Best-Selling Author Reveals Why He's More Successful Now That He Refuses To Work After 4 PM Or On The Weekends
Success is not measured by how many hours you spend hunched over a computer working.
Prostock-studio | Shutterstock A best-selling author revealed the secret to his success — and it’s one that workaholics or any bosses who don't believe in work-life balance might not want to hear.
New York Times best-selling author and expert in Blue Zones and longevity, Dan Buettner, learned an important lesson on his road to success. Succinctly, it is not measured by the number of hours you spend working during the day. True success comes from maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
Best-selling author Dan Buettner revealed why he is more successful now that he refuses to work past 4 PM and on the weekends.
Buettner is a best-selling author and storyteller who co-produced the three-time Emmy Award-winning documentary TV miniseries “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones,” based on his book by the same name. He is primarily focused on health and lifestyle solutions to help people live to 100 years old. As he learned through his research, an integral part of living a long and healthy life is knowing when to step away from work, which is something Buettner prioritizes.
Due to his work-life balance, Buettner said that he is more successful than ever. “It's very hard to get me to work after 4 p.m.,” he admitted in a recent podcast interview. “I never work on weekends…Actually, I'm way more successful than I was when I was working my tail off.”
People who live long, healthy, and balanced lives understand the concept that you should work to live, not live to work.
Buettner pointed out that when you take a look at the people who are depicted in his “Blue Zones” work, you’ll notice that many of them did not spend the majority of their 100 years working behind a screen.“They're not hell bent on getting ahead. They're not pursuing this fairy tale of financial freedom. They're not running down the status tread wheel. They wake up in the morning knowing their purpose,” Buettner said.
Essentially, to live well, you have to live a balanced life. That means nurturing relationships, finding joy in every day, and knowing when it's quitting time.
“They get breakfast together, they put in a few hours, they come home to eat lunch with their family, they take a nap, they work a little longer, and then at the end of the day, they're having a glass of wine or two with their buddies down at the cafe.” He went on to say, “I mean, all these things that humans have enjoyed throughout our existence that we've kind of paved over with this sort of artificial pursuit of happiness or pursuit of success, is largely wrong minded.” Or in simpler terms, if we want to make it 100, we should start enjoying aspects of life that don’t involve work.
Modern-day corporate America often pushes the false narrative that if we want to be successful, we have to be willing to spend most of our time working.
Not only is this idea harmful to the overall health needed for a long life, but it is also impossible. A recent survey found that the average employee is only productive for about two hours and 53 minutes of an eight-hour work day. After a certain point, our minds drift, and it can be difficult for us to dedicate our entire focus solely to work tasks.
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This doesn’t mean that we’re lazy or unsuccessful workers. It means that we are human, and we cannot function properly unless we allow ourselves a break every once in a while. In fact, the most productive are those who work fewer hours and set aside time for themselves.
“Overall, the results of the trials show that the reductions in working hours maintained or increased productivity and service provision [and] improved workers’ well-being and work-life balance,” a study published at Walden University noted.
True success requires sustainable, consistent effort over time, where you are still able to set aside time for your brain to recuperate. Chronically working well past your scheduled hours will only cause you to crash and burn, and that undoubtedly does not equal success.
Megan Quinn is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in English and a minor in Creative Writing. She covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on justice in the workplace, personal relationships, parenting debates, and the human experience.
