From busyness to burnout
Almost half of the people interviewed by Gallup in one survey said that they'd experienced a lot of stress the previous day and only a third felt like their well-being was 'thriving'. It’s an obvious statement, however, experiencing a lot of stress in an environment where you’re not feeling at your best, is beneficial to no one.
Toxic productivity occurs where your organisation expects you to work longer hours because 'I want to see signs of your commitment to us', 'that's what someone in your role does', or 'because that's what I'm paying you to do'. The goal for these kinds of organisations appears to be one of continual busyness. However as legendary UCLA Basketball Coach John Wooden once said, 'Never mistake activity for achievement.'
The word 'busy' is often worn as a badge of honor or else people are afraid that if they're not seen as being busy all of the time, then it will compromise how they are thought of as an employee. Yet this busyness is taking a terrible toll on their mental and physical health. Over 80% of employees are experiencing some form of burnout at work.
The consistent narrative is more, more, more. Can you cover an extra shift? Can you get me the report by 5 pm? Can you attend this meeting? Can you copy me into that email? Acronyms such as ASAP and JFDI are prevalent in workplaces around the world. As is the insidious concept of 'doing more, with less', which is simply not possible without work/life compromise. When employees hear 'do more with less', they know what it actually means - 'do more, later at night or at the weekend' - all of which eventually leads to stress and burnout.
When any organisation or team works to build a culture that values productive use of time, rather than full calendars and busy work then not only will people get more done, they’ll also experience less stress and have energy for more work. This increases wellbeing, happiness and productivity, so everybody wins.
What can you do to get off the hamster wheel of busyness and burnout?
