Wednesday, September 04, 2013
Arianna Huffington: Burnout- The Disease of our Generation
SERENE: On the other side of the screen, there are more and more examples of companies, large and small, prioritizing well-being. And even at companies that haven’t yet learned why encouraging well-being is good for both their employees and their bottom line, there are more and more examples of individuals applying Third Metric principles in their own lives to help themselves cope with the negative effects of a retrograde workplace atmosphere.
One of the primary things keeping many businesses from adopting more sane and sustainable metrics of success is the stubborn — and dangerously wrongheaded — myth that prioritizing health and wellbeing is incompatible with a healthy bottom line — and that there is a trade-off between high performance and taking care of ourselves. As countless studies show, this couldn’t be less true.
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7 comments:
I really liked the quote: "One of the primary things keeping many businesses from adopting more sane and sustainable metrics of success is the... myth that...that there is a trade-off between high performance and taking care of ourselves."
I know that my in unit we had a lot of really ambitious soldiers who really wanted to prove themselves. They would stay and work till really late and sometimes forget to take care of themselves.
We the commanders always took it upon ourselves to talk to them and try to explain to them the importance of keeping balance in their life. We always tried telling them that if they keep up this difficult schedule then the would't be able to last for long and that they should instead do extracurricular activities and take care of themselves. That is really the best way to be a good worker.
I'm not stressed out! I don't think on site yoga classes are necessary, I think that if you take tiny bits of time to do things you know you will thank yourself for doing later you will be a calmer person. For example, picking up your dirty clothes off the floor is a chore that take under 30 seconds to complete. You have those 30 seconds every single day, I promise you do. However, if you neglect it, it becomes a GIANT pile of clothes on the floor and you have so much else to do and suddenly there's the stress! So if you keep your life in order, you can keep your work in order more easily. And vice versa. It's all about not forgetting to take time to do tiny things. And please, move sometimes. I'm not going to go into it because I could write a novel, but if you sit at your desk all day and eat pizza and brownies you are going to feel sluggish and gross all the time. There's no reward in bragging about that kind of stuff, so stop doing it.
So true!!
There is so much in this article to absorb, and so much that we forget and neglect. On the topic of technology -- as always, a double-sided blade. I have refused for years to get a smart phone. Why? Because I hate seeing a couple at a restaurant, not talking to each other but rather absorbed in their individual phones, checking email, sending texts, etc. I hate when I'm driving and someone walks out into the street completely absorbed in their smart phone, with headphones on, and has absolutely no idea they were walking into incoming traffic. When I'm at school and I don't bring a computer with me, I'm infinitely more productive. I suffer in that I tend to not check email until evening at which point I may have missed something during the day, but in general I don't see the need to check email more than three times a day and I think I'm more productive for it. I'm always struggling with this because I don't want to create inconvenience for others, but on the other hand I'm less stressed and more productive for it. Technology has enabled us to do so many amazing things and it helps us to stay connected to the world in a way that was not possible in the recent past. I do agree though that it has added lots os stress and complications to an already stressful life. The balance is out there, but like with anything, we need to learn moderation first and figure out how to manage it all.
I want to add that I think it's also important for students to learn how to handle a stressful workplace and learn the importance of healthy living. I see so many students let all their healthy practices fall away with school and it makes them so much less productive and so much more miserable. Everyone tends to brag about it too! (I don't think all-nighters should be award worthy!) Healthy workplace, healthy learning environment -- we can't forget about these things at all stags in life!
This article really resonated with me as I work to reenter the college student atmosphere. For those of us with a little (ahem, a lot) less self-discipline than Kassondra (whom Nike should just sponsor tomorrow), I've found it helpful to sort of take Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs)and create something similar (and more specific) for myself. For instance, I KNOW I require 8 hours of sleep almost every single night, which means I have to really utilize my weekends and breaks during the day effectively. I also know that if I don't eat some semblance of nutritiously, I will get sick, so I cook on Sundays for the whole week etc.
I'm one of those people who really needs to articulate exactly what she needs to be "successful" (and what successful means) or else I get bogged down in the muck of every day and end up reacting instead of being proactive, which is never helpful.
I read this last week when Madelle sent it out to the school, and was really struck by the focus of the article on what should be important in our lives. I have read in the past about other countries whose citizens are generally much happy and healthier that Americans, and a lot of it has to do with prioritizing happiness, healthiness, and family-life over work. I know that we all have to work in order for the world to go around, but work shouldn't be the focus. Our social lives and physical and mental health should not have to be put on the back-burner because of work. This is a problem in our greater society, as well as within our small community here at CMU. I appreciate the companies that are trying to make things better for their employees. This article makes it seem like a win-win situation for those companies and their employees: the employees are happier and healthier (so they cost the company less), and more productive while putting in the same amount of hours (or less). I'm sure the efforts of these companies to better the lives of their employees also creates a sense of company loyalty, which means less turn-over (and, therefore, better institutional memory) for the company. I hope to see this trend catch on. We should all be looking out for one another, and I greatly respect these employers for looking out for the well-being of their employees.
I think part of the problem is, as the article points out, for so many people now their main source of diversion or "personal time" is also screen based. Pocket technology has become the main recreational activity in our culture. I had an office job for the first time in my life this summer. I've never spent so much time sitting in front of a screen in my life (seriously, I think I doubled my per-vita screen time in three months), nor do I want to again. What was most shocking to me, however, was that when the break bell rang, most of my co-workers spent their 15 minutes of freedom on Facebook, either on their phones or their computers. As David Roberts is quoted in the article, "It's doing things to [our] brain[s]." Finding other ways to engage your body and mind are not only essential to personal health, but to discovering new ways to be better at your job. If all we do, every day, at and away from work, is fuss with the minor accomplishments that technology can offer, we are doomed to mediocrity.
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