The statement of veteran billionaire Narayana Murthy working 70 hours a week and now the chairman of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) working 90 hours a week has sparked a debate on social media. L&T Chairman SN Subramanian is also being trolled after his statement of working 90 hours a week. People believe that if they work 90 hours a week, then where will there be time left for home or other work? Many stalwarts have expressed their views in this discussion. Meanwhile, Deepak Shenoy, Founder and CEO of CapitalMind, has shared his views on productivity and work life balance.
Shenoy shared his experience of working as a businessman in a post on social media platform X. He said that he often works more than 100 hours a week, but the real work is often completed in 4-5 hours a day. His post indicates that it is not about the number of hours worked, but about the intensity and focus during those hours.
Shenoy also challenged the traditional notion of enforcing working hours. He said that motivated individuals will naturally work hard without the need for strict deadlines.
What did you write in your post?
Shenoy wrote in his post on X, ‘I have probably worked 100 hours a week throughout my career, but most of that work was as a businessman. You don’t need to enforce working hours, people who are motivated will work happily. In any case, most of the real work happens in 4-5 hours a day, but you don’t know when it happens.
He further said, ‘I still find it difficult to call meetings work, but it takes more energy than what I call work. To some extent this logic of work x hours is incomprehensible to me. When I play, I play hard. When I work, I work hard.
‘Why not change the name of Sunday to ‘Sun-Duty”
Some industry leaders supported the idea of working 80-90 hours per week, while others raised concerns about the concept of a 90-hour work week. RPG Group Chairman Harsh Goenka said in a post on the X platform that 90 hours a week? Why not rename Sunday as ‘Sun-Duty’ and make ‘holiday’ a mythical concept? I believe in working hard and smart, but turning life into one perpetual office shift? This is not a recipe for success, but for burnout.
Why did this debate arise?
During a meeting, when L&T Chairman Subramanian was asked about the mandatory work day, he said, “To be honest, I am sorry that I am not able to make you work on Sunday. If I could make you work on Sunday I would be more happy if I could, because I work on Sundays also.” He further said, what do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife? How long can a wife look at her husband? Go to office and start working.” After his statement, there is a debate on social media.
