Who is erasing your personal boundaries? That’s the question Rob Cross and Karen Dillon ask in their book, The Microstress Effect. As so many workplaces have become more demanding and faster-paced, our sense of overwhelm and even burnout has become so much more pronounced. The freedom we once felt to work at a productive, but balanced, pace is being replaced by transactional communication, technological “assists” that manipulate our outcomes and the unpredictability of what was once a predictable workplace rhythm. Wow! That’s quite a mouthful, isn’t it? Here’s what I mean.
On any given day, most of what we say and do is conducted via email, texts, instant messaging and so on. This eliminates the nonverbal signals so essential to meaningful communication and empathy. When was the last time you misinterpreted someone’s thoughts because of what was expressed in a few words, without benefit of eye contact, body language and voice? Then there’s all the “helpful” applications that attempt to anticipate our thoughts. Unfortunately, too many times we end up correcting their suggestions which interrupts our flow of thinking and wastes time. When was the last time you sent a text that didn’t make sense, because autocorrect got in the way?
Finally, there is workplace rhythm, or lack thereof. Do you work at home? Do you work at an office? Do you split your time between the two? How about your colleagues, clients, customers, vendors, your boss? Can you lean around the corner to ask a question, or do you need to message someone and wait for them to respond, even for the simplest of issues? Do you meet online or in person? Perhaps both? How about the rest of your colleagues? Cameras on or cameras off? Is the technology reliable or do you waste time trying to figure out why what worked yesterday is giving you an error message today? Are you confined to certain ways of doing things because the software does not allow you to use your creativity or occasional out-of-the-box thinking? Do you get irritated by this? How often do you surrender by rationalizing that “life’s too short?”
Every bit of what I just mentioned adds to the stress and uncertainty of today’s workplace. Is it any wonder that 75% of employees surveyed express dissatisfaction with their job? Okay, so enough of all the moaning and groaning about our lot in life, at least at work. What can you do? Here are five ideas I see top performers using.
First, turn off nuisance assists. When is help not help? When it gets in the way. All those auto suggestions and auto corrections can drive you nuts, especially if you don’t need them. But every application contains ways to turn off these features. Want to know how? Google them or search on YouTube. Like others, I save hours per week not having to deal with all this. You can too.
Second, reduce your use of technology. It’s easy to convince yourself that you have to be up to speed on every app. That’s simply not true. Be careful about listening to those around you who rave about this app or that. If you have a process that works for you, be careful about adding the new new thing. It may cost you time, energy and heartburn.
Third, pick up the phone and actually use it to make calls. Sure, it might be more efficient to send a text. But that doesn’t make it more effective. You can spend hours in a texting or emailing doom loop instead of resolving the issue in a two-minute chat. Besides, texting does not foster relationships. Conversations do. And please don’t say no one ever picks up the phone. They do if they recognize the number.
Fourth, work with those closest to you to set parameters about working and meeting. Everybody’s preaching flexibility at work these days. Problem is, we have too much flexibility and not enough coordination. If the members of your team are forever trying to figure out who’s in the office, at what time, and on what device, you are all wasting lots of time and energy. Come together and agree on some protocols for meetings, communication, decision making and so on. This goes back to Form-Storm-Norm-Perform. If you don’t know what that is, Google it or read this post.
Fifth, develop and practice personal routines. Your brain loves routine. Routines are safe and predictable. While you can’t generally schedule your entire day, you can block out certain times for accomplishing essential tasks and projects. Wall those times off and protect them from the endless interruptions. Turn off the distractions. Close your door. Block your calendar. People will get used to your routines and hopefully begin to practice these routines themselves.
Think all these ideas are unworkable? Trust me. They’re not. I wouldn’t share them if I hadn’t seen them work in client organizations. Does it take effort and perseverance to implement them? Yes. Will your brain fight you on some of them because they are unfamiliar and uncomfortable? Perhaps. But the rewards for doing so are enormous over time, saving you lots of energy and stress. As a result, you will be reestablishing your personal boundaries. Got other ideas like these that work? Shoot an email to bobw@commonsenseenterprises.net. I’d love to know about them.