As TimeCamp we are able to answer the question of how much we work. Measuring working time and, above all, the quality of the work is a major feature of our software. By learning about the culture of our customers’ work we make surprising conclusions. Although every entrepreneur wants their employees to work as efficiently as possible, this is not always correlated with working time.
A Technological Problem
On the other hand, we have a technological problem. The line between private life and work is becoming thinner and thinner. The mobile Internet and electronic devices enabling remote communication make us be at beck and call of the employer or customers who expect us to be available 24 hours a day. And we often agree to this.
We Have Only Ourselves To Blame For This
Why are we constantly checking mailboxes? Why do we look at the mobile phone every now and then? Because we expect information – “Have I received a new assignment?”, ”Has someone tried to communicate with me?” But the truth is we do not need to know all of this, not at every moment of our day. It is a habit typical of today’s Western society. No matter what your position is, both the director of a large company and an electrician can hear the phone ringing, signaling some calls on hold.
Excess work (at your own request) makes us neglect family relationships, friends, and acquaintances. We are also reducing our out-of-work activities and loneliness dominates:
- in the USA, more than 30% of people over the age of 50 claim to have no close friends;
- Brazil has special telephone lines for senior citizens who would like to talk to someone;
- therapists more often admit that the cause of their clients’ relationship break-ups is excess work;
- the sale of antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs is on the increase – work-related stress is one of the reasons for this increase;
- lack of time among people in high social positions is fashionable.
Can We Stop This Vicious Circle Of Excessive Work?
There are modern companies that take care of their employees. Basecamp, for example, gave up staff meetings in the building, considering them a waste of time. The company also reduced its working week to 4 days. Google’s branch in Dublin suggested to its employees that the devices needed for their work should always be left in the company and not taken home, while Volkswagen turns off its corporate mail servers after working hours.
Constantly working on our own software, we are aware of the necessity of high precision in measuring the effectiveness of work on the computer. We make it easier for HR departments to track their computer time, replacing Excel or entry/exit books. Like no one else we understand what it means to be an effective employee. Thanks to one of the application’s features – project accounting, we measure the quality of work, which does not have to be proportional to its amount.
To Sum Up
Let’s not forget about taking breaks and days off when we work too hard. It will not only help us save the energy but also a lot of time.