Never underestimate the power of a good work-life balance...
Did you really think you get more work done when you're working 16 hours a day? Don't forget: it's quality over quantity!
Working over 12h a day doesn't allow you to fit in your family, friends and hobbies. This will cause stress, leading to burnout or even depression.
Not taking regular breaks wil cause exhaustion resulting in less focus, so more mistakes, which means... less quality.
If you work 8h a day with regular breaks, you'll be more focussed on your work. More focus means better quality, so you would need less time to meet the quality expectations.
Find the working schedule that fits best in your life.
Example:
💪 2 hours work focus
😴 15 minutes break
💪 2 hours work focus
🍽 30 minutes lunch break
💪 2 hours work focus
😴 15 minutes break
💪 2 hours work focus
😎 Q-time
That would take you like 9 hours a day for work, breaks included. Taking into account that you'd need like 8 hours sleep and 1 hour in the morning for breakfast and getting ready for work, that leaves you 6 hours for family, friends, hobbies, sports, ...
If you need to go to the office, let's say you need half an hour in de morning and half an hour in the evening on the road. Still leaves you 5 hours of quality time!
In my case, as a freelance translator with a home office, my schedule would be something like:
- Get up at 7 am and have breakfast with my family.
- Start working around 8 am.
- Take a short break around 10 am.
- Have lunch around 12.15 pm.
- Have another short break around 2.45 pm.
- Finish work around 5 pm.
Wow! I can have dinner with my family and then there is time for yoga, crosstrainer, going for a walk, read a book, stream a good movie or binge some good series, visit friends and family, ... before I go to bed between 10 and 11 pm to enjoy a good night's rest 😊
Doesn't that sound wonderful? Music to your ears, right? So let's go for it! Find the schedule that fits your life and job and stick to it. It'll boost your happiness, your productivity and your customer satisfaction!