In 1900, the Ford Motor Company commissioned a series of tests to determine how long a workweek should be to optimize productivity. Ford discovered the “sweet spot” was 40 hours per week. If you are a pastor, a 40-hour work week is likely a pipe dream. But the question remains, how do we migrate toward a smarter, more reasonable weekly work rhythm? In today’s episode we attempt to answer this most important question.

The Exception: Research by the Business Roundtable in the 1980s discovered a company could get short-term gains by going to 60- or 70-hour weeks very briefly — for example, pushing extra hard for a few weeks to meet a critical production deadline.

3 key warnings attached to this exception:

Warning 1: Increased hours yield diminishing returns

• Increasing a team’s hours by 50 percent (from 40 to 60 hours) does not result in 50 percent more productivity.

Warning 2: Working an extra 20 hours weekly is effective only in short bursts

• If you put in 50-60 hours everyweek, your production declines every successive week because of exhaustion.

Warning 3: Long-term productivity suffers

• Once the short burst of an extra-hours week is over… and your workers go back to 40… it can take several weeks for them to return to their normal output.

Migrating toward a smarter, more reasonable weekly work rhythm:

• Understand you do not need to be perfect in your quest.
  • Some weeks you will push past 50 hours just because unplanned interruptions happen, or you’re finishing a large project.

• Understand that tasks/projects almost always take longer than we plan for.
  • Give yourself margin. Space between tasks.

• Understand you own your rhythms
  • It is your responsibility to set schedule boundaries. To say an appropriate no.
  • Time is your most precious commodity.