Overwork and the rise of slow productivity

Soon after Elon Musk took over Twitter last October, he warned employees that they must commit to an “extremely hardcore” working culture or quit. When asked by a Twitter user about the number of hours one needs to work each week to “change the world,” Musk replied, "that it could range from around 80 to over 100 hours a week".

Musk’s approach to work is “hustle culture” taken to its extreme — in which your sense of worth and self-esteem is defined by incessant toil and unbridled ambition.

Hustle culture is an environment where there's an unhealthy obsession with ambition, achievements and success, with little regard for rest, self-care, or any sense of work-life balance. This has been glamorised by celebrity CEOs who may not realise how harmful and counterproductive it can be to prioritise work over everything else in life.

Counterproductive culture

Research shows that regardless of the reasons for working long hours, overworking does not help and is counterproductive.

In a study of consultants by Erin Reid, a professor at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, managers could not tell the difference between employees who actually worked 80 hours a week and those who just pretended to.

Employees who were transparent about working less were penalised, but there was no evidence to show that they accomplished less or that overworking employees accomplished more.

A Stanford University study found that productivity per hour declines sharply when people work more than 50 hours a week. Those who work 70 hours a week only get the same amount of work done as those who put in 55 hours.

Research by Marianna Virtanen of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health found that overwork and the resulting stress can lead to health problems like heart disease, diabetes, depression, impaired sleep and impaired memory. These can lead to indirect costs for the firm in the form of absenteeism and increased healthcare and insurance costs.

Sifu Mohammed, a Tai Chi trainer who works with individuals and corporates, says, "Many who come to me are overworked corporate employees desperately looking for a way to de-stress and unwind. Most are in quite a highly strung-state. Years of overwork and unaddressed stress take a toll on their mental and physical health which negatively impacts their lives." Being overworked and exhausted can affect one's performance negatively when the job relies on soft skills, interpersonal communication, making critical decisions, reading other people’s faces/body language or managing your emotional reactions.

Even those who enjoy their jobs and work long hours voluntarily can make mistakes when tired. Working too hard can also make one lose sight of the bigger picture. As far as productivity is concerned the story of overwork is a story of diminishing returns - keep overworking, and you’ll progressively work more stupidly on increasingly meaningless tasks.

Death by overwork

The Japanese have coined a name for it—"Karoshi", which means 'death by overwork'. According to official Japanese government figures, there are around 200 workplace injury claims for "Karoshi" annually, but activists have put the toll at around 10,000.

A 2021 joint study by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), found that in the year 2016, 488 million people—or roughly 9% of the global population—were exposed to long working hours. The research also found that in 2016 alone, nearly 750,000 people died due to heart disease and strokes as a direct result of overwork—representing a 29% increase since 2000.

Maria Neira, director of WHO’s Department of Environment, Climate Change, and Health said in a press release: "Working 55 hours or more per week is a serious health hazard. It’s time that we all, governments, employers, and employees, wake up to the fact that long working hours can lead to premature death.”

A study by McKinsey in 2022 found that four out of every ten Indians working in Corporate India experience high levels of burnout, distress, anxiety, and depression. The report cites "toxic workplace" as the biggest reason behind these alarming statistics.

Slow productivity

The term 'slow productivity' was coined by Cal Newport, the best-selling author of Deep work and A world without email.

Newport says that reducing the work week to four days or cutting short the number of hours one works is not the solution. He says lesser working hours are only a partial solution to a bigger problem—that of work overload. By cutting down on the number of hours but retaining the same workload, employees will be subject to even more stress due to the pressure of condensed deadlines.

Slow productivity is about working a little slower on fewer things at one time so that you enjoy the process of work a bit more. That way, productivity can be redefined based on the quality of your work rather than the quantity.

Sometimes, life outside of work can be stressful as well, and you might want a job you can find respite and solace in. Slowing down is perhaps the most valuable habit that one could acquire—you'll go slower but will reach farther. As the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said, "Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished".