How Much Is Enough?

Have you every burned the midnight oil?  Spent long hours at work (more than 10 hours a day)? Went into the office on Saturdays (possibly a Sunday or two)? Even worked after you got home and got a bite to eat?

We all have done extra work from time to time. This is just how life is sometimes.   Certain projects have to be done by a deadline.  You are getting ready to go on a long vacation and you want to finish everything before you leave, etc.

The key point here is not about working too many hours when it is needed, but working too many hours ALL THE TIME.

We have a capacity for productivity. Studies show that working past 40 to 50 hours a week lowers the productivity.

Read this again:  We have a capacity for productivity. Studies show that working past 40 to 50 hours a week lowers the productivity.

I’m here to encourage you that even though it may seem like you HAVE to work this much, you really don’t.  I used to be the person that worked more than 50 hours a week.  But once I realized it is not about the QUANTITY of hours put in but the QUALITY of hours, life became much more enjoyable.

Jesus gave us a path through Solomon (the book of Ecclesiastes) about what happens in this world when we spend too much time on work:

 ^“For what does a man get with all his work and all his efforts that he labors at under the sun?  For all his days are filled with grief, and his occupation is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.” Ecc 2:22-23 (HCSB)

My point today is not to convict you because you may feel you are spending too much time working, but to encourage you to re-adjust your work schedule so that your “mind DOES rest.”   Don’t get bogged down in past habits or routines.  Take today and move forward – There are many things that are in this world God has provided for us that we can enjoy, if we just would realize that they all aren’t found in our vocation.