Why your work ethic isn’t working (and what to do about it!)

She’s exhausted. I can see it in her usually bright eyes. And when she begins to speak, my suspicion is confirmed.

Brow furrowed, she tells me about all the things she has to do. Her mind racing, her stomach in knots, the worry about how she’ll fit it all in weighs heavy on her shoulders.

The thing Jessica’s most anxious about is a new workshop that she’s committed to delivering early next month.

“I don’t know what to do. I want to create something I feel inspired by, but right now I have no idea what that is.”

I see the problem right away. She’s so busy and overwhelmed, she’s in survival mode. Her nervous system is not happy. And how can inspiration flow freely through a tight, tangled knot of worry and stress? It’s no wonder she’s finding it impossible to come up with ideas.

“Tell me, what inspires you?”

 A pause.

“Well, a week away from everything usually does the trick.”

“Ok, great. And if it’s not possible to take a full week out right now, is there anything you could do to create a mini version of that in the next few weeks?”

Another pause.

“I suppose I could take myself off to a lovely café for a few hours if I can find the time…”

By the end of our 15-minutes together, she’s made a commitment to herself: She’ll take a book to a café that’s surrounded by greenery. She’ll give her brain a rest and she’ll begin loosening the knot, without needing to do anything more than enjoy her book and a lovely cuppa (ah, the power of choosing ‘being’ over ‘doing’). She’ll pop a notebook and pen in her handbag, ready to receive the inspiration when it begins to flow.

I’ve been having a lot of conversations like this over the last few weeks. Clients feeling up against it, desperate for space but struggling to take it. Tom The Husband working flat-out during a busy period in his corporate job, meaning solutions to problems keep popping into his head when he’s trying to rest at the weekend. Not ideal, as it makes it very hard for him to fully switch off.

How about you? Are you craving space too?

Well, hold onto your hat and brace yourself for a controversial idea…

What if it were normal, accepted, permitted for space to be part of our working week?

What if taking space was actually expected?

Can you imagine how much more creative, innovative, energised and connected we’d be?

But instead, we’ve been raised in a culture that tells us real work means sitting at our desks with our heads down, and so we cram our days full of doing in order to feel good about ourselves. It’s a hangover from the industrial revolution, when people had to clock in and out and productivity was directly related to the amount of time they spent at their work station.

The trouble is, most of us are still running this out-dated version of a work ethic handed down to us through the generations, that simply doesn’t make sense in today’s knowledge economy.

It’s been shown by clever people that there’s a point where doing more does not actually produce more. Where doing less but thinking more will produce better outcomes.

So why do we still feel like we’re being naughty, lazy or slacking off if we take time during our working day to go for a long walk or head to our local café with a book?

Instead of seeing those things as break time, I wonder what would happen if we started to view being away from our desks as valid work time?

What if taking space became an important business activity, no different from me writing this blog, sending an invoice or showing up for a client?

During that laser mentoring call with Jessica, I suggested it might help to view her time reading in a café as work. Why? Because I knew that if she saw it as a morning off, there was a very good chance it wouldn’t happen. How could she possibly justify taking a morning off when she’s already overwhelmed by how much she has to do?

But if she could view getting into a different environment and reading for an hour or two as an important, necessary part of a process that will allow her to create a fabulous, inspiring workshop? She’s way more likely to do it (hopefully without feeling guilty).

I’ll be honest, it saddens me that we need to frame this much-needed space as ‘work’, but undoing a lifetime of programming doesn’t happen overnight. Your work ethic will probably shout louder than my gentle invitation to take a break.

So whilst I strongly believe that our self-worth has nothing to do with how much we get done and that we all deserve (and need) time to rest, breathe and have fun, if the only way we can give that to ourselves is to acknowledge how important it is to our productivity, then so be it.

If you’re craving space right now but you feel it’s a waste of time, a luxury you can’t afford or that you’re not allowed to take it, maybe it’s time for a reframe:

Taking space is an important part of your work.

So please, put it in your diary and then go take it.

(Now, who’s joining me for a revolution? Let’s smash the old system and create a new one! Even if, for now, it’s just in our own homes and businesses. Change has to start somewhere, right?!)

Want to know more about In It Together and working with me 1:1? Book a cuppa, and let’s talk!