Your Unrelenting Schedule
Apr 10, 2024
When you have an unrelenting work schedule it creates havoc in your life.
You know the feeling…
Finish one deadline and race straight to the next. No celebration of wins. Who has time for that?
Clear your inbox at the end of day and overnight it turns into a monster of unanswered enquiries, requests and distractions that you lose all motivation to answer.
Your Teams’ Messenger is constantly pinging you with: “hello, you got a sec?”.
“Shut up and leave me alone so I can get some actual work done!” you scream in your head.
We haven’t even started on the calls from your boss or team members coming in on your mobile phone…
It’s freaking exhausting, right?
It’s this constant feeling of never switching off. Being contactable ALL. THE. FREAKING. TIME.
Thinking about work 24/7 (if not constantly, then in times that really annoy you - like 11pm).
And it filters through to your personal life impacting your mood, energy and relationships.
But there’s a mindset floating out there that keeps telling women that to get ahead in their careers, they need to be ‘available’ and ‘seen’.
This mindset adds to the ‘being constantly available’ epidemic.
I mean, what would your boss, stakeholders or direct reports think if they couldn’t reach you?
That you’re lazy? At the beach? Sitting on the couch watching netflix? Obviously not doing your job.
What if I told you that being constantly available actually hinders, not progresses your career?
Let me explain.
There is a price for always being ‘on’.
I know it well, as I did it. I stayed connected and available (hello early 2000’s Blackberry) and it negatively impacted my stress levels and quality of work.
Add to that, the stress of my boyfriend (now husband) and friends getting annoyed at me as I was so distracted all the time. It’s fair to say, life sucked.
Research has shown that being constantly available for work, especially now we have smartphones, leads to burnout, decreased productivity, and ultimately hinders career progression - duh!
The outcome...
As we work harder, we become less productive at work, and not a good partner, mother or friend.
But...
Is your boss or workplace expecting this from you? Or are you putting this unnecessary expectation on yourself?
Ouch.
Self Sabotage...
To start the day, I wondered if people had already noticed I hadn't logged on, so I'd always try to start early.
In the afternoon, I always looked if others were online to check if I could safely log-off. I'd do the same thing whenever I'd take a lunch or coffee break...
I had this fear that people were watching and judging me.
So, I asked myself if this was true, and the answer? I really had no idea, maybe, but maybe not too!
The issue is that almost everyone feels this fear of being watched.
This epidemic is avoidable and reversible. Read that again.
Start with choosing how YOU want your day / week to go...
I want to:
- Start my day at x and finish at y
- Not feel like I'm being watched every break I take (let me pee with freedom)
- Turn my mind off when I finish
- Attend my kids events without checking my phone
- Make that yoga class I've been meaning to have for months
- Finish my week feeling energetic!
Now you have a basic plan for the week, read through to the Career Hack section below - I’ll show you what to do next.