Recently, I was in a meeting of executives and business owners. The conversation turned to work ethic and the length of their work day and work week. I heard several individuals who were intending to brag state, “I haven’t had a day off in six months,” or “I haven’t taken a vacation in five years.” In my mind, these ludicrous statements are like someone discussing car maintenance stating, “I haven’t changed the oil in my car since 1998,” or “I’ve ignored a Check Engine light on my dashboard for a whole year.”

There’s a big difference between working smarter, working harder, or working longer.

Since beginning a study on productivity and writing a book on the subject (www.ultimateproductivity.com), I have come to understand that when you work beyond a certain point, your effectiveness declines. This is something we have always known or suspected; however, it is fascinating to learn that there is a point beyond which working extra hours will not only result in diminished productivity but will actually be counterproductive. You can truly put in additional time, effort, and energy and lose ground.

Several years ago, I did consulting for a large multinational sales organization. I worked directly with the Founder and CEO on motivational and training events that were held throughout the country and internationally. When we sat down at the beginning of the year to try to coordinate dates for these large events, it became apparent that there were huge blocks of dates blacked out in her calendar. When I inquired what the blacked out dates were for, she told me they were for family and personal time. When I inquired what she was going to be doing on her time off, I was surprised to learn that she hadn’t decided yet. She simply had made a commitment to that time in her calendar, months in advance.

Initially, this was very frustrating to me as it would have been convenient to schedule some of our large conventions and events during the time she had blacked out; however, as time went by, I began to see the wisdom and even the genius in her strategy.

If we honestly examine our daily or weekly calendars, we might see activities as mundane as picking up the dry cleaning, calling the yard man, or getting groceries. While these are all useful, they are hardly earth shattering. Unfortunately, most of us could look through our entire calendar to the very end, and we would see very little, if any, time blocked out for personal or family activities.

A number of years ago, through a dear friend of mine, I obtained front row tickets for the opening night of Broadway shows as they tour through my city. This means that at the beginning of the year at least five or six dates are on the calendar to do something I feel to be recreational and energizing for me. Throughout the years, I have noticed how many times I would have booked some work activity for those Broadway dates if they hadn’t already been written in ink on the calendar.

Getting enough time to recharge, recreate, and enjoy your family is not going to simply happen magically. Just like every other area of success, you’ve got to control your down time.

As you go through your day today, work hard, play hard, and schedule it all with equal priority.

Today’s the day!