I’ve never quite understood the concept of working long hours.  It’s not to say that I don’t work long hours.   When a project is due or when there’s a hard deadline, I will put in hours leading up to that final D-Day - but I don’t work extra hours every day.  This concept is actually quite foreign to me.  Ever since joining Hong Kong companies and working in a different culture and environment, I’ve noticed that leaving on-time (in most company cultures) is almost a silent faux-pas.  For the duration of my 5 years employment in Hong Kong, I have very firmly stood my ground on my work-life balance needs and have managed my time well.   

 It’s not to say that there aren’t companies out there that have this crazy agenda and milk their workers for every drop of effort, sweat and blood (I could easily point fingers to some), but I have never seemed to fall into any of these slave labour shops.  Lucky me.  It takes effort on my part to create work-life balance.  For starters, I am highly efficient when I work (my preference of working smart vs working hard).   I focus on tasks that need to be done and just do it.  No surfing, no chatting, minimal bathroom breaks.  Clean, clear and driven.  Secondly, I know when to push back when my resources are running tight.  Some things just aren’t as critical as people think.  Everyone thinks their own requests are critical, but truthfully…rethink eh buddy?  Of course, there are things that truly are important and critical (like a presentation for my boss that needs to be delivered by end of the week) - in which I will put in the extra effort and hours to pull through. 

The strangest thing about my experience in working in Hong Kong is when I do leave on-time, people who see me leaving ask: “Leaving so early?”  I’m smirking at this time and responding “No, I always leave at this time.”  It’s true, out of all the organizations I have worked for, I am usually the first one to leave the office.  Flip this around, I’m one of the first to arrive and I don’t see anyone asking me:  “Arriving so early?”  Well, I’ll be damned at the double-standard.  Is it a culture gap for people to stay as late as humanly possible?  Is it an unspoken rule that you have to stay as late as your boss?  Or is it a facade you need to put on to show that you’re such a hard-worker?  To be quite frank.  I am results-oriented.  If the output is there in high standards, you’ve done your job.   It’s not how many hours you put in, it’s not how late you’ve worked.  And I’d like to think that my quotation of work is fair and just (with some buffer). 

For those who are struggling with getting work-life balance in our crazed hourly input perception of a society, check out this article entitled “The 4 hour work day“.  It actually maps out how you could literally put in 4 hours of solid work in today’s world of 8 hour windows.  It’s an eye-opening article and you can learn a thing or two.  Plus, I think my value to the organization garners respect for my dedication and consistency in prioritizing my life.  Truly, no one has challenged me yet to the “normal” hours I work - why not?   Because my output speaks for itself.  Besides, who would I appoint to put my children to sleep?  No one else can fill this role but me.  Ask them yourself!!!  Ha ha ha…