All work and no play....

How many hours of work should be enough? When I talk about work, what I mean is working to a level of satisfaction as expected from an employee and an employer’s perspective.

Think about it, we all have different schedules and depending on the size of our ego, work ethics, end user etc we either take work as a full time profession or something as a necessity i.e. it needs to be done or is expected to be done…

A recent report rated Bangalore as amongst the unhealthy and stress ridden cities. Does it have something to do with our silicon valley of India tag? Or is it cause of the fact that most of the techies here except me of course average 50-60 hours a week?

I even know of one Indian multinational where if you don’t average 9.5+ hours every week, the HR sends you an email demanding an explanation. Sound’s ridiculous but it’s a fact and is corroborated by my friend who works for this firm.

I know people who are so fanatic about being seen in office (an image building excercise i believe) that unless they sit in office for at least 10-12 hours a day they are not satisfied. Probably the only person who would not mind those kind of work hours would be 28 year old Mario Lavandeira of PerezHilton.com (the most popular blog in the world), he averages 19-hour workdays that start at 5:15 a.m.

I mean c’mon think about it. If you spend 10 hours working, 2-4 hrs traveling that leaves you with just about 10 hours for sleeping, brushing teeth, eating and spending time with the family or your hobbies and passion. To be honest you have “no life, are always working, and possibly can never take a vacation." Put it simply you don’t even remember the last time you did something better…something that changed the mundane course of your life.

Ohh btw I did a rafting trip within 2 weeks of a partial recovery from an accident. The only reminder of the accident on the trip was a stinging left side of my body and a bit slurred speech. I guess I did fine since I am planning to take a rafting guide course and yeah the adrenalin flow compensated pretty much for all the hardship I had to endure prior to taking the course and at the end of it. :)

So here is what I would like to know from my readers

1. How would you describe a typical day in your professional life?

2. How exactly do you benefit or provide succor by averaging 10+ hours each day in your work life.

3. Last but not the least which school of thought do you fit in to? Work harder or work smarter? Personal success mantra’s anyone?

As I write this I look over my cubicle to find the only person still in office as the clock near's midnight and his reason “What will I do by going home? I am not feeling sleepy that’s why I am here in office..”

I lugged at my already receding hairline as I heard his answer …