Regarding how many hours I feel can work per day and still function properly, my answer is 9 to 11 hours per day. Here is a breakdown of my overall schedule of how my day breaks down. My working hours are broken down between my full-time "day job" and work I do on some entrepreneurial side projects that I do.
9 hours at the office if I work through lunch
1 hour per day commute
7 hours sleep
2 hours in the AM with my kids
3 hours in the PM with my kids/family/friends
2 hours catch up work from home - 3 nights per week -- the other 2 nights I do additional personal items with family or friends.
Alice Edwards, Operations Manager
I'm a 20 year old tech entrepreneur, digital marketing consultant, author, blogger, and college student. I work about 3 hours each morning from home, 8 hours each day in my office, and another 4 hours when I come back home. I'm typically working around 15-16 hours a day (anything more than that and I would be completely burned out - that's my limit).
Here's some more information about my business background:
·Created my first startup company at the age of 17, JB Media Force. Sold it earlier this year.
·Wrote my first book about teaching others the importance of SEO at the age of 17. Published as an eBook.
·Created my second startup company and launched it, StatFuse (February 2012). This company gained over 12,000 users in a few short weeks and instantly became viral.
·Since then, I have created another startup company Vintelli, which offers online marketing solutions for less than a cup of coffee a day.
·I have also launched numerous mobile applications that are doing well.
·Recently, published what is hailed to be my greatest book available for purchase as a hardcover and eBook. The Pursuit of Passion - Entrepreneurs Guide To Turn Hobbies Into Successful Businesses.
·I currently speak at conferences around the nation sharing my story and also blog at www.JeetBanerjee.com/blog
Jeet Banerjee
I am a ghost writer and copy editor. I truly believe it varies for everyone. I am a morning person therefore my best hours to work are 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. I then need to take a break to let my subconscious do more work as I consciously take a reprieve. During this reprieve I chat with clients, read online or go to my break room and read a hard copy of a magazine. This small break allows me to get on track until about 3:00 p.m. I work through lunch then wrap up the "nuances" by 4: 15 p.m. The rest of the day is devoted to me and my family. However, I am always thinking - in the shower, making dinner, surfing online about how to work better for my clients. For those who are willing to succeed I don't believe you truly ever stop working - whether it is consciously or subconsciously... your brain simply won't let you.
Sara Anastasia
I think this largely depends on whether or not the person enjoys what they are doing for work. My husband and I are both self-employed in businesses we love, and so we usually work from the time we get up until shortly before we go to bed. He gets up around 4:30 or 5 AM and works until about 8 PM, we play a little music together or watch part of a movie and go to sleep. I get up between 7:30 and 8 am and work also until nearly 8:00. I don't think someone who works for someone else would necessarily be able to do this easily.
Patty Crowe
Publisher
Richer Resources Publications
It's not how many hours I work that impacts my effectiveness; it's the environment and whether I love what I'm doing. I'm a former trial attorney, now an author. I love my work as a writer and promoter, and I can work 14 hour days, and still have time and energy for other things. When I was a trial attorney, I could do 8 hours a day or more, but I was usually exhausted, because I dealt with angry and injured people all day long. I loved practicing law at times, but the cost was too high to my physical and emotional health.
MaryAnn Fry
Author of Going Naked Being Seen: The Power of Being Real
I'm 23 so I "must have tons of energy" ...yeah no I don't. What a misconception that age has to do with amount of hours a day you can work. I call BULL. My boss is reaching 60, he founded LCO 30 years ago and has to be shoved out of the office every day. His energy is constant and never wavers. Me? I'm 23 and sleeping is my hobby. My bed time during the week rarely passes 12am and when it does my eyes turn the shade of red that resembles a burning maniacal rage that my body wishes to share with the world. Now, I do wake up at 5:30am to make sure I get in my morning "run". I say "run" because I'll be honest I can't run to save my life but that's neither here nor there. I work, have friends, live with my family, and still need to look for a boyfriend? I'd love to meet the person responsible for believing that a life like that is realistic and can be attained. I have a few choice words for them.
Anyway, energy? My days require me to sleep a maximum of 5-6 hours a night. I work about 12 hours a day, productively. I spend time with friends and family collectively 2-3 hours a day and the time that's left over I work to shed the weight I will inevitably gain all over again because my office houses girl whose metabolism is comparable to a 10 year old boys.
Candice Hakimian
New Business Manager
LCO Public Relations Office
I am an actress. How many hours can I work in a day? Let's just say that I need 8 hours of sleep every night! It depends on how strenuous the work is as well. I'll work on a movie set all day long, as long as I get my 8 hours! I love taking naps too! Very helpful! Whatever sleep we miss, we have to make it up. Some people say they are fine on 4-6 hours, but I think the 8 hour rule applies to everyone, especially me!
Kelly Barrett
I chose a job that doesn't feel like work -- so I can manage for 10+ hours a day. At my startup, ergonomics makes a huge difference. We have standing desks that can also lower for use with balance-chairs; everyone in the office gets a bike for our commute; and our in-house chef prepares healthy meals every day. When work feels friendly and flexible, we all choose to do it more willingly!
Emily
Bloodhound
I am a small business owner of a hot yoga studio. I opened in February 2012 and logged in 4,416 hours from 2/4/12 to 12/31/12. The long hours seemed necessary as a start-up to build our student database, personally teach classes, clean studio, do laundry, bookkeeping, marketing etc.
Here it is August 2013 and my health has declined. Yoga is designed to calm our nerves (reduce stress/cortisol levels), improve sleep (balance serotonin), strengthen bones etc. As a studio owner/teacher working insane hours, I defied the whole premise of yoga and am now suffering consequences of imbalanced glands forced to work overtime. The cascading effect is more stress on organs and systemic body/mental health. My relationships have diminished to an almost irreparable disconnect, my body is tired, endocrine system exhausted. I started very healthy and am now literally whirling to recover body, mind, heart wellness.
6-8 hours a day for 5 days a week sounds like a dream job now. And that is my goal by the end of this year!
Anonymous from Tennessee, USA
The official length of time a person can function is 72 hours. Toss in an occasional power nap and that extends functionality for only a short extended period. After that 72 hours the person must rest with a minimum of 8 hours sleep. In a team environment, adding a sleep schedule of 4-6 hours during that 72 hour period of continuous activity increases productivity and accuracy before reaching a terminal point after the 3 day period, when an extended rest and relief period is necessary. This rest period can run from a minimum 8 hours with 2 hours of mental recreation. It is advisable when possible to extend that rest period to 24 hours if conditions permit.
Based on US military experiment several years prior to Desert Shield/Storm in the European theater.
Neven Gibbs
Writer, Entertainer
SSG CAV (Ret.)
Average work day? Until the set list is accomplished... 3 AM for the past few weeks. Up at 7 to 8 AM. My work is home based. I absolutely function well. It's about knowing your tomorrow before you start it and knowing what the gives are AND loving what you do. Some people just sleep less (and drink a lot of Diet Coke). If you don't produce, as an entrepreneur, you know that no one is there to take care of you.
Carrie Devorah
If I can get a full 8 hours of sleep then I can go between 8 to 12 hours of work with periodic breaks for eating, bathroom etc. but if I don't get proper rest then I won't be as productive, I will feel bad and my thinking will be foggy or have a hard time concentrating or focusing. Writing for a living requires good sleep, because looking at a lot of words will cause you to doze off. Reading puts me to sleep anyway.
Natasha Carmon
Author
Louisville, Ky.
I really think I'm not at my best if I work more than 6 hours a day. I think I'm dramatically more productive in total output when I work this amount or less. I focus better and I am often much more creative. I think this is because it leaves more time for other activities in my life, and they become a source of creativity--and I'm often mentally planning out how I want to use my work hours during that downtime. This has been true both in work/business settings, and in college and graduate school (I have two master's degrees).
I can function working more than this, but I see no reason to because my quality of work drops noticeably--it's unpleasant without a payoff.
I think that this may be one reason I've spent most of my adult working life being self-employed. I've been able to earn a high hourly rate, especially when I do work where I charge by the job rather than by the hour. On the other hand, when I've held salaried jobs that expect a 40+ hour work week, I've felt like the job was running me down and I wasn't helping the business or organization as much as I could have.
Long work weeks seem to me to be a self-defeating aspect of American culture. Being self-employed, I work shorter hours but get more done, and I'm able to do a lot of other things.
I wish more workplaces would question the assumption of long work hours. It may work for some people but I'm convinced that there are probably any others like me out there, who would actually be more productive if they were working only 30-hour workweeks or less.
Alex Zorach
Founder and Editor, RateTea.com
As a single mom, usually 16-18 hours, 6 days/week, because the work never ends, until you go to bed (and you can't stop, even when you're sick). With the exception of 'Slugging Saturdays.' Where all you do is act like a slug!
Carol Weis
How many hours you can work a day varies depending on the work you are doing and from person to person. I routinely work 10 hour days 6 days a week. I have been known to put in 12 to 14 hour days as well. I can do 10 pretty easy because...well there are still 14 hours left in the day. If I sleep 7 that leaves me with 7 free hours on a work day. The reason you should be able to do that much is that when you are done working you don't just sit your ass on a couch and veg out. You work hard, you play hard, and then you sleep hard. There are 168 hours in a week. If you only work 40 of them you are average and should expect nothing more than average results. It also helps if you do not hate what you do. I like working so putting in 60 hours is not hard at all. After about 60 my productivity starts to fall off and unless it is a must do then I try not to keep going.
Mark A. Lazarchic
Otterology.com
I have been known (and still do) work 12- 15 hours a day. It's not every day, yet sometimes it's for several days or weeks running. After 15 years into it I finally learned how to balance my job, home and family. Whew! I'm tired!
Tammy Ash Perkins
President
First Class Weddings, Inc.
Kula, HI
Most people can pull some long hours sporadically and still function effectively. For instance, an occasional deadline that requires a few late nights sometimes even enhances performance, thanks to the adrenaline of getting it done in time. But you can't do that indefinitely. The trick is to find what's sustainable for you. Many creative people actually thrive on a roller coaster of long days followed by shorter days for recovery time. Others require routine to stay in balance and so consistent workday lengths are preferable.
Whatever the case, it's important to be cognizant of what I call "digital detox:"
- Primarily, the onus should be on employers to understand why it is critical for employees to unplug while on vacation or otherwise away from work...and to communicate that the company actively encourages employees to avail themselves of that opportunity to digitally detox, if you will.
- When there are exceptions - that are position-specific, like for many IT pros, or due to a current project or crisis - the employer should, again, communicate who needs to be connected, how and when, and to make allowances for those duties to be handed off so the same folks are not "wired" 24/7/365.
- It's about setting expectations at the corporate level because, truth is, many employees will stay connected unless they are encouraged not to be. Help them know when it is time to unplug -- and why.
- We've found that the trouble comes when employees believe - rightly or wrongly - that they can never unplug. The fact is that they need to.
- When employees stay vigilantly aware and engaged 24/7 - especially in the age of constant digital connection, it keeps them in a state of high alert. And that keeps them from getting the necessary time to relax and recharge so they can return to work the next day or week energized and replenished. Anybody's mother could tell you that, but sometimes in business, we lose sight of that common sense.
- Employees can become a little bit addicted to the constant adrenaline and perpetual contact. If they can't break that connection themselves, help them do so - your business will benefit and so will they.
- For instance, the US Army and UC Irvine did a study on email use and found lower stress levels in people denied access to email for five days.
- Also, keep in mind that the need to reboot is different for different people: The 24/7 practice will be more harmful for introverts than extroverts, as introverts typically need quiet and time alone to refill the well. And, it may be a stereotype, but we have found that most IT pros are introverts.
- So, you'll want to foster digital time off for introverts not just when they are on vacation, but also periodic holidays, long weekends and even nights.
- Introverts also are typically the creative, innovative thinkers that companies prize so highly. Preventing them from having extended periods of rest will backfire on the company by making them less productive when they're at work. They should be encouraged to have recharging downtime.
- The issue of course stretches across many realms, from work-life balance to productivity to HR and even legalities. In other words, it is more than just a vacation issue.
Elizabeth Cogswell Baskin
President and Executive Creative Director
Tribe, Inc.
I currently work flexible hours but do on average 14 hours per day 5 days per week and work on weekends.
I love what I do so I am able to still be very functional. My children have left home so I do not have that to be concerned about. I travel a lot, my husband and I socialize a lot, I gym regularly and do a fair amount of fund raising. I try and do an adventure for charity every year.
Jenny Reid
Director
iFacts (Pty) Limited
If we're talking about work work then it is between 9 and 12 hours for me depending on tiredness, urgency of work)
If I do a different role I can work for longer.
I volunteer as an emergency service worker and often do a 12 hour shift immediately after a 9 hour work work day. On these days I will normally be awake for 24 hours.
On the average day it's 9 hours of work work though.
However if you're talking about work as doing useful things then I do much more. I'll usually read for 1-2 hours in the evening and do 1-2 hours of gym work, 30 minutes of cooking, 30 minutes of chores every night etc..
Max Holloway
SEO Executive
As the owner of a small business and a person who works full-time, scheduling and balance are very important. On an average day, I wake up at 6:00am and leave home by 8:00am. After work, I either go straight home, arriving by 6:00pm or I go to church or to support friends and family at their event. If I go straight home, I spend at least 3 hours per night working on events for my clients. Most weekends, I wake up at 8:00am to begin my day which will consist of doing work for my company, doing work for my church, running errands, or supporting friends/family. Of course, life isn't just about working, so I try to find "me time" to relax or to treat myself to something. I plan and schedule every minute of my day because I have so much going on. Keeping balance between work, play, and church involvement is important and I manage to do it flawlessly!
Tiffany Gillespie
Event Coordinator To The "T" Events
I am up working and functioning each work day approximately 18+ hours. I get up at 4:00 a.m. I am at work at 5:30. I usually leave work around 6:30, come home and work either on house chores or on the computer until 10:30 sometimes later.
Janan Hughes
Director, State & Federal Programs
Bellflower Unified School District
I'm the Co-Founder of Koyal Wholesale, the world's largest wedding and event supplies company (KoyalWholesale.com), with over 50,000 products shipping to 100+ countries worldwide. Koyal has experienced double digit growth year and year since 2009, focusing on our core customer segment of wedding and event planners, and DIY brides.
During the week, I feel like I can work around 10-12 hours in the office and then another 2-4 hours at home in order to be able to function normally day after day. On weekends, I am able to work between 6-8 hours. During our peak season summer wedding months of May through September, my schedule is extremely hectic and fits this time pattern but during our "off-season" months, I am able to have a more balanced schedule without having to work as much on weekends.
Shreyans Parekh
Koyal Wholesale
How many hours a day can you work and still function properly? The answer would vary considerably, depending on the job requirements and the person's situation. Is the job physically or mentally demanding? Does getting to and from the job site require a lengthy commute? Is the employee taking additional classes while working - which will require balancing of time so as to attend school and study?
One of the most difficult scenarios for an employee is when he/she is also a caregiver for an aging parent, friend, partner or spouse. When providing help and support to a senior, an individual can, essentially, work the equivalent of a secondary full-time job. There are appointments to get to and errands to run (not to mention, many sleepless nights worrying about a loved one). In this case, I would recommend limiting one's working hours to a maximum of 15 - 20 hours per week.
As a former co-caregiver for both of my own parents, I speak from experience. Trying to balance caregiving, working and post-secondary schooling simultaneously proved to be taxing. My answer was to work only part-time. This allowed me more scheduling flexibility and reduced my own stress level considerably.
For your interest, following my parent's deaths, I have written my first book, "Caregiver's Guide for Canadians" (published by Self-Counsel Press). This guidebook, for prospective, new and current caregivers, shares my caregiving story and discusses many of the key issues which caregivers can realistically expect to face. Sample chapters include "Caring from a Distance", "Finding and Moving Your Parent into Suitable Accommodations", "Looking After Yourself" and "Finding Joy in Caregiving".
While my listed resources are of specific interest to Canadian caregivers, the content of my book is general enough to appeal to caregivers living elsewhere. Since its publication, my book continues to attract strong public and media attention. To-date, I have been interviewed for newspaper articles, radio talk shows and television news segments.
Rick Lauber
Caregiver's Guide for Canadians
Roy Baumeister and other researchers learned that cognitive abilities are depleted during the day when we have to do a lot of thinking and deciding and focus is shifted to the emotional centers of the brain. This cognitive fatigue then impacts our ability to make wise choices. The result is that we give in to "temptations" or things that we would enjoy in the short term yet are bad for us in the long term.
Dave Popple
