Overwhelm at work, not surprisingly is on the increase. Sad to say very little has changed since Deloittes global research insights paper published two years ago.
Our obsession with being connected constantly with ‘all and sundry’ isn’t good for us. The Deloitte study revealed that it’s common for people to check their mobile phone upwards of 150 times a day.
This is proven to have a major impact on our ability to concentrate, absorb and process information.
The problems aren’t confined to work either.
Life at home; how’s yours looking? Many of us in busy, high-pressure jobs allow our work lives to blend into our personal lives too.
For example, how often do you find yourself catching up on overspill tasks and to-do lists from the week before over the weekend, or that you always feel like you should be doing something in your spare time that somehow feeds back into your job?
Do you go for a game of sport with clients, or socialise almost entirely with work colleagues? If so, your work is possibly consuming your life in a way that is not ultimately healthy, and will increase the chance of burnout.
Some of these ‘dual purpose’ free time activities can be beneficial for your job and general wellbeing, such as exercise- which boosts health, brain and immune function as well as reducing stress……………..However, there’s an argument out there that in order to be good at your job, you need time away from it, shifting the brain’s attention towards something else and allowing it to breathe and gain some perspective.
If you think your work/life balance has shifted to a point where it is the overwhelming (excuse the pun!) focus of your life, then it’s time to take action and the first step is to structure time for yourself into each working week.
Yes, that’s true. This might seem counter intuitive I know, however the evidence and research supports this as a logical first step.
For the classic workaholic it’s OK to start gently- it might be listening to a comedian’s podcast in the car in the morning instead of making phone calls, or heading to the gym at lunch twice a week rather than sitting with colleagues talking about work.
It’s about reclaiming part of your life, for yourself- and all those varied interests that you no doubt have, or at least used to before work took over. Rediscovering old hobbies and old friends can be great at shifting your focus away from work too, helping to provide that necessary work-life balance.
Some highly successful people swear by letting the mind wander when taking long walks, while others say that an activity requiring concentration, like flying a plane or sailing a boat clears their mind for work brilliantly. It might be doing a carpentry class, or a yoga program. Whatever works to clear your mind.
At first, you may feel guilty about setting aside this time for yourself, particularly if work is busy and you’re overwhelmed with all the things you need to do.
Hint: Stop!
The process of building different rituals like this to counter overwhelm are well document to bring results. If this subject interests, you make sure you read Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz’s take on the subject in their bestselling book.
Overwhelm is linked to time and energy, or at least our perception of them. The number of hours in a day is fixed, but the quality and quantity of energy available to us is not- so how can you recharge your energy bank? Recognising this will revolutionise the way you live your life and help you to improve your performance at work, eliminate burnout and restore balance to your life.
Oddly, sometimes a brief step away- a redirect of the mind- is just the thing to get you focussed again. So direct your mind outwards and bring some more variation into your life, and you’ll almost certainly be surprised at the energy and inspiration it will bring.
Until next time
Julia
