The Belief in “More” Leads to Burnout

Here in the US, we tend to think that “more” of practically anything is ideal. If medium fries are good, a large must be even better. If a half hour of exercise is good, then eight hours a day is better. If a multivitamin is good, one with even more vitamins in it is better.

Sometimes more is better, but very often there’s a ceiling past which more actually harms you. Too much of certain vitamins can damage your body. People have died drinking too much water as they were running a marathon.

Many of us pride ourselves on hard work, and of course, more is better, right? According to popular culture, in order to be successful, you have to hustle and grind and give up life outside work. It’s true that for most people, success doesn’t come on a silver platter and it does require hard work.

But does hard work mean you have to work 12-14 hours a day every single day? Avoid taking breaks or even meals with other people? Never try something you’ve always wanted to?

Simon Sinek’s “saw story” helps you understand how to be more productive in the workplace

I’m paraphrasing the story he tells, but you may already be familiar with it. Two lumberjacks, each competing to see who can saw the most wood in a day. The first lumberjack is just sawing away all day. They see the other lumberjack leaving periodically and then returning, so they’re sure they’ll have the most lumber cut.

At the end of the day it’s time to check out each others’ piles. The second lumberjack, who kept leaving, ended up with a much higher pile of lumber than the first.

“How could you possibly have cut more lumber? You must have cheated! I was out there sawing all day!”

To which the second lumberjack replied, “Yes, and every time you saw me leave, I went to sharpen my saw.”

As a saw cuts more and more wood, the blade becomes duller and it’s harder to cut everything. Your speed slows down because the saw isn’t giving you as much leverage. You also run a greater risk of hurting yourself, because the saw is harder to wield. When you periodically stop to sharpen your saw, you can still move quickly because your tool has been properly prepared for the work.

It’s the same for your business – trying to work straight through 12-14 hour days every day leaves your “saw” dull. It’s harder to get work done, and the likelihood of making mistakes rises. Not to mention that you’re so tired when you get home and may have only a little energy for your family left over.

More working hours don’t improve performance or productivity

In addition to claiming “more is better” even when it’s not, popular culture assumes a linear relationship between hours of work and results. If you work for one hour and produce X, then naturally working for two hours brings 2X the results.?

That sounds great. If you can work two hours and get twice the results that you got in one, then put in 12 hours and get 12x the results, right?

Wrong.

A computer can spit out 12x the results if it runs for 12 hours. But you are not a computer, and neither is your brain. For business owners, a computer is probably their second best tool. But the best one is your own mind. You have to make decisions, and while you can get information from a variety of sources, ultimately you’re the one who has to choose.

Although brains are often compared to computers, human brains have specific needs and limitations. In many ways, they’re more powerful than computers. However, they need plenty of downtime, including regular breaks during the day and sleep at night.

Due to the way our brains developed over thousands of years, we don’t get more than about four hours a day for concentrated, cognitively demanding work. This includes things like working with numbers, spreadsheets, legal briefs, tax returns, financial plans, business planning, strategizing, and so on. Making the most of those four hours turbocharges your productivity.

After a certain point, there’s no linear relationship between hours worked and results for humans. In fact, for a twelve-hour day, you could end up with less than if you’d worked a four-hour day.

Being able to accomplish more in fewer hours gives you more time to spend with friends and family and other activities that you enjoy. That not only makes you more productive but also makes you less likely to burn out.

Sharpening the saw is a little different when it’s your brain

Obviously you can’t take a strop to your brain to help sharpen it! Which begs the question, how do you sharpen your brain?

There are definitely some long-term things, like continuous learning and doing puzzles. It may seem trite to recommend some of the following, but honestly these are key methods for ensuring peak performance by giving your brain what it needs to function at a high level.?

• Periodic rest breaks, about 10-15 minutes for every 45-60 minutes of demanding work
• 7-8 hours of sleep a night
• Good nutrition
• More physical movement, not just ? hour in the gym every once in a while
• Socializing with others (a little less for introverts, a little more for extroverts)?
• Having fun (!)

No one, not even good sleepers, gets 7-8 hours of sleep every single night of their lives. But aiming for that will get you closer to your goal. Same with the other factors – if you mostly eat healthy nutritious stuff, the occasional unhealthy treat isn’t a big deal. However, if you’re regularly skipping one or more of these, then you’re reducing your ability to be successful and productive.?

For example, if you’ve decided that you can skip physical activity because you have work to do, you’re letting your saw blade get dull. Even though you’re not working, taking the time for physical movement boosts your brain’s performance. Your brain needs lots of oxygen-rich blood circulating for it to work best, and you don’t get that staring at your work screen.

Being more productive means more time for other meaningful activities

I was at a networking lunch and a couple of women were talking about how they brought their laptops to hair appointments and other places. I personally always consider hair time as personal time, almost like a spa day for a couple of hours. Though I can see how others might use the time differently.

But one woman said she brought her laptop to the park while her kids played. She said looking back, she wished she’d been more present with her kids. (Though at least they were getting outside to play!)

Productivity in the workplace doesn’t mean working everywhere it’s possible to work. Understanding what important tasks need to be done and getting them done quickly frees up time to take the kids to the park without the laptop.

Recap (tl;dr)

In knowledge work, it’s not the case that results are linear according to how many hours you put in. Business owners need rest and other factors to be productive and profitable without burning out.

If you’re a business owner who needs help improving productivity without burnout, message me for your free consultation to see if we’re a good fit to work together.