Good morning Friends,
I’m not sure if you’ve ever experienced the same, but today I woke up tired. Quite possibly more tired than when I went to bed.
But I slept for 9 hours, which is much longer than normal.
So how does that work?!
I’m not sure if it’s because I’m rundown, restless or just not in a good sleep rhythm, but either way, today feels like a struggle.
For those of you that don’t care about my sleep score (it is a thing, just google the Fitbit sleep tracking), that’s fair enough. But it is relevant to this week’s lightbulb moment.
Let me explain…
Lightbulb Moment
Do you have times when you just don’t quite feel right?
You find yourself feeling a little out of sorts at work?
You feel tired, disengaged and unmotivated, and sometimes you even start checking how long until it’s time to go home even though you’ve only just got to work.
Add to that, you find yourself snapping at colleagues (which is something you never do).
This in turn makes you annoyed.
Throw in the fact you feel like there’s never enough hours in the day to get everything done.
It all adds up to a constant feeling of being left behind, which in turn makes you demoralised.
Does any of this sound familiar?
Well if it does, there’s a good chance you are showing signs of burnout.
Interlude
At this point, I wanted to break stride as I have tried to write the next bit at least 3 times, none of which came out as I would like.
The reason is Dr Julie Smith.
Julie is a clinical psychologist and online sensation helping many many people navigate through life’s ups and downs.
You see, I’ve just finished listening to her book, Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? and it resonated strongly.
So strongly in fact, that after listening to the first chapter, I immediately messaged 3 close people to recommend it as it described their situation down to a T.
I just knew it would help.
This week’s topic closely aligns with Dr Julie’s work and if there is one thing you take away from this lightbulb moment, I’d like it to be following Dr Julie.
So if you are short of time or not interested reading further, please do check out her book as I think we can all benefit from her teachings 🙏🏻..
Resume
Right, jumping back into it…
The body is an amazing machine, and can do some amazing things but there is always a breaking point.
We often ask our mind and bodies to perform activities without warning, for hours on end, at a moments notice.
Think about working:
You wake up in the morning, get yourself ready for the day and without any advanced warning, thrust your body into a stress position.
And stay there all day.
Slumped down in a chair, arms outstretched, hands resting on a keyboard, fingers dancing across keyboards taping away on the keys like a strange version of the ballet.
This is the position we assume for most of the week.
It serves a purpose.
But not our purpose.
There is a reason why you have aches and pains, you get stiff, sore necks and backs.
We don’t look after our bodies.
Or give them any warning.
Now I’m sure you would laugh at me if I suggested you needed to warm up before sitting at your desk to work. But it is a sensible thing to do.
When you want to go for a run, there are 2 options:
* Put your trainers and just run out the door
* Put your trainers on, stretch, limber up and then run out the door.
Now the 2nd option is far less exciting granted, but it is the option that will stand you in much better stead than number one.
The chances of pulling a hamstring or getting injured when you ‘just go for it’ dramatically increase. This then leads to being (more) sedentary and in turn less fit.
It can easily become a self fulfilling cycle.
So why do we do it to ourselves?
Our lives are getting busier; demands on our time and attention grow exponentially every day, we can barely keep up.
But we do.
Somehow.
And that is truly amazing.
The ability to ‘keep going’ is a testament to both strength of character and resiliency of the body.
The badge of honour proclaimed by individuals of the number of hours worked / how busy they are / how they have so little time to do x, y, or z is a false economy. This is wrong in my opinion and I think more fool them.
You see there is only so long we can go ‘flat out’ for, before something breaks.
In some instances, the effects are visible and obvious e.g., a broken leg, which helps manage the situation. Sadly though, more often than not, the strains felt are invisible.
It’s our mental fitness that bears the brunt.
With no obvious external symptoms.
And that is worrying as it means people suffer in silence.
It is far easier to have a day off work because you broke your arm and can’t type, than it is to say you have stress or are not feeling yourself.
“But you look fine” would not be an uncommon response.
It’s at this point, when things can go badly wrong (especially if unchecked).
I experienced this first hand at the end of 2021.
We had been working towards the delivery of a big piece of work, scheduled for the 17th December, collaborating with teams across the business.
Having started in late August, an enormous amount of effort had been exerted, especially by a few key individuals.
It was, all round, quite an endeavour.
The problem was, we weren’t going to hit the deadline.
It just wasn’t possible.
No matter how hard we tried, the options we looked at, there were simply not enough hours in the day to get it all done.
So I had to raise this with the Exec.
And after some fairly animated discussions, it was agreed we could move the deadline to mid-January 2022, which was absolutely the right decision.
Passing the news on to teams, the relief was palpable.
You could almost see the weight of the world being lifted from their shoulders.
As a leader, I protect my teams to the hilt.
They are the most important asset to any business (data comes in second, which I know my sound silly coming from a data leader) & making sure they could take their foot off the gas was imperative.
They had been pushed hard, delivering high quality outputs at every stage, for the best part of 4 months.
I knew there was only so long they could continue at that pace.
Before something bad happened. And not in terms of code.
There is a reason why it is not possible to sprint a marathon; it’s just too far.
The term sprint “an act or short spell of running at full speed” perfectly captures the essence; it is a short sharp concerted effort at maximum capacity.
There is no way this can be continued for long.
But my teams had exceeded everyones expectations.
And done so for nearly 4 months!
Example
The best way to describe this is imagine driving on the motorway at the national speed limit… in 2nd gear.
The car will (probably!) get you to that speed, but it won’t like it. Nor will it last long before some serious damage occurs.
And that is what was happening with the teams. It was not sustainable. And all credit it to them, in exceeding expectations but it couldn’t last.
This was my argument to the Exec in pushing out the deadline.
Either we keep going or something breaks; more accurately someone breaks. And that is a much worse position to be in.
So the lightbulb moment is about being aware of how those around you cope with stresses and strains of every day life.
* Some will deal with it in a more public open manner,
* Whilst others will bottle it up and try to overcome it themselves.
Everyone will have their own way of dealing with life, but burnout is serious.
It can go untreated, especially if the person doesn’t feel comfortable talking about their situation. And this is my takeaway, just keep an eye out for your colleagues, friends and family.
Don’t ask ‘how are they doing’, instead ask ‘how are you feeling?’
You are much less likely to get a standard stock response; something along the lines of not too bad, all things considered. (Check out this hilarious sketch by Bill Bailey)
It’s about being human.
And looking after one another.
Something which is easy to forget when life gets super busy. But it’s the super busy lives which cause us to need each other even more.
With that, I’m going to phone a good buddy of mine, whom I’ve not spoken to in ages, to see how he is.
Have a peaceful Sunday,
-Bren
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