To a very large extent this is part of the brainwashing taking place in the USA. One of the phrases to that extent is:
"Anything worth doing is worth overdoing."
If I recall correctly, companies initially opposed to having employees work from home during CoVid recognized that the employee productivity actually went up.....
Regarding work weeks in excess of 55 hours:
1. People that work these hours, or more, a week are mentally sick. There is a deficiency. They wont admit it, but it is a fact. They are addicted (to the drug...of feeling important, their career & advancements, the power they imagine they have, etc.) seeing their busy-ness as something admirable. Rather the opposite is true.
2. In a case study, if I recall correctly from Harvard, it was proven that a) productivity takes a drastic decline, and b) due to the mistakes made now even more work time is required to correct those.
Work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back.
The other four balls, family, health, friends and integrity, are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will most likely be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, dented, perhaps even shattered.
So real! So true! I can’t believe all the work I did towards my career in my 20s! Crazy stuff! So glad I made a commitment to rest once a week and do one fun (non-work) thing once a week (at least!).
Love this post. Our culture really does glorify over-work and it’s easy for work to take up too much space, especially now we can work from home and work/life boundaries are less defined. So important to intentionally plan in joyful hobbies, rest, connection and play in daily life. 😊
Wow, I wish I’d read this a couple of months ago. I stopped being able to open work email. Every morning I would promise myself I would it and then just couldn’t bring myself to sit at the computer. I am now scheduled for an intensive two week psychiatric program. I keep trying to figure out what happened. Burnout sounds reasonable.
This is such an important conversation yo be had! I wrote about this exact same topic last week when I saw a statistic that showed 64% of people who are passionate about their jobs still report being frequently stressed.
I think it’s important to have direction in addition to just passion. If you’re not working towards something, passion will only last so long and it’s a sad thing to lose.
Loved this post. I’m a self employed creative and after a super slow year I am feeling the burn out of the hustle for work. I have had to remind myself to shift my focus to the things I can control and also to enjoy the slower pace I know I’ll miss once things get busy again.
Thank you for this! It has just inspired me to book the cinema for the weekend when I have childcare, so I don’t keep walking past my home office and thinking “okay, I’ll just do an hour…”
Me too. At the beginning of this year when I was really ill with a chest and sinus infection, I felt relived, rather than disappointed, that I had to cancel work commitments. That was a red flag and I’ve made some pretty big changes since then.
Great piece - beautifully articulates narratives we (including Australians and Canadians) internalised to brainwash and gaslight us to hustle, have grit, and be productive to earn our self-worth. Discipline and realistic limits help channel energy to pursue work in a focused way, without making work our whole life.
Passion for work is overrated. Enjoy what you can and ensure there are other channels that provide enjoyment.
So hard cause you think once you round the corner all the passion and energy will come back but it doesn’t. I am so tired now, I can’t do half of what I did last year, and I just don’t even want to engage most days.
Wish this focused on fixing it once someone is already there. I’m still surprised people chose to work from home still so bizarre.
Excellent post! Thank you.
To a very large extent this is part of the brainwashing taking place in the USA. One of the phrases to that extent is:
"Anything worth doing is worth overdoing."
If I recall correctly, companies initially opposed to having employees work from home during CoVid recognized that the employee productivity actually went up.....
Regarding work weeks in excess of 55 hours:
1. People that work these hours, or more, a week are mentally sick. There is a deficiency. They wont admit it, but it is a fact. They are addicted (to the drug...of feeling important, their career & advancements, the power they imagine they have, etc.) seeing their busy-ness as something admirable. Rather the opposite is true.
2. In a case study, if I recall correctly from Harvard, it was proven that a) productivity takes a drastic decline, and b) due to the mistakes made now even more work time is required to correct those.
Work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back.
The other four balls, family, health, friends and integrity, are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will most likely be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, dented, perhaps even shattered.
- Gary Keller
Thank you. Yes I agree, we are replaceable at work, but we are not replaceable to our family and friends.
I stopped loving the people I worked with...and that made all the difference.
That’s a great point! I remind myself that I’m replaceable when it comes to work, but I’m not replaceable to my family and friends.
So real! So true! I can’t believe all the work I did towards my career in my 20s! Crazy stuff! So glad I made a commitment to rest once a week and do one fun (non-work) thing once a week (at least!).
Yes! Otherwise we risk putting it off and we spend our entire lives working.
Love this post. Our culture really does glorify over-work and it’s easy for work to take up too much space, especially now we can work from home and work/life boundaries are less defined. So important to intentionally plan in joyful hobbies, rest, connection and play in daily life. 😊
Thank you Harriet. Yes, we all need more connection and play! and it’s the first thing to go when we’re busy.
Wow, I wish I’d read this a couple of months ago. I stopped being able to open work email. Every morning I would promise myself I would it and then just couldn’t bring myself to sit at the computer. I am now scheduled for an intensive two week psychiatric program. I keep trying to figure out what happened. Burnout sounds reasonable.
Hope you can take time now for deep rest.
Great post! I think burnout occurs mostly when one thing in your life (even passions) overtakes other things in your life that you love.
It’s when work takes away from family time or a hobby takes away from spending time with friends. Finding balance is finding a way to balance those.
Thanks Drew
This is such an important conversation yo be had! I wrote about this exact same topic last week when I saw a statistic that showed 64% of people who are passionate about their jobs still report being frequently stressed.
I think it’s important to have direction in addition to just passion. If you’re not working towards something, passion will only last so long and it’s a sad thing to lose.
You’re right about losing the passion, because in the end you start resenting the work.
Loved this post. I’m a self employed creative and after a super slow year I am feeling the burn out of the hustle for work. I have had to remind myself to shift my focus to the things I can control and also to enjoy the slower pace I know I’ll miss once things get busy again.
It's so tricky when you love your work. Thank you for writing this, I can relate!
Thank you for this! It has just inspired me to book the cinema for the weekend when I have childcare, so I don’t keep walking past my home office and thinking “okay, I’ll just do an hour…”
A needed prompt!
Yes! I remind myself - the aim is to work from home, not live at work.
Omg YES! Yes yes yes 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
This is truly excellent and vocalises something I know but am in constant denial around. Thank you for this!
Me too. At the beginning of this year when I was really ill with a chest and sinus infection, I felt relived, rather than disappointed, that I had to cancel work commitments. That was a red flag and I’ve made some pretty big changes since then.
Great piece - beautifully articulates narratives we (including Australians and Canadians) internalised to brainwash and gaslight us to hustle, have grit, and be productive to earn our self-worth. Discipline and realistic limits help channel energy to pursue work in a focused way, without making work our whole life.
Passion for work is overrated. Enjoy what you can and ensure there are other channels that provide enjoyment.
Thank you Nathalie. Yes passion for work is overrated. You’re so right!
Good stuff.
Look up ‘Moral Injury’ there is a relationship between it and ‘burnout’ and distantly…. PTSD.
A you tube by a Surgeon ‘Dr. Z’ is a good run down.
Thank you.
I will, thank you.
So hard cause you think once you round the corner all the passion and energy will come back but it doesn’t. I am so tired now, I can’t do half of what I did last year, and I just don’t even want to engage most days.
Wish this focused on fixing it once someone is already there. I’m still surprised people chose to work from home still so bizarre.
I’m going to share an article on recovering from burnout later this week. Hope it helps.
Such an important reminder! 🤍 Making space for intentional value creation and leisure time in our daily life can do wonders in regrounding us! 💆🏽♀️
Absolutely. Having fun restores our energy for life.
This may very well describe me right now. Thank you. Great article!
I hope you can take some time to disconnect and rest soon.