Nothing is as Tiring as Pointless Work
My most draining days have been when they were full of long, hard work of the kind that I dislike doing, and either:
- I didn’t see the point of it all
- Or I didn’t see when it would end.
It seems like nothing is as tiring as pointlessness. We humans are problem solving machines. We need context. We function better when we see a cause and effect, a beginning and an end. After all, we think in stories and stories have a plot, some logic to them.
So why wouldn’t we understand why we do the work we do?
- Because our environment is too full of confusing and ever changing circumstances,
- Because the decision makers aren’t sharing the information,
- Or because we are too busy to remember the reasons why.
In the first case, we have to learn to navigate through chaos better (and that’s quite a skill). In the second case, we can ask; most people would respond well to constructive questions. If they don’t, it’s a clue we might want to work elsewhere.
The third case requires us to take time to identify or remember our purpose. What’s the real goal of this project/job/unit/company again?
That applies to our overall business or work as well. Knowing why we do what we do is probably the most essential requirement of a good life. And making a living isn’t a good enough reason.
How to Pace Ourselves at Work
In my last post, I talked about how studies conclusively show that we perform much better if we take periodic breaks; not only do we take less time to complete our work, but we make less mistakes.
Now most people including me find it hard to remember to do that in the heat of deadlines, when all we can think of is to hurry and push harder to fulfill our promise. So it’s really important to ingrain good “break” behaviors, turning them into habits that we do without thinking.
And if we are the boss, we need to come to terms with what we consider to be productive breaks, and what is goofing off.
For example, it is recommended that we take a 10 minute walkabout every 90 minutes. It is important that we move around during that break, because thinking uses up a lot of oxygen, which we need to replenish in our cells. Examples of “productive” walkabouts are:
- Visiting other staff to chat about how things are doing
- Walking to the water cooler and drinking water while stretching and bonding with co workers (as long as the talk is not destructive to individual or group morale)
- Walking around the block clearing our mind to leave room for creative problem solving ideas
- If we work in a home office, getting up to drink water, walking the dog, petting the cat, or cleaning something (maintaining strict time boundaries to prevent it from turning into a way of procrastinating)
Another recommendation is to take a minute break for every 30 minutes of concentrated work. That can be a perfect opportunity to observe our thoughts and feelings while deep breathing and doing a quick stretch.
It sounds like no big deal, but it makes a big difference to both our performance and our energy levels. The quick energy techniques that I teach are based on our physiology, and people report that they make a measurable difference in how they feel about their day; not only in what they accomplished but also in how they feel physically and emotionally.
Why Hard Work Doesn’t Necessarily Pay Off
You are facing a major deadline. The best way to perform at your best is to:
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Buckle down and focus on the job until it’s done.
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Make sure you keep up with the social chats around the water cooler.
Studies have shown that by far, the best alternative is…the second one. Surprised? Most people are. But it makes sense, when you look at how our bodies and brains are designed.
We work best when we alternate between periods of activity and periods of rest. Athletes know this. They know that training non stop will backfire on their performance. Yet somehow, we think that we are built differently for our “thinking” activities than our physical ones.
One of the studies’ findings was that we cause more mistakes and wasted time by working for long and continuous time periods. When we work for longer than 30 minutes on a task, it takes us 5 times longer to solve the problem.
So by taking well-timed breaks, we not only improve the quality of our work, we end up saving time and feeling less frenzied. What do we mean by well-timed? If possible, a 10 minute walkabout every 90 minutes or so, and a minute pause for every 30 minutes of concentrated work.
I’m not suggesting promoting employees who goof around. What I am saying is that what contributes to productivity isn’t the time spent on work, but the energy invested it in. And human beings have more and better quality energy when they take the right kinds of breaks.
What is really draining your energy?
Yes, most of us would feel better if we changed our nutrition and fitness behaviors. But as important as they are, they are not the root cause of our personal” deflation”.
Root Causes
The root causes are more likely our feelings. Skeptical? Well, how much more energized do you think you would be at the end of the day if you did not:
- Worry about getting business results or the next promotion
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Fear losing your job, or your customers
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Feel angry at all the impossible demands made of you
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Always brace yourself for the next problem
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Hate (or came to hate) the work you do, or the environment you’re in
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Underneath it all, distrust most (or all) people
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Feel like you’re running on endless treadmill with no end in sight
“Ok, but that doesn’t help me much”, you might say. “I have to work, and those things just come with it. Everyone’s in the same boat.”
Lots of people are, but not everyone.
And lots of people are tired, so tired they don’t recognize themselves as the person they once were.
Too tired to do anything but work and workout
We live in the land of sleep-deprived, caffeine-boosted, win-at-all-cost adrenaline junkies. Our physical, emotional and energetic systems are so depleted we only have energy for the “revved up” activities: the workplace and the gym.
“Wait a minute, isn’t that contradictory, being too tired for anything but high-energy activities?”
Not really. In order to relate to family and friends, we have to be emotionally present, to be receptive to the nuances of their needs. We also have to be willing to show ours. But when we are tired, we are shut down. We can all recognize this because we have all done it, snapped at someone and then apologized later, saying we were “too tired”.
But even when we are tired, we can brace ourselves for the next task demanded of us, as long as it doesn’t require too much subtlety (since that requires us to have access to all of our resources and we’re not functioning on all cylinders).
So we can function and even look formidable, but we are bulls in a china shop. And despite what some people may believe that doesn’t lead to a high quality performance, especially in the long-term. Business success depends on relationships and people either steer clear of a bull or try to trap it. But I digress; more about performance some other time, let me get back to energy levels.
The consequences of pushing yourself
Remember what happened in the past when you knew you had to keep going for a deadline and pushed yourself to keep going when you were tired? I do. Eventually, I:
- Made errors I wouldn’t have otherwise, which I had to take extra time to correct
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Teed a few people off wanting immediate service in my rush (at the coffee shop, printer, receptionist, legal department, etc.), which means I had to repair relationships
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Had no life outside of work
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Didn’t perform as well on the next project as I would normally have if I hadn’t burnt myself out
Eventually, it can lead to a more pervasive burnout situation, and/or a certain kind of rigidity in thinking, leadership and communication style, and general attitude.
“But what else can I do, I have deadlines to meet”.
Yes, there’s the rub. The answer is more complex than can be answered in a blog post, but I’ll cover a few ideas next week.
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