Trends to Consider When Making a Midlife Career Change: 24/7 or 9 to 5

This is the sixth column in our series of seven that look at the macro trends to consider when making a midlife career change. We pick up where we left off from the last two columns, "Friction or No Friction" and "Place or No Place." Both of those trends are closely tied to the ever growing connectedness of our world. The Internet, cell phones and the growth of wireless bandwidth and connectivity have allowed a number of us to disconnect our work from a specific place. This same connectedness now allows us to decide when we want to work.

Decades ago the phrase “9 to 5” was a translation for the work day. Monday to Friday from the hours of 9 to 5 was the core time for offices to be open. This was so widespread that the phrases "rush hour" and "drive time" became universal. Rush hour connoted the heavy traffic in the morning before 9 and in the time after 5. This lead to the radio concept of drive time as that was the time that most people were in their car and therefore provided the medium with the most listeners and the radio stations with the highest ad rates. To a great degree this is still the case, though we now can experience highway gridlock almost any time. Of course the digital music revolution has taken some of the critical mass away from radio.

The phrase 24/7 came about a decade ago when the Internet reached the mass audience. The always-on culture was created. Initially this was said with great bravado by the early wave of Internet enthusiasts as it showed the power of the Net to always be available and to therefore always be a source of business communication and transaction.

I remember the first time this hit home for me. At 3am one morning in early December 1998 I was in a hotel room unable to sleep. I went on-line to Amazon and took care of my Christmas giving. Even on a slow dial-up line this was a transformative experience; shop from a hotel room, and at 3a – wow!

Ten years later we have all suffered a bit of burn out with this always-on culture. Our bosses can email or call us any hour of the day, clients feel empowered to contact us at any time and we are always available. If we step out of the digital information flow for a day or two we might have missed something important or at the least have an hour or two of catch up to do. For every ten times we were glad for the convenience of having a mobile phone, there has been one or two where we wish we could just hide from intrusive calls.

If you are looking seriously at a midlife career change, the choice between 9 to 5 and 24/7 must be considered. If you are a person that likes to segregate work from the rest of your life, then 9 to 5 is better. If you are a person who enjoys flexibility and choice, then 24/7 is better. If one works from 9 to 5 it usually means working at an actual, physical place -- which also means friction. One goes to a place to work, and leaves work at the office when one leaves. One can do this on-line as long as the 9 to 5 rule is stated and kept to with discipline. If you like the ability to set your own schedule, then 24/7 will work better for you.

There are downsides to both. Sometimes, no matter how hard one tries, work boundaries cannot be kept within the 8 hours of 9 to 5. Also, there will be times when you absolutely do not want to be at work or working yet you must because of the agreement to be at work between 9 and 5. Sometimes, no matter how much wants the time freedom and flexibility of working whenever one wants 24/7, sometimes one must work when one doesn’t want to as it is known that one works 24/7. In other words, work can be a drag if one doesn’t want to work. But if you are choosing a new career, it is exactly this that you are choosing to leave.

If you chose a place-based business you are choosing the 9 to 5 side to a great degree. If you choose to not travel to a place of work, or your work is creative or computer related you can more easily choose 24/7.

Decide if you want a clear line of delineation between work and play or whether you like flexibility and choice. Of course if you truly pick a new career where the new work feels like play, this distinction is less important. Love what you do, and when you do it is less a factor.