Destruction and manufacturing problems may occur both outside and, or, insideyour area of responsibility which force your team to work overtime. But overtimeis not a long term solutionto increased productivity or just to get things done.
When the planning failed, you have to work overtime to get the product ready for a milestone and production and management are willing to accept the costs. What do you do to stay healthy, happy, and efficient?
Do not solve your productivity goal by working more overtime, work smarter
Know your priorities. Make sure that you're reaching for specific goals instead of just adding more time to the stack. Find ways to work smarter so that you're doing exactly what needs to be done to achieve those goals. Don't need that afternoon meeting? Ditch it! Wasting time context switching with various tasks? Mark off blocks of time that are devoted to certain types of work. Some of these kinds of things are good to do anyway to improve your work processes, and some are temporary measures to let you stay super focused. You might find that getting hyper-focused is all you need to get the work done without any overtime at all.
A good networking team is far more successful than a team based upon one or two working heroes…
Stay flexible and know your limits. Don't just work exactly “9-5” because someone mandated it. Some days you'll be more tired and need to stop early. Other days you'll be on a roll and want to finish something up for another few hours. Remember to take your breaks to stay working efficiently and able to focus. If you need to stop, be honest with yourself and your team. Create change for combating monotonicity. It doesn't do anyone any good to make tired decisions that will be a burden to everyone later. And remember that it is not enough that your team is perfect, every team in the process must deliver to meet the end results. So use your “split vision” and co-operate along the line to eliminate tedious work.
Create a good team spirit. The team you have is the only team available to do the work.
Be creative and find ways to make things work best for you. Don't neglect the important things in life even if it feels like work is temporarily more urgent. If you only have one evening available, maybe make it a date night. If you're missing meals with the family, maybe they can join you for lunch, or maybe you can swing your hours early or late so you get breakfast or dinner with them. You might want to get out of the office on breaks for a change of scenery and a chance to decompress. Take some friends and go running to blow off steam...
Conclusion
Be patient. Let us be your partner for a while and let us “feed you” with inspiration that will lead to increased productivity without more stress, overtime and team dissatisfaction. Extended overtime is hard on you, your family and your team, and a good attitude goes a long way to making it easier for everyone.
