Stealing tomorrow's productivity in your teams
Thinking hangovers suck almost as much as drinking hangovers. Photo by Christian Erfurt on Unsplash
Most people don't have a shortage of work to be done. Even before the impact of COVID-19, it was common to hear leaders bemoaning that they were being asked to do more with less.
A Harvard Business Review article in 2018 reported on the results of a study over 12 years looking at how CEOs spent over 60,000 hours (both work and non-work time). There were some fascinating results, including that:
These CEOs worked on 79% of weekend days and on 70% of vacation days
CEOs routinely described managing time as one of their greatest challenges
Whilst we may not all be CEOs, many of us will empathise with these trends. Work is increasingly done outside of 'business hours' - especially as we are working increasingly remotely through current distancing restrictions. The temptation for all of us to work harder and longer is real. A great skill to cultivate is identifying when doing more work isn't leading us to more productive outcomes. It goes beyond just the point of diminishing returns.
When we work too long at one point, we steal productivity from our future selves.
You have probably experienced this. You work late or put long hours in for a week or two. At some point, you will probably experience a thinking hangover - where you are supposed to be working, but you can't get yourself started, are slower at the task at hand or don't deliver at the standard that is required. Just like a drinking hangover, you can find your morning self cursing the version of yourself from the night before!
As with drinking, with some wisdom and perspective, we can start to notice when we have had enough for the day and know that tomorrow will be better as a result of the decisions that we make today.
Some questions for you to consider in your teams:
Do you ever work harder and longer than is productive and pay the price later?
Can you help others in your teams notice when they might have had enough?