Mr. Narayana Murthy, Chairman of Infosys Technologies Limited, is known not just for building the biggest IT empire in India but also for his simplicity. He founded Infosys in 1981 along with six other software professionals. He is incidentally, one of the top 50 Influential people of Asia according to an Asiaweek publication and also the new IT Advisor to the Thailand Prime Minister.

Below is an excerpt from an interesting speech he delivered during an employee session with another IT company in India.

I know people who work 12 hours a day, six days a week, or more. Some people do so because of a work emergency where the long hours are only temporary. Other people I know have put in these hours for years. I don’t know if they are working all these hours, but I do know they are in the office this long. Others put in long office hours because they are addicted to the workplace.

Whatever the reason for putting in overtime, working long hours over the long term is harmful to the person and to the organization. There are things managers can do to change this for everyone’s benefit. Being in the office long hours, over long periods of time, makes way for potential errors. My colleagues who are in the office long hours frequently make mistakes caused by fatigue.

Correcting these mistakes requires their time as well as the time and energy of others. I have seen people work Tuesday through Friday to correct mistakes made after 5 PM on Monday. Another problem is that people who are in the office long hours are not pleasant company. They often complain about other people (who aren’t working as hard); they are irritable, or cranky, or even angry. Other people avoid them. Such behavior poses problems, where work goes much better when people work together instead of avoiding one another.

As Managers, there are things we can do to help people leave the office. First and foremost is to set the example and go home ourselves. I work with a manager who chides people for working long hours. His words quickly lose their meaning when he sends these chiding group e-mails with a time-stamp of 2 AM, Sunday.

Second is to encourage people to put some balance in their lives. For instance, here is a guideline I find helpful:
1.     Wake up, eat a good breakfast, and go to work
2.     Work hard and smart for eight or nine hours
3.     Go home
4.     Read the books/comics, watch a funny movie, dig in the dirt, play with your kids, etc.
5.     Eat well and sleep well

This is called recreating. Doing steps 1, 3, 4 and 5 enable step 2. Working regular hours and recreating daily are simple concepts. They are hard for some of us because that requires personal change. They are possible since we all have the power to choose to do them.

In considering the issue of overtime, I am reminded of my oldest son. When he was a toddler, if people were visiting the apartment, he would not fall asleep no matter how long the visit was, and no matter what time of day it was. He would fight off sleep until the visitors left. It was as if he was afraid that he would miss something. Once our visitors’ left, he would go to sleep. By this time, however, he was over tired and would scream through half the night with nightmares. He, my wife, and I, all paid the price for his fear of missing out.

Perhaps some people put in such long hours because they don’t want to miss anything when they leave the office. The trouble with this is that events will never stop happening. That is life! Things happen 24 hours a day. Allowing for little rest is not ultimately practical. So, take a nap. Things will happen while you’re asleep, but you will have the energy to catch up when you wake.

Hence, Love your job, but never fall in love with your company because you never know when the company stops loving you.

Following is excerpt from another mail by NRN which had been widely circulated.

It’s half past 8 in the office but the lights are still on… PCs still running, coffee machines still buzzing… and who’s at work? Most of them???
Take a closer look… All or most specimens are??-something male species of the human race…Look closer… again all or most of them are bachelors…
and why are they sitting late? Working hard? No way!!!
Any guesses???
Let’s ask one of them…
Here’s what he says… “What’s there 2 do after going home… here we get to
surf, AC, phone, food, coffee… that is why I am working late…importantly
no bossssssss!! !!!!!!!!!
This is the scene in most research centers and software companies and other off-shore offices. Bachelors “time-passing” during late hours in the office
just bcoz they say they’ve nothing else to do… Now what r the  consequences. .. read on…

“Working”(for the record only) late hours soon becomes part of the institute
or company culture. With bosses more than eager to provide support to those
“working” late in the form of taxi vouchers, food vouchers and of course
good feedback,(oh, he’s a hard worker… goes home only to change..!!). They aren’t helping things too… To hell with bosses who don’t understand the
difference between “sitting” late and “working” late!!! Very soon, the boss starts expecting all employees to put in extra working hours.

So, my dear Bachelors let me tell you, life changes when u get married and
start having a family… office is no longer a priority, family is… and
that’s when the problem starts… becoz u start having commitments at home
too. For your boss, the earlier “hardworking” guy suddenly seems to become
an “early leaver” even if u leaves an hour after regular time. .. after doing the same amount of work.
People leaving on time after doing their tasks for the day are labeled as work-shirkers. ..
Girls who thankfully always (its changing nowadays… though) leave on time are labeled as “not up to it”. All the while, the bachelors pat their own  
backs and carry on “working” not realizing that they r spoiling the work
culture at their own place and never realize that they would have to regret
at one point of time.

So what’s the moral of the story??
Very clear, LEAVE ON TIME!!!
People who regularly sit late in the office don’t know how to manage their time.

Never put in extra time “unless really needed”
Don’t stay back un-necessarily and spoil your company work culture which will in turn cause inconvenience to you and your colleagues.
There are hundred other things to do in the evening…
Learn music…
Learn a foreign language…
Try a sport… TT, cricket….. ….
Importantly Get a girl friend or gal friend, take him/her around town…
Take a tip from the Smirnoff ad: “Life’s calling, where are you??”

We might have seen this video before but it is inspiring and worth seeing again.

Monday, 9 August, 2010, 3:55 AM

Thank sooo very much to all of you who came yesterday and joined us at the baby shower Marina.
It was like another batch 75 reunion at the Inlong's.  Thanks, Romy for providing a ride to Q & Joseph.

Thank you for the delicious food, the gifts and the patience due to long unbearable driving you have endured.

And those who were not able to come, please save it for next time.  Jun and Marina loved the gifts
that were sent to them.

We had such a wonderful time with the games, too.  A toast to all the winners, the emotionals and the losers.

Formal invitations will follow by mail after her birth, but we'd like you to save the date for our daughter's baptism (date and time are set).Saturday, October 9, 2010 at 11AMSt. John Eudes Church
9901 Mason Ave.Chatsworth, CA 91311 

Another classmate has updated us. He is Gil Mendoza Panganiban. We are happy to welcome him. He says: