How To Manage a 60-Hour Workweek

12-hour workdays are the worst, but they aren’t uncommon. According to Gallup, 52% of full-time employees work more than 40 hours a week, and 18% work at least 60. Odds are you’re either one of these employees working more than 40 hours a week or you’re sitting next to one.

Look, we like work just as much as the next guy. And while we don’t determine how many hours you’re spending at your desk, we have some thoughts on how you can make those hours count.

Here are the top tips to help you bring your A-game to the office during a 60-hour workweek.

Keep up with exercise

Everyone knows exercise is important for health (not to mention that it helps you look great too), but fitness is often the first thing to fall by the wayside when work gets hectic. While it may be tempting to skip the gym and squeeze in a few more hours at the office, you’ll be doing your health and your job performance more harm than good.

According to a study conducted by the International Journal of Workplace Health Management, folks who fit exercise into their day saw their moods improve, showed more resilience to stress, and developed better relationships with their peers. If you want to revel in the post-workout performance glow but can’t find an hour to spare, don’t worry. There are a few easy ways to fit exercise into your workday.

First, we recommend waking up 30 minutes early for a quick HIIT workout. HIIT (aka high-intensity interval training) is a great way to torch some serious calories fast. Since HIIT workouts are intense, they don’t require as much time as other traditional forms of exercise like lifting or running. 

But if you can’t stand the thought of doing burpees first thing in the morning, try squeezing in an office workout during your lunch break. There are tons of exercises you can do from behind your desk.

Understand your chronotype

Long workdays are inevitable. But more companies are offering flexible hours, making it easier to schedule your day based around when you’re most productive. To create a schedule optimized for you, you need to first understand your chronotype. Ready to learn what that means? We thought so.

Simply put, a chronotype is our body’s natural tendency to wake up and fall asleep at specific times. Knowing your chronotype can help you better understand your internal clock and make the most of your time.

There are four types of chronotypes; the bear, the wolf, the lion, and the dolphin. Think of bears as the steady Eddies of the office. They wake up and fall asleep with the sun and maintain a steady energy level throughout the day. Most folks fall into this category. 

Next up, we’ve got wolves. These are the guys who have a “don’t talk to me” face first thing in the morning. While wolves might struggle to get out of bed, their productivity peaks at sunset.

On the flip side, we have lions. These guys show up early to the office but usually are ready for bed by happy hour. While lions love early mornings, they need their beauty sleep to recharge.

Last up, we have dolphins. Dolphins are the insomniacs of the bunch. They struggle to follow any sleep schedule and have bursts of creativity mid-morning or early afternoon. 

Use your chronotype to optimize your workflow. You can schedule important tasks when you’re more awake and plan some R&R when you’re feeling drowsy.

Meal prep all day, every day

Like exercise, a healthy diet is key to looking good and maintaining mental focus. But, when you’re finishing work at 9 pm, a Big Mac sounds a lot more appealing than firing up the grill or god-forbid preheating the oven. While the occasional trip to the Golden Arches isn’t the end of the world, indulging in junk food daily can take a serious toll on your health and productivity.

A 2021 study found that employees who ate junk food at night were less helpful and more withdrawn the next day. So while those nightly trips to the drive-thru might seem like no big deal, your team is probably noticing your performance suffer.

Although you might not have time to cook yourself a fresh, healthy meal during the workweek, that doesn’t mean you’re doomed to fast food. Meal prepping on Sunday can help keep your nutrition on track for the rest of the week. 

To ensure you create balanced meals, cook a carb, a protein, and a vegetable. Then, portion your meals out into microwaveable containers. Pack lunches that are easy to heat up, and keep breakfast bars or yogurts on deck. This will make it easier to eat healthy throughout your workday instead of binging on a family-size bag of potato chips when you get home at night.

Working crazy hours means you have to be more strategic with your time. We know that busy weeks come up, so following the above tips can help ensure you feel better throughout the day and can make it through the week without sacrificing your lifestyle. 

And if you want to look as good as you feel, shop our new arrivals.

Wearing Mizzen+Main is a sure way to make a 60-hour workweek look easy.