

If You Need to Work Better, Maybe Try Working Less  - cwan
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203803904574429151858232582.html?mod=rss_careers

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wallflower
"Let your workings remain a mystery. Just show people the results."

-Lao Tzu, "Tao Te Ching"

From anecdotal experience, some of those (in a typical corporate environment)
who trump their 'working overtime' don't do much during 'normal' working
hours.

I talked to a guy in an airport security line once, and he was a million-mile
frequent flier. He related how he took his entire family (wife, kids, extended
family - 20 in total) to Hawaii on Marriott Rewards points and frequent flier
miles. You could tell the unspoken fact was that two weeks they spent together
was probably the most time he's spent with them in years. Working hard seems
to be a badge of honor nowadays but is it really something that fulfills you?

~~~
krav
That's a life changing quote by Lao Tzu. Really. And this one, another of my
favorites from the Book of Five Rings: "Do nothing of no use."

~~~
wallflower
Thank you. I read a PDF of the translation (I think - only 33 pages). I'm
going to have to read it several times again but I kind of grasp that the
important points are: there is no one set way to approach sword-fighting (and
life), practice always practice.

In case you read this, thanks again for spurring me to read this and what does
the 'Book of Five Rings' mean to you?

------
yagibear
This article doesn't reveal much because it confuses 2 different scenarios:

1\. The research result that a small amount of offtime, e.g. "In the Boston
Consulting study ... guarantee each consultant one uninterrupted evening free
each week", "can yield unexpected on-the-job benefits"

and

2\. Examples of employees taking much longer times off, e.g. "staffers are
expected to leave in time for dinner" (presumably every work day, and probably
only 5 work days per week), and ""wellness scorecards" to track whether
employees are working too much overtime"

Without diminishing the importance of prioritisation, the article doesn't
reveal anything about offtime any longer than a very limited "one
uninterrupted evening free each week".

