixty to ninety minutes on

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<v Speaker 1>Saturday and Sunday is getting two to three hours of

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<v Speaker 1>exercise per week. That's the same as someone who works

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<v Speaker 1>out for thirty minutes four to six days per week.

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<v Speaker 1>And of course, seeing friends and family two days per

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<v Speaker 1>week is much better than seeing them zero days per week.

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<v Speaker 1>Celebrating these accomplishments feels a lot better than maintaining a

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<v Speaker 1>narrative of having no time. I also think it's possible

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<v Speaker 1>to fit in bits of self care during the week too,

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<v Speaker 1>even with long hours. For instance, if people take smoke breaks,

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<v Speaker 1>then our listener can probably slip away for five to

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<v Speaker 1>ten minutes to get in a brief walk. If there's

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<v Speaker 1>downtime while she's waiting for people, she can get in

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<v Speaker 1>the habit of using these little bits of time to

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<v Speaker 1>read a book. Now. I know that in some organizations

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<v Speaker 1>whipping out a paperback out of your bag will send

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<v Speaker 1>people into connections, but they don't actually have to know

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<v Speaker 1>what you're doing. I feel like most people's heads are

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<v Speaker 1>in their phones all day anyway, and if you're waiting

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<v Speaker 1>for someone to give you something, they tend not to

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<v Speaker 1>mind you looking at your phone. So put e books

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<v Speaker 1>on your phone and read those. If you can't even

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<v Speaker 1>access your phone, you can use little bits of downtime

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<v Speaker 1>to meditate or pray or otherwise engage in positive reflective activities.

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<v Speaker 1>These little treats can go a long way our listeners

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<v Speaker 1>work days may end unpredictably, but it's still possible to

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<v Speaker 1>plan around this. She should come up with a go

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<v Speaker 1>to option for any days that wind up on the

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<v Speaker 1>shorter side. An eleven hour day, for instance, would get

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<v Speaker 1>her home and time to face time with a friend,

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<v Speaker 1>or do a yoga video or read for thirty minutes

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<v Speaker 1>before going to so she should figure out which of

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<v Speaker 1>those to prioritize or have a rotating schedule. Doing this

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<v Speaker 1>will keep her from using any found time for scrolling

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<v Speaker 1>online or checking social media, which, while easy, tends not

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<v Speaker 1>to feel like the best use of extremely limited leisure time. Finally,

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<v Speaker 1>while twelve to thirteen hour days on their own might

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<v Speaker 1>feel doable, I suspect our listeners commute is what's really

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<v Speaker 1>making this schedule feel unsustainable, So is there anything to

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<v Speaker 1>be done about it? If she's renting, she should look

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<v Speaker 1>into different options when her lease is up, even if

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<v Speaker 1>it means something smaller or with roommates. If she owns

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<v Speaker 1>her place, she should consider renting it out and moving elsewhere,

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<v Speaker 1>or putting her home on the market. Cutting a seventy

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<v Speaker 1>minute drive down to thirty minutes each way would open

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<v Speaker 1>up eighty minutes daily in her life. This would be

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<v Speaker 1>a huge change that might sometimes make it possible to

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<v Speaker 1>meet a friend for dinner or a drink during the week,

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<v Speaker 1>or at least to score some downtime before going to bed.

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<v Speaker 1>What advice do you have for our listener working long hours?

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<v Speaker 1>You can let us know at Before Breakfast podcast at

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<v Speaker 1>iHeart media dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening and here's to making the most of

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<v Speaker 1>our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

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<v Speaker 1>You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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<v Speaker 1>Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast pod. That's b E the number four then

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<v Speaker 1>breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me an

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<v Speaker 1>email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

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