How to cope with 12-hour days

A listener asks how to survive long work hours

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is about how to manage your energy when
you regularly work long hours. I recently received a letter
from a Before Breakfast listener who was dealing with this

(00:24):
scenario in her particular industry. She noted that she regularly
worked twelve to thirteen hour days with no flexibility in
terms of when I start or end my day, and
obviously no working from home and a seventy minute minimum commute.
I'm struggling to stay afloat in terms of my relationships
and self care. Our listener rights between the hours and

(00:47):
my drive. I'm lucky if I get six hours of
sleep a night. What advice do you have for dealing
with the schedule like this? I responded to our listener
that long hours can be really challenging. I know that
some industries and organizations pride themselves on grueling hours. In general,
I think this is a big mistake. From studying time logs,

(01:10):
I found a definite point of diminishing returns. Most people
cannot do productive work for more than forty to fifty
hours a week over a sustained period of time. Of course,
what's often happening is that places with reported seventy or
eighty hour work weeks are actually only featuring forty to
fifty hours of real work. But there can be a

(01:32):
lot of sitting around, being available, though not on or
waiting for other people. I think recognizing this aspect of
long hour jobs can help with managing energy, and there
are some other things to try to first whenever someone
is feeling overwhelmed, I recommend tracking time. It's good to
know the exact dimensions of long weeks. Our listener says

(01:55):
she frequently works twelve to thirteen hour days. Does this
mean they're all twelve to thirteen hours or are some
days shorter? Is there a pattern to when these shorter
days happen? What is the rhythm of these twelve to
thirteen hour days? Are there periods of holding and periods
of intensity? The most important question, does she generally have

(02:18):
weekends off? Needless to say, five twelve hour days are
more manageable than six or seven twelve hour days per week,
so this matter is quite a bit. Once she has
the landscape of her time plotted out, she can start
to figure out how to strategically build in rejuvenating non
work activities. If people work long hours during the week

(02:41):
but generally have weekends off, then the answer to this
question is pretty simple. Push the bulk of your relationship
time and self care to your days off. Weekends are
real days, two they really count. We don't need to
write them off as irrelevant to our schedules. On the
sleep front, while it's better to get the same amount

(03:03):
every night, someone who sleeps six hours four nights per
week and nine hours three nights per week is getting
fifty one hours a week, which is about seven point
three hours a day on average, which isn't about at all. Likewise, well,
it's better to exercise more days of the week than not.
Someone who exercises consistently for sixty to ninety minutes on

(03:24):
Saturday and Sunday is getting two to three hours of
exercise per week. That's the same as someone who works
out for thirty minutes four to six days per week.
And of course, seeing friends and family two days per
week is much better than seeing them zero days per week.
Celebrating these accomplishments feels a lot better than maintaining a

(03:45):
narrative of having no time. I also think it's possible
to fit in bits of self care during the week too,
even with long hours. For instance, if people take smoke breaks,
then our listener can probably slip away for five to
ten minutes to get in a brief walk. If there's
downtime while she's waiting for people, she can get in
the habit of using these little bits of time to

(04:06):
read a book. Now. I know that in some organizations
whipping out a paperback out of your bag will send
people into connections, but they don't actually have to know
what you're doing. I feel like most people's heads are
in their phones all day anyway, and if you're waiting
for someone to give you something, they tend not to
mind you looking at your phone. So put e books
on your phone and read those. If you can't even

(04:28):
access your phone, you can use little bits of downtime
to meditate or pray or otherwise engage in positive reflective activities.
These little treats can go a long way our listeners
work days may end unpredictably, but it's still possible to
plan around this. She should come up with a go
to option for any days that wind up on the

(04:50):
shorter side. An eleven hour day, for instance, would get
her home and time to face time with a friend,
or do a yoga video or read for thirty minutes
before going to so she should figure out which of
those to prioritize or have a rotating schedule. Doing this
will keep her from using any found time for scrolling
online or checking social media, which, while easy, tends not

(05:14):
to feel like the best use of extremely limited leisure time. Finally,
while twelve to thirteen hour days on their own might
feel doable, I suspect our listeners commute is what's really
making this schedule feel unsustainable, So is there anything to
be done about it? If she's renting, she should look
into different options when her lease is up, even if

(05:34):
it means something smaller or with roommates. If she owns
her place, she should consider renting it out and moving elsewhere,
or putting her home on the market. Cutting a seventy
minute drive down to thirty minutes each way would open
up eighty minutes daily in her life. This would be
a huge change that might sometimes make it possible to
meet a friend for dinner or a drink during the week,

(05:56):
or at least to score some downtime before going to bed.
What advice do you have for our listener working long hours?
You can let us know at Before Breakfast podcast at
iHeart media dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Thanks for listening and here's to making the most of
our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

(06:24):
You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Before Breakfast pod. That's b E the number four then
breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me an
email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com.
That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

(06:47):
Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For
more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart
Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows. H