Life Is Too Short To Work All The Time

We all know them:  the guy who gets at the office at 6am and doesn’t leave until 7pm.  He alienates his friends, family, and even his coworkers.  His friends resent him because he never has time to hang out anymore.  His family resents him because he’s always at work.  His coworkers resent him because by working all the time, he makes the rest of them look bad.  It’s a no-win situation.  His coworkers hate him, his family hates him, and he probably won’t even get a promotion for his efforts.

It’s A Sad, Lonely Life

Many will disagree with me here.  They will say working all the time, especially at the beginning of your career, is the key to earning the  big bucks in your 30s and 40s.  I say, who cares?  Working long hours is definitely not worth it to me.  I have things to do, people to see, and fun to have.  I’m well aware I may be paying a steep price in future earnings potential by leaving at 5pm every day, but you know what?  It would be a bargain at 5 times the price.  Money isn’t everything.

To me, a full-time job is 40 hours per week.  No more, no less.  Sure, I don’t mind staying late every once in a while if something goes wrong, especially if that something was my fault.  I think I do good work, and I am willing to fix my mistakes on my own time.  That’s part of the bargain you agree to when you call yourself a “professional” (whatever that means).

But does that mean I should work long hours just because the company wants me to?  Of course not.  If I work my tail off and the company makes a few extra bucks, I don’t see a dime.  Even worse, the long hours come to be expected.  If you work tons of overtime for 6 months and then scale back to a more sustainable work/life balance, you’ll be viewed as a shirker.  You won’t be remembered for all the extra work you did on the company’s behalf, but rather for the cut-backs you’ve had to make.  You’ll be seen as lazy.

Early Retirement Is About Work/Life Balance

When I use the term early retirement, I don’t mean it in the traditional sense.  I don’t envision myself spending my days fishing or sitting idle on a beach somewhere.  I intend to remain active in the business community.  Indeed, I fully intend to keep working.  The goal isn’t idle pleasure, but rather the ability to pick and choose how I want to spend my time.  I might work for myself, start a small business (doing something I love and not worrying about how profitable it might be), or take on contract work.

…or maybe I’ll get a regular 9-5 job.  You’d be amazed how fulfilling one of those can be when you can walk out the door at a moment’s notice.