The Never-Ending Work Cycle: Where Does It End?

Imagine your office hours are 9 to 5—a standard 8-hour shift. But let’s factor in reality. Suppose you spend 1.5 hours battling traffic just to get there. Now, double that for the return trip—3 hours gone. That makes it a total of 11 hours tied to work.

Now, take a moment and think—how many people can actually leave work at 5 PM sharp?

Many start their commute 2-3 hours early to beat the traffic. Some have shifts from 9 AM to 9 PM, while others are on-call 24/7—emails keep popping up, messages keep coming in, and phone calls interrupt even the rare moments of peace.

So, that initial 11-hour work commitment stretches into 16 or 17 hours—sometimes even more. Sometimes, it just never ends.

Yet, remember—your day has only 24 hours, not a second more. And within that, your entire life is fleeting.

The Productivity Trap

Somewhere along the way, we’ve become machines, obsessed with being "productive." Every spare moment must be utilized—learning a new skill, networking, improving efficiency—because if you don’t, you’ll fall behind in the rat race.

And for those without financial or family backup, even small joys like reading a book, watching a movie, or spending time with loved ones seem like luxuries they can’t afford.

As kids, we thought only people living abroad went years without seeing their families. Now, we see people living in Dhaka who can’t even visit their village homes because this city has them trapped.

Even four or five hours of peaceful sleep seems like a dream. You wake up from nightmares—of losing that job you don’t even like.

And despite giving away precious hours beyond office time, you might still get scolded for being five minutes late. You might be marked absent, have your salary deducted, and yet, none of that unpaid overtime counts.

And mind you, I’m only talking about traffic here—not your family problems, health issues, or mental struggles. Because let’s be honest, in today’s so-called educated society, empathy is almost nonexistent.

Even Rest Feels Like a Crime

Now, even on weekends, we fear resting—what if we become unproductive?
But there’s no chance of true rest anyway—you probably have a pile of laundry waiting, clothes to iron, groceries to buy, errands to run. Salary doesn’t matter—the aura must be flawless.

And so, the cycle continues.

But here’s my question—
For those of you who genuinely work beyond hours (not just to impress the boss or kill time), how do you maintain quality?
Doesn’t exhaustion affect your performance? Doesn’t your work suffer from errors and inefficiencies?

Let’s talk about it.