Working Harder is not Better

Are you getting exhausted by your work? It’s time to ask yourself why. Simply working fewer hours is not the answer.

Instead, ask yourself:

Are you using work to buffer yourself against boredom, or so you don’t have to face difficult personal realities in your life? 

Work is one of the most socially acceptable forms of numbing yourself.  It’s an easy way to fill a void, and to avoid.  Be honest with yourself if that’s what you’re doing.

How can you tell if you’re using work to buffer?

Try setting aside time to get completely unplugged.  Take off an afternoon, or a day or two and see what happens.  Try just being with yourself in a quiet space with no devices. Stop responding to e-mails, don’t pick up the phone, and cancel meetings where you mistake activity for productivity.

What happens?  If you find you’re restless or anxious, or your mind starts racing, maybe you are using work to distract yourself. You may be using work to fill a sense of emptiness. 

Are you stagnating, even though you’re working long hours? 

Are you spending long hours in the same rut, convincing yourself you’re being productive, even though you’re not creating anything new?  How can you tell if you’re on a hamster wheel instead of producing?

If you’re not putting yourself into situations where you feel really uncomfortable, where fear and anxiety creep up, that means you’re doing what’s familiar.  You can’t change your business or yourself if you keep doing the same old thing.  The only way to grow and develop is to do new things in new ways.  And that is supposed to feel uncomfortable.

Stop the stagnation by setting a big goal. 

The best way to fully engage is to set a big, impossible goal you love, but one you’re not sure you can achieve. 

Why? It’s the figuring it out that will make you feel most alive.  But that’s also what will bring on the negative emotions, like fear, embarrassment, doubt and lots of other gremlins.  When those feelings come up, it’s the best sign that you’re on a path that will stretch you and allow you to live up to your full potential. 

Note that none of these questions is about the hours.  It’s about how you’re engaging with your work, and whether you’re putting your full self into what you do.

Working longer is not working better, so don’t measure your output in hours. 

Instead, ask yourself:

• Are you avoiding difficult things by using work as a shield? 

• And are you truly producing by allowing the negative emotions that come with doing something new and hard and great?

If you approach it with these criteria in mind, the hours won’t matter.