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ON NOVEMBER 30, 2007 the Nagoya District Court in Japan accepted Hiroko Uchino’s claim that her husband, Kenichi, a third-generation Toyota employee, was a victim of karoshi when he died in 2002 at the age of 30. He collapsed at 4am at work, having put in more than 80 hours of overtime each month for the previous six months. The week of his death, Mr Uchino told his wife, ‘The moment when I am happiest is when I can sleep’. He left two children, aged one and three.
The word ‘karoshi’ in Japanese literally means ‘death from overwork’. While we in the West may not have a word for it, that doesn’t mean we don’t do it.
We’re all busier than ever before. We are busy in a way that our parents or grandparents never were. Work now intrudes into our personal lives in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago.
If that wasn’t bad enough, most of this increased workload is not by choice. Far from it. These days most of this workload comes with an implied threat that if we don’t do it, then bad things – redundancy, outsourcing, downsizing, offshoring – will happen. Work seems to be consuming our lives, so much so that we are losing sight of what life is really about, of the things that really matter to us, whatever those might be – family, children, loved ones, hobbies, ambitions, hopes, dreams.
In this situation where we have far more to do than we’ll ever have time to do it – even if we had several lifetimes – what are we to do?
The first place most people turn is to time management - courses/books/‘systems’. Try this. Do a search on Amazon using the term ‘time management’. The day I did it I was gobsmacked to get 132,626 results returned.
Yet I’ve lost count of the number of people I’ve met whom, when I’ve asked them about that time management course they did or book they bought, have said, ‘I did it for a while but then I fell back into my old ways’.
‘Fell back into my old ways’? I don’t think so. All that happened was that after the time management course they still had far more to do than they’d ever have time to do it.
So when time management fails there appears to be only one option remaining. People work all the hours god sends – the assumption being (presumably) that if they do enough of that they will clear the pile of stuff – in work and/or in their personal lives – that they feel has to be cleared.
Now this is just plain mad.
The notion that you will get everything done, ie clear the pile of stuff, is nuts.
It’s time to wise up. It’s time to realise that you will never clear that pile of stuff. It’s time to throw overboard, now and for all time, that notion. Instead, get used to the idea that some things will never get done. Not delayed. Not rescheduled. Not re–prioritised. But simply dropped. Ditched. Jettisoned. Never done.
Instead of trying to do everything, just figure out what the important things are and do those. Instead of feeling guilty when you leave work because loads of things haven’t been done, just accept it – loads of things were never going to be done. Instead of asking ‘How can I cram this in to an already overcrowded life’ you should be asking ‘Why should I invest my precious time in this?’
And how to do you do this?
The brilliant thing is that you already have the power. That power is to do less. By not trying to do everything but rather focusing on the things that really matter – whether in work or in life – you can become a productivity machine. Think about this for a moment. Really think about it. Think about the wonderful paradox whereby you’re doing less but you’re getting more done. Living much more the life you wanted to live.
And you’re not a hyperactive productivity machine. It’s still okay – and you have the time – to switch the productivity machine off, to do nothing. To reflect, to sit and just be, to enjoy the moment, to be creative, to see opportunities that you would certainly have missed when you were running around like a blue-arsed fly.
And the wonderful – the really, extraordinary, remarkable, quite unbelievable, beautiful thing – is that you didn’t have to do new or more or extra things.
In fact, you had to do the exact opposite.
As soon as you stop doing, the power of doing less starts to flow.
Fergus O’Connell is a novelist and writer. His latest book, The Power of Doing Less, is out this week (read a free chapter here) or hear him speak on The Power of Doing Less by clicking here.
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I can see it now employer- why isn’t that report filed? Joe- the journal said by doing less I’m getting more done. Employer- well go get a job at the journal then,and here’s a p45.
I work in retail and I find making a list of the ‘Nice to Dos’ and the ‘Need to Dos’ helps speed up my day.
Focusing on the need to do jobs and not losing time on the nice to do ones means I don’t end up taking work/reports home.
Good article Fergus. A cool head, a steady pace, prioritised items to be done, leave the non essential stuff aside and above all get it into your brain that the world will not stop if you’re not around.
The concept of “time management” is a bit of a misnomer. Time has been managing itself for 15 billion years and does not need any help from us. Instead we must correctly identify what we are trying to achieve as “self management through time”.
This is a quote is Dave Russel’s in case anyone accuses me of plagiarism.
It’s all about focus. Time is limited, so the ability to spend it wisely and to get as much value out of this limited resource has become a key skill today.
To learn to live knowing that some things will be left undone works. But only if the things that you do are performed at the highest standard.
PS…you public sector workers, we are talking about a different approach to leave things undone here, in case you are smiling…
Which ones? Police, nurses, special needs, ?
Harsh enough article in a country where half a million people have no work
Increased mechanisation & computerisation in addition to women (rightfully having the option) coming into the workforce on mass should have reduced average working hours. Instead we have 2 people going out to work plus overtime, longer commuting, still having to do the shopping, look after kids & do everything else that needs to be done in life not counting looking after your health (excersise, cooking fresh & relaxing etc)
Most that was gained for many, by 2 working outside the home was often another holiday (now a need as opposed to luxury) & a nicer pair of shoes but mostly a bigger mortgage but not necessarily a better house as every other couple could also borrow based on 2 wages
France tried to fix their high unemployment problem years ago by increasing mandatory min holidays in the hope it would lead to greater num of employees required so lower unemployment. Doing it in isolation in a competitive global market & based on hols as opposed to shorter weeks didn’t work & couldn’t work but the idea is still sound
We are all selling time and the less you have the more valuable that remaining should become. There is however an oversupply of man hours in the market and higher unemployment leads to more pressure to work harder to keep your job, which leads to less demand for employees. We need to reduce individual supply to meet demand & so reduce unemployment & improve the economic situation for all
The sooner global society starts thinking collectively on this the better
Don’t do something, just sit there!
It would help if employers in this country had any concept of things like lunch breaks or having a day off. Lets be honest. Most min wage jobs in Ireland do not abide by employment rights law . I don’t even get bathroom breaks in my job.
The key is, if something needs doing that relates to a client or customer, it and its paperwork must have priority. The filing and reports can wait. Customers in shops have priority over gossip and tidying. On-going cases must be dealt with promptly—are you listening civil servants? There’s a good feeling in resolving client worries, queries and hassles within minutes or days.
I’m on the dole and I sit around doing nothing all day. I never knew I was achieving so much.
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