WEBVTT - The 56-56-56 plan 

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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 for those working in jobs where long

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<v Speaker 1>hours are considered the norm, you can make life sustainable

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<v Speaker 1>by aiming for a work week that well longer than

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<v Speaker 1>forty hours is not terrible. In many cases, it may

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<v Speaker 1>be fairly close to where you are already, at least

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<v Speaker 1>on average, and building your life with this in mind

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<v Speaker 1>can make you be more mindful of time in general.

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<v Speaker 1>So from time to time some study will claim to

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<v Speaker 1>find that people in certain jobs are working ridiculous numbers

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<v Speaker 1>of hours, and there are certainly places where people are

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<v Speaker 1>working long nights, weekends, and so forth. But these headline

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<v Speaker 1>numbers are almost always obtained through recollection and estimation, not

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<v Speaker 1>from people actually keeping track of their time over a

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<v Speaker 1>length of time that might give you an honest result.

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<v Speaker 1>Surveys often ask how much do you work during a

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<v Speaker 1>typical week? But what is a typical week? I have

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<v Speaker 1>found over the years that it is rarely the week

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<v Speaker 1>where you had a day off, or came in late

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<v Speaker 1>one morning or went home early one night when work

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<v Speaker 1>was slow. We have a tendency to remember our worst

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<v Speaker 1>weeks as typical. Furthermore, most people don't know that there

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<v Speaker 1>are a hundred sixty eight hours in a week. There

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<v Speaker 1>is no rational attempt to account for proportions. Plus, in

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<v Speaker 1>our competitive world, no one wants to be the guy saying, hey,

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<v Speaker 1>I worked fifty hours a week when everyone around him

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<v Speaker 1>is claiming to work ninety. But there has been some

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<v Speaker 1>research into this, and it turns out that the farther

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<v Speaker 1>north people claim to be from forty hours, the more

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<v Speaker 1>likely they are to be overestimating. I have personally seen

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<v Speaker 1>time logs from people working in all kinds of companies

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<v Speaker 1>that have a reputation for being white color sweatshops, and

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<v Speaker 1>the reality is that intense jobs often require somewhere around

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<v Speaker 1>sixty to sixty five hours a week long term. It

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<v Speaker 1>just feels like ninety because well, everyone's working hard and

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<v Speaker 1>long and no one is actually tracking it, so we

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<v Speaker 1>just put a high number on it, and numbers like

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<v Speaker 1>ninety sound good. But the good news is that if

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<v Speaker 1>you are working sixty to sixty five hours a week

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<v Speaker 1>long term, you can account for this time an account

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<v Speaker 1>for the time that is not spent at work too.

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<v Speaker 1>There are a hundred sixty eight hours in a week.

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<v Speaker 1>If you work sixty hours and sleep in shower for

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<v Speaker 1>eight hours a day, which is fifty six hours per week,

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<v Speaker 1>that leaves fifty two hours for other things. Now, of

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<v Speaker 1>course it's not as much time as we might want,

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<v Speaker 1>but it is not nothing either. Anyway, if you are

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<v Speaker 1>working sixty hours a week over the long term, you

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<v Speaker 1>could try aiming for fifty six. Why fifty six, Well,

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<v Speaker 1>I like that number because it makes the week balanced

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<v Speaker 1>in a way. With a hundred sixty eight hours in

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<v Speaker 1>a week. If you work fifty six, sleep and do

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<v Speaker 1>personal care for fifty six, then that leaves fifty six

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<v Speaker 1>hours for other things. That is a reasonable amount of time.

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<v Speaker 1>It's enough to see family, to exercise, read, maybe do

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<v Speaker 1>some hobbies too. In any case, if you are in

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<v Speaker 1>an extreme job, try tracking your time for a few

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<v Speaker 1>weeks and see where you land. If it is between

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<v Speaker 1>sixty and sixty five hours when you average six weeks

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<v Speaker 1>of data, then you've got a roadmap for getting to

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<v Speaker 1>fifty x. See if you can come in half an

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<v Speaker 1>hour later. Some days, oftentimes when people need to work late,

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<v Speaker 1>no one's noticing exactly what time people start. Or maybe

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<v Speaker 1>you could leave half an hour earlier some days, or

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<v Speaker 1>take a slightly longer break in the middle of your

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<v Speaker 1>days and consciously use this time for something rejuvenating. Create

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<v Speaker 1>a window for work on weekends, because if you're working

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<v Speaker 1>that kind of hours, you probably are working on weekends,

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<v Speaker 1>but nudge all work into that smaller window. The truth

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<v Speaker 1>is that fifty six hours is still a really really

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<v Speaker 1>long work week. If you start work at nine am

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<v Speaker 1>most days and work to nine pm most days, with

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<v Speaker 1>ninety minutes of non working time in the middle at

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<v Speaker 1>various points, that is ten point five hours per work day,

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<v Speaker 1>which theoretically gets you to fifty two point five by

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<v Speaker 1>Friday night, but it doesn't really. You probably check out

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit earlier on Fridays, let's say six pm,

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<v Speaker 1>so that gets us down to forty nine point five hours.

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<v Speaker 1>To hit fifty six hours, you'd wind up working seven

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<v Speaker 1>hours or so on the weekend, which is what many

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<v Speaker 1>people in extreme jobs do, either a full nine to

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<v Speaker 1>five type work day with an hour off somewhere in

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<v Speaker 1>the middle, or spread over two days on and off. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>this is a lot of time, but the key thing

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<v Speaker 1>is it is not all your time, especially if some

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<v Speaker 1>of this work time is logged at home, as many

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<v Speaker 1>people are doing these days. You could go for a

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<v Speaker 1>half hour run three days a week during your middle

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<v Speaker 1>of the daytime off. You could have breakfast with your

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<v Speaker 1>kids most days in the morning, or have a glass

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<v Speaker 1>of wine with your spouse after work a night or

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<v Speaker 1>two a week. You could attend worship services over the

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<v Speaker 1>weekend and go on a bike ride with a friend.

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<v Speaker 1>All these things are possible even for someone who is

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<v Speaker 1>theoretically working from nine to nine every day and on

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<v Speaker 1>weekends two, because it may not always be like that,

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<v Speaker 1>and even when it is, there is some time there

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<v Speaker 1>if you're mindful about it. But when you assume you

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<v Speaker 1>are working ninety hours a week because everyone else claims

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<v Speaker 1>to be working ninety hours a week, well then you

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<v Speaker 1>assume there is no time for anything else, and so

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<v Speaker 1>you don't see the time that is there. Your leisure

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<v Speaker 1>time has nothing in it, and so it feels unmemorable,

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<v Speaker 1>and that makes the work time seem even more pronounced

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<v Speaker 1>than it is now. I am not denying that there

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<v Speaker 1>are horrible situations or sometimes horrible weeks, but it behooves everyone,

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<v Speaker 1>and particularly those in extreme jobs, to try tracking their hours.

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<v Speaker 1>Once you know the number there may be a reasonable

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<v Speaker 1>path to get to something that feels sustainable for many people.

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<v Speaker 1>A fifty six fifty six fifty six split can work

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<v Speaker 1>okay of the long term, it's not forty, but you

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<v Speaker 1>know what, these jobs tend not to pay like forty,

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<v Speaker 1>So this is a way to honor that reality, but

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<v Speaker 1>make them work for you too. In the meantime, this

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<v Speaker 1>is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the

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

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<v Speaker 1>from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four,

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<v Speaker 1>then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me

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<v Speaker 1>an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media

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<v Speaker 1>dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all

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<v Speaker 1>the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying

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<v Speaker 1>in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio.

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