Infosys' Chairman and Chief Mentor Officer (CMO) - Mr. Narayana Murthy's Speech on Late Sitting:
I am not relating this to the present scenario. I know people who work 12 hours a day, six days a week, or more. Some people do so because of a work emergency where the long hours are only temporary. Other people I know have put in these hours for years. I don't know if they are working all these hours, but I do know they are in the office this long. Others put in long office hours because they are addicted to the workplace. Whatever the reason for putting in overtime, working long hours over the long term is harmful to the person and to the organization.
There are things managers can do to change this for everyone's benefit. Being in the office long hours, over long periods of time, makes way for potential errors. My colleagues who are in the office long hours frequently make mistakes caused by fatigue.
Correcting these mistakes requires their time as well as the time and energy of others. I have seen people work Tuesday through Friday to correct mistakes made after 5 PM on Monday.
Another problem is that people who are in the office for long hours are not pleasant company. They often complain about other people (who aren't working as hard); they are irritable, or cranky, or even angry. Other people avoid them. Such behavior poses problems, where work goes much better when people work together instead of avoiding one another.
As Managers, there are things we can do to help people leave the office.
First and foremost is to set the example and go home ourselves. I work with a manager who chides people for working long hours. His words quickly lose their meaning when he sends these chiding group e-mails with a time-stamp of 2 AM, Sunday.
Second is to encourage people to put some balance in their lives. For instance, here is a guideline I find helpful:
1) Wake up, eat a good breakfast, and go to work.
2) Work hard and smart for eight or nine hours.
3) Go home.
4) Read the comics, watch a funny movie, dig in the dirt, play with your kids, etc.
5) Eat well and sleep well.
This is called recreating. Doing steps 1, 3, 4, and 5 enable step 2. Working regular hours and recreating daily are simple concepts. They are hard for some of us because that requires personal change. They are possible since we all have the power to choose to do them.
In considering the issue of overtime, I am reminded of my eldest son. When he was a toddler, if people were visiting the apartment, he would not fall asleep no matter how long the visit, and no matter what time of day it was! He would fight off sleep until the visitors
left... It was as if he was afraid that he would miss something. Once our visitors' left, he would go to sleep. By this time, however, he was over tired and would scream through half the night with nightmares. He, my wife, and I, all paid the price for his fear of missing out.
Perhaps some people put in such long hours because they don't want to miss anything when they leave the office. The trouble with this is that events will never stop happening. That is life! Things happen 24 hours a day.
Allowing for little rest is not ultimately practical. So, take a nap. Things will happen while you're asleep, but you will have the energy to catch up when you wake.
Hence "LOVE YOUR JOB BUT NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR COMPANY (Because you never know when it stops loving you)" - Narayana Murthy
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A Proud Indian Canadian
Location: God's own country
Posted on: 14-09-06 11:23:11
GG,
Nice article and that too coming from the horses mouth.
What he said is 100 % true but many employers donot follow it.
As for me, it will not work out since i find that if i go home early, then i am made to do errands which will tire me more and i feel crappy the next day. At work, I just work sitting on the computer and am connected to the internet at all time. If i go home early, then i will have to help in cooking, wash cloths, clean the house, do shopping etc.. which will make me even more tired.
Also i agree with Narayana moorthy that you can do a job in one day but then if it is wrong spend 2 or 3 days to correct the trouble that this wrong job has caused.
Moral : If your job is an easy one (like sitting on the computer and working occasionally) then it does not matter if you sit long hours or not. But for jobs like Walmart cashier, Heavy lifting jobs, Staining jobs then you will do better if you stop working after 8 hours.
Just my views and my experience.
TK A
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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.
Quote:
Originally posted by Garvo Gujarati
....By this time, however, he was over tired and would scream through half the night with nightmares. He, my wife, and I, all paid the price for his fear of missing out.
This is so true with kids. My little girl is just under 7, and to this day goes to bed by 7 (max 7.30pm), and she just doesn't nap during the day. It is a real problem (from the child's perspective) for us when we have visitors who sit back late. In order to take care of our childs sleeping habits, we did one of the following:
1. Invite guest early on weekends (around 5.30ish), so by 7.30-8 it's time for them to leave
2. If there was a little child visiting, we would get our child to take a nap that afternoon. We'd have to literally bribe her to do that, so she could be fresh & cheerful and play
3. If the guest are sitting beyond 8ish, I would excuse myself and put my child to bed.
Quote:
Originally posted by tamilkuravan
....If i go home early, then i will have to help in cooking, wash cloths, clean the house, do shopping etc.. which will make me even more tired.
Now we know why Tk spends 13+ hours at work everyday....
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SS
Reiki Grand Master
Quote:
Originally posted by sudesingh
Quote:
Originally posted by tamilkuravan
....If i go home early, then i will have to help in cooking, wash cloths, clean the house, do shopping etc.. which will make me even more tired.
Now we know why Tk spends 13+ hours at work everyday....
Wonder whether he always buys out his food, wear dirty clothes and ofcourse as he himself has written in another thread, live in a dirty house (he makes it dirty on purpose as he wrote since he rents an apartment whose Sup is not good).
Or is it that he simply treats his wife like three servants in one??
Chandresh
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Chandresh
Advice is free – lessons I charge for!!
For most IT companies late sitting is a norm. I noticed another trend in sillicon valley - come to office late (9 AM onwards), break for two-three hours lunch, stay up to 7, play a game up to 8 , go to desk, work (read surf the sites) and than go to home at 9 PM.
I simply could not survive in this kind of environment. In spite of being it IT, I never had to work like this. 
It really funny to read about people who, just because they have to work at home would prefer to stay in the office.
No affection at all with home and family!
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A Proud Indian Canadian
Location: God's own country
Posted on: 15-09-06 09:26:52
Quote:
Originally posted by chandresh
Wonder whether he always buys out his food, wear dirty clothes and ofcourse as he himself has written in another thread, live in a dirty house (he makes it dirty on purpose as he wrote since he rents an apartment whose Sup is not good).
I donot make my house dirty on purpose. Since it is an Apartment, I never bother to clean it since there is no question of the owner coming and telling me that i am spoiling his house.
I generally buy take out food when my job hours are overwhelming.
I donot wear dirty cloths. I wear cloths that are washed regularly but not ironed.
Quote:
Or is it that he simply treats his wife like three servants in one??
Chandresh
I think that i have told in other thread for CD members to assume that i am still a bachelor !!!
TK A
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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.
I am not comfortable of idea to sit in office just bes don’t want to help wife at home. If don’t like then can discuss and say or do it. Playing cards/games with your wife/roommate do not make me comfortable.
In India staying more than 8-9 hrs is very common especially for singles that are staying away from their parents in big cities. Having a/c, computer, get pizza/tea after 7pm at work.
But that put pressure on other people and manager expect same from you also, otherwise bad promotion grade.
Man not easy to work with Indian managers.
