You Can Work Fewer Hours

Less or Fewer?

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Business Grammar 101Is it “Less” or “Fewer”

Prepared by Chris Reich

Less or Fewer?


If you regularly work more than 40 hours every week, someone needs to ask why that is so. Frankly, it’s a sign of either mismanagement, disorganization, inefficiency or an underlying personal problem.”

Chris Reich, TeachU.com, BizPhyZ.com

Less or Fewer?


Working Reality

Many people are working more for less.

If your salary is $100 per week and you need 60 hours to do the work instead of 40, you’re working for 50% less than you should be working.

If you’re salary is $100 per week and you’re working 60 hours a week, getting down to 40 hours is a real 50% pay increase.

Now apply that to your salary.

Less or Fewer?


50% Raise

50% is a big increase.

If you agree that changing some habits is worth a 50% raise, read on.

If not, stop now because I’m going to shatter some myths and persuade you to work fewer hours.

Less or Fewer?


Why Are You Working 60 Hours a Week?

There’s so much to do and it just keeps coming. I can’t do it in less time.

True?

Partially.

Less or Fewer?


I Agree, You Have a Lot to Do

There is a lot to do. Okay, agreed.

Let’s set that aside for a moment and see if there are other reasons your work week has stretched into 60+ hours a week.

We’ll have to be honest. You’ll have to be honest with yourself.

Less or Fewer?


Personal Issues

There are other reasons you’re working long hours. They aren’t pretty but give these some thought.• You feel inadequate so you compensate with your time

• You waste a lot of work time and get more done in ‘off hours’

• You don’t want to go home at 5:00

• Work makes you feel needed; keep that cell phone on

• You worry about what happens when you’re not working

• You know there are better ways of doing things but you won’t take the time to figure them out or to suggest them to your boss

Less or Fewer?


Recognize Any of Them?

Yes. I know.

I work with a lot of people and I see these habits and problems every week.

Go back, look at the list, be honest with yourself.

Less or Fewer?


What to Do?

Once you recognize that you are part of this problem, you can make positive changes. Admit it, change it.

How?

Decide to.

You are an adult. Decide to come in at 8 and leave at 5 or whatever constitutes the proper start stop times making an 8 hour day at your workplace.

Just decide.

Less or Fewer?


You Won’t Be Missed

This will hurt.

If you work more than 40 hours a week because of any one or more of the items on that list, you will not be missed if you cut back to a normal 40 hour week.

Why?

Because time spent compensating for a self-perceived deficiency isn’t productive. Time spent hiding from personal problems isn’t productive.

Nothing will be lost.

Less or Fewer?


What About Inefficiency?

Inefficiency comes in two flavors:

• Self-imposed

• Company imposed

Less or Fewer?


Self-Imposed Inefficiency

I see posts on Facebook that read “Going to be here late again. Have a proposal to write.”

Do you see the irony?

Less or Fewer?


Self-Imposed Inefficiency

When I go onsite, I often spend time working one-on-one with people helping with organization and efficiency.

I often find people spending a lot of time on simple tasks because they don’t know easier ways. Those same people will tell me things like:

• I don’t have time to play around with PowerPoint• I don’t have time to read the book• I didn’t know Excel could do that• I hate this report, it always takes all day to complete • I hate the way this is set up but it’s how they want it

Less or Fewer?


Time Spent Learning

Those items are about learning.

There’s a joke about a woodcutter who buys a chainsaw because the salesman tells him it’s far more efficient than an axe. The next day the woodcutter returns the saw because it’s slower than the axe.

The salesman says, “we’d better check it out.” He pulls the rope and the engine starts. The woodcutter jumps backward exclaiming, “What’s all the noise?”

See the point? Time spent learning the tools pays huge dividends. Sadly, companies have cut training budgets. They should invest in education*.

* Note: There is a big difference between training and education.

Less or Fewer?


Time Management and Organization

People lose a lot of time to poor time management and disorganization.

I don’t blame them unless they resist learning how to do better.

Why?

Time management is complicated.

Consider this:

When you are interrupted while doing a concentration intense task, it takes about 20 minutes to get back in focus.

How much time is lost to 3 or 4 interruptions on that single task?

Less or Fewer?


That Can’t Be Helped

Yes it can.

We invite most interruptions. Do you drop everything, every time you are interrupted?

Do you ever say, “No, this isn’t a good time”?

Do you really need to read that email right now?

Must IM be on at every moment? Is every IM important?

Can you plan to do the intensive tasks at better times in the day? (yes)

Less or Fewer?


So Far

Okay, we’ve looked at personal issues and time management.

Think about these and you will find many hours in your week that are lost to bad habits.

Less or Fewer?


Company Imposed Inefficiencies

Undeniably, these exist.

Surely, there are processes that take more time than necessary.

There are bosses who are never satisfied and require constant revision even when you deliver exactly what was required.

There are bosses who are disorganized and you suffer the fallout of their inefficiency. (e.g., at 4:45 you get this email: “Data attached in Excel file. I need analysis for 8:00 a.m. meeting.”)

Stuck with these?

Less or Fewer?



You’re not necessarily stuck with those problems.

Properly written suggestions proposing time savings while improving work product are often well received by management. The report that takes all day to produce can be improved and made easier to prepare. Learn to create a macro to save time and add a couple of charts to enhance utility. (Example)

That 4:45 email? Sure, that’s tough. If that is a rare event, you should probably accept it. If it’s a regular event, you can say no. Or, you can schedule a conversation to express how you feel about last minute assignments. Save the emails in a file to back up your assertion.

Be careful. There’s a difference between feeling right and being right.

Less or Fewer?



No one is 100% comfortable standing up to the boss. That’s totally understandable. If handled correctly, positive agreements can be reached in many cases.

Try bringing positive change.

Stop being so fearful. Companies do not like to lose good people.

Ideas may be hard to sell, but they won’t get you fired. Pushing your ideas might. Don’t push, suggest.

If your life is way out of balance, get your résumé up to date.

Less or Fewer?


The Realty

In reality, most time isn’t lost because of the evil or disorganized boss.

Most excess work hours are a result of personal issues, poor time management , disorganization or lack of effort to do things in a better way.

People box themselves in. Change that.

Less or Fewer?


Set This Weird Goal

I have often proposed to companies that are experiencing morale issues due to poor work/life balance that they set a goal with their people to find ways to work fewer hours. (This is always met with resistance)

Set a goal to work fewer hours—not do less work.

Seriously.

Imagine what could happen if entire teams worked together to reduce weekly work hours. It can be done. Why is there always resistance to this idea?

Think about this: When workers are paid by the hour, there is a constant push to efficiently reduce payroll hours. Can’t we apply the same techniques to reduce salaried employee hours?

Less or Fewer?


SummaryMany salaried employees work too many hours and suffer a poor work/life balance.

This due to:• Personal issues• Employee mismanagement of time• Poor organizational skills• Procedures in need of improvement• Bad management

Most of these can be corrected.

We can and should set reducing work hours of salaried employees as a goal.

Less or Fewer?


Thank You

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