Should we work for long working hours????

"Work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls – family, health, friends, integrity – are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered.” – Gary W. Keller

For the past few days/months discussion is on how much we should work? Mr.N.R. Narayana Murthy is the legendary cofounder and retired chairman of Indian tech giant Infosys wants youngsters to work for 70 hours per week.L&T chairman SN Subrahmanyan asks employees to work 90 hours a week . He further asks what would you do sitting at home. Elon Musk says significant changes and world-altering innovations are not made by working just 40 hours a week.

I am just shoked that these billionaires are measuring success only by the amount of money one earns. All the innovations and inventions which have evolved amongst us is to make our life comfortable. Humans have always earned to search for comfort. We are all working to earn for our basic necessities to luxury comforts.

Interpersonal relationships are the foundation of social groups and societies, and are essential for human development and survival.It is these interpersonal relationships which is the basis of our civilization.Now all these billionaires wants us to run behind money and career growth which were just side effects of civilization. Long working hours are increasingly cited as a significant contributor to rising divorce rates, as the demanding work culture often leads to neglect of family life, causing strain and resentment within relationships, ultimately pushing couples towards separation.

According to the report, by WHO and ILO, "WHO/ILO Joint Estimates of the Work-related Burden of Disease and Injury (WHO/ILO Joint Estimates)"published in the journal Environment International, worldwide more than 745 000 people died in 2016 from heart disease and stroke related to working more than 55 hours per week. These figures make long working hours one of the biggest occupational health hazards.Aa per the study overworking increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases and stroke, as well as affect mental health. 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. In the 19th century, when organized labor first compelled factory owners to limit workdays to 10 (and then eight) hours, management was surprised to discover that output actually increased – and that expensive mistakes and accidents decreased. This is an experiment that Harvard Business School’s Leslie Perlow and Jessica Porter repeated over a century later with knowledge workers. It still held true. Predictable, required time off (like nights and weekends) actually made teams of consultants more productive.If overworking long hours may be accompanied with losing interpersonal relationships, family, health and also career and productivity, why put in long hours. It's better to maintain work life balance and build a healthy society than a society with only wealth and nothing else. Also at the end of the day it's our choice whether we need to put in long hours or not. We are not anyone's slaves to work by force. These CEO's must understand they may not require work life balance but others need. They may get bored seeing the family 's face continuously on a Sunday but some one may get recharged for running throughout the next week. Please don't make us corporate slaves. Let us enjoy a work life balance and don't interfere in ours for you to build empires.

Evn the largest of the empires may fall one day how much ever effort you invest or how long you work. But you need a family or someone to come back in the last days. Don't lose them Money can't be everything and everything can't be bought with money.

"Money cannot buy peace of mind. It cannot heal ruptured relationships, or build meaning into a life that has none." ~ Richard DeVos