Being hardworking, disciplined, and organized are fundamental concepts taught to us from childhood education. These are among the essentials for a successful, peaceful, and problem-free life. However, the overlooked point is that working hard is not always productive and suitable. A person may receive praise and satisfaction for working hard and may even be content with their life. However, this does not necessarily mean that it makes sense in terms of cost-benefit analysis of that work; sometimes, it can even be considered a waste of time, effort, and cost.
The feasibility of a task can be measured by comparing the effort intensity and duration spent on the job with the output to be obtained. In other words, if an employee is working until midnight every day and is not meeting the expected goals of that job, then we cannot say that this work is logical and efficient. It might even be creating opportunity costs that result in financial losses.
From this perspective, the principle of being hardworking and achieving success should be based on the effort invested, the time spent, the type of work, and the results to be achieved. Otherwise, invisible losses and costs emerge, turning into a thief constantly stealing from the quality of human life. This thief steals from family, friends, social satisfaction, and personal life, and it becomes insidious and invisible. However, this does not mean that the necessary effort and time allocation for achieving results should be neglected. The main goal here is to find a balance and succeed in obtaining a quantity on both sides of the scale.
The principle of eight hours of work, eight hours of social life, and eight hours of rest in a regular job has emerged as a necessity of human needs. Pushing the limits of this principle by ignoring the productivity principle, either upward or downward, increases the mentioned risks and can make the situation problematic from the perspectives described. Some companies even implement advanced practices, such as recommending employees over the age of 40 to work three days a week because they are more productive.
To avoid falling victim to the sneaky thief stealing from our quality of life, we must not forget to focus on whether the work is efficient from all aspects as much as we focus on the work itself, because life is passing, and turning back time is impossible.
Dr. Bilinç Dolmacı
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