Q&A: What is the ‘infinite workday’ – and what can we do to prevent it?

Perhaps Dolly Parton should consider recording a remixed version of her 1980 hit, “9 to 5.” That once-accepted timeframe for work hours may be a thing of the past, according to a recent Microsoft report.

Data points collected from “trillions of globally aggregated and anonymized Microsoft 365 productivity signals” revealed enough eyebrow-raising behaviors in the workforce that the technology conglomerate is labeling it “the infinite workday.”

UVA engineering professor Leidy Klotz, the author of “Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less,” is a firm believer in the transformative power of subtraction. (Contributed photo)

It starts in the early morning – the report found 40% of people who are online at 6 a.m. are checking their emails. It goes until late at night – the report also found meetings after 8 p.m. are up 16% over last year. That makes an individual’s work patterns significantly different than when a certain country music star was singing about them, long before remote work was an established practice.

The report also notes an overflow of workplace communication, citing employees receiving an average of 153 Microsoft Teams messages per weekday.

“The Microsoft data really captures how we’ve added work into every corner of our lives,” said Leidy Klotz, a University of Virginia professor in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and behavioral science researcher.

Klotz is the author of “Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less,” which argues learning to strategically subtract can lead to simpler, smarter and more impactful solutions to everyday problems.

Klotz spoke with UVA Today about the Microsoft report in the context of his expertise.

Q. What are your biggest takeaways from the data?

A. We systematically opt for more over less. This Microsoft data shows we’ve added work communications – like 8 p.m. meetings – but when did we subtract anything? When did we ask what we should stop doing to make room for what matters?

We pile on to-dos, but don’t consider stop-doings. Look at those 153 daily Teams messages. Everyone’s adding to the stream, but no one’s asking what conversations we could eliminate or consolidate.

Q. What are some ways to eliminate the infinite workday trend within an organization?

A. Instead of adding more productivity tools or wellness apps, try subtracting. What if you eliminated meetings on Friday mornings? What if you subtracted the expectation of weekend email responses? Sometimes the most powerful changes come from what we take away, not what we add.

Q. What impact can an overflow of communication have on an employee?

 A. The average American encounters 100,000 words a day. Now imagine trying to do your best thinking while managing 50-plus after-hours emails and last-minute meeting requests. We sacrifice our ability to enlarge ideas to manage a deluge of messages.

There are real biological limits to how much information we can process. Herbert Simon (in 1971) observed that “a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” And that was in response to the Xerox machine!

Q. How can an individual employee help eliminate the infinite workday?

A. We need to own both the producer and user costs of information. Every time we send that “quick” after-hours email, we’re adding to someone else’s infinite workday. The solution isn’t just better boundaries, it’s conscious subtraction of the behaviors that created this problem.