Myth #1. If I work longer hours, I’ll get more work done.
The longer you work, the more tasks you will finish — this sounds logical, right? How much of that late night work is valuable, though? Overworking yourself often leads to an increase in mistakes, lower quality results, and a decrease in innovation. If your brain is constantly checking off tasks, it never has the time to rest, reset, and recoup the energy to creatively brainstorm.
This mindset of “longer hours = more productivity” can also negatively affect your team. As a leader, you set the tone for your team. They look to you for how much time they should spend on an assignment and what mentality they should approach a task with. If you constantly rush to finish a task, appear stressed in the workplace, and respond negatively to others’ requests, your team will notice. They might even begin to adopt these behaviors. Once your team becomes overworked, issues will develop, resulting in low morale, poor quality work, and stunted creativity.
You've got to ask yourself: is the extra hour or two of work really worthy the fallout myself and others may experience?
Ready to bust more myths?
Keep an eye on our blog to see when we post about Myth #2: "Team meetings waste time that could be used for other priority items" and Myth #3: "It will take longer to train them than it will for me to do it myself."
