For Majority of Creative Execs, Workweek Doesn’t End on Friday

More than four in ten putting in 50-plus hours per week

While some employees are working for the weekend, many executives are working on the weekend, a new survey by The Creative Group suggests. Sixty-two percent of advertising and marketing executives interviewed said they bring work home at least one weekend per month, with 12% reporting they do it every weekend. When asked how many hours they work each week, the average response was 47 hours. More than four in 10 (41%) executives are putting in 50-plus hour workweeks.

The national survey was developed by The Creative Group, a specialized staffing service for interactive, design, marketing, advertising, and public relations professionals. It was conducted by an independent research firm and based on 400 telephone interviews: 200 with marketing executives randomly selected from companies with 100 or more employees and 200 with advertising executives randomly selected from firms with 20 or more employees.

Breakdown of Results

Advertising and marketing executives were asked, “How many weekends each month, on average, do you bring work home with you?” Their responses:

• Once a month: 23%
• Twice a month: 18%
• Three times a month: 9%
• Every weekend: 12%
• Never: 37%
• Don’t know: 1%

Executives also were asked, “How many hours, on average, do you work for your company each week?” Their responses are listed below. The average response was 47 hours.

• 60 hours or more: 18%
• 50″59 hours: 23%
• 40″49 hours: 48%
• Less than 40 hours: 6%

Five Tips to Avoid Working Weekends

1. Prioritize. Take 10 minutes at the start of each day to assign a one-to-three “urgency rating” for each item on your to-do list. Tackle top-rated tasks as soon as possible and postpone or delegate items with less urgency.
2. Empower employees. Performing certain tasks yourself may initially be quicker than explaining them to someone else. But time spent training staff now can reduce your workload later and improve the overall skill set of your team.
3. Rethink meetings. Take a close look at any standing or upcoming meetings and ask yourself if there are enough agenda items to merit a gathering.
4. Schedule personal time. Block time on your calendar to relax or pursue outside interests on weekends. Hobbies can feed your creativity, increase your happiness and provide extra motivation when you’re back in the office.
5. Seek help. If overtime is constant, consider bringing in freelancers to help ease the workload for you and your team.

View an infographic of the research results.