Ever have those inspirational ideas in the shower? I know I do. And after reading some interesting blogs by Michael Hyatt, blogger, founder and CEO of Intentional Leadership, I’ve realised exactly why. I’ve also realised, after thinking more about what he said, just how important that “shower time” is. And how we need to make more of it, in order to achieve more.
In short, though, “shower time” as I’m calling it, is really free time – time off, time away from our computers, away from our phones, away from the 24/7 distractions and demands of our portable devices, and time purposefully away from work. And, to answer the question that popped straight into my mind, no, it’s not profitable for an entrepreneur to be a workaholic, it’s not advisable for a good business leader to put in days and nights of extra time. In Michael Hyatt’s words, it’s simply “self destructive and stupid”!
In fact Hyatt’s recommendation is that everyone within an organisation, should be diligent about separating work and home life, should be sure to get sufficient rest, and should turn off their laptops over weekends. He gives us three good reasons:
1. Rested employees are better employees. There is a massive amount of research showing the importance of sleep and rest. Skipping sleep to spend more time working is not heroic, it’s dumb. When people cheat their sleep and recreation, they are less effective employees. Their productivity dive bombs along with their creativity, judgment and everything else.
2. It’s difficult to separate work life and home life. Technology has erased the divide between work life and home life. Our phones and portable devices mean we’re always on—as much as seventy hours a week or more. This includes nights and weekends, which leaves little to no room for family.
And this goes both ways. When our personal lives are out of kilter, it wrecks our professional performance. When we eat up family time, our family suffers. Then we drag that stress into the office. We don’t find many cases of people whose productivity improved while their marriage ended or their kids were going off a cliff.
Bottom line: A business culture that encourages employees to work all hours damages the support structure at home that makes those employees good at their jobs in the first place.
1. Burnout breeds cynicism. Not only does burnout hurt the employee’s professional and personal life, it breeds the kind of cynicism that kills offices and hinders customer relations. This is because employees get the message that they don’t matter. They see the company winning while they lose, and their families often see it that way too. Often, thanks to the lower productivity that comes with burnout, these employees are not even making sufficient gains to show for their sacrifices.
How to achieve this, of course, is a challenge in itself. Michael Hyatt has value to add here too:
“An over-busy life is not an economic necessity; it’s a failure of imagination,” Hyatt says. So how do we go about helping people win at work and succeed in life?
Determine that they will NOT work certain hours, but be smart and creative with that time instead. Spend it with families, exercising, playing, travelling, reading or sleeping. Make it truly unplugged time. Here are three ways:
1.We Need to Play
Research show that people who demonstrate deep joy and life satisfaction, fool around a lot. In other words, happy people play. Believe it or not, play actually helps us solve problems, meet deadlines and finish tasks. Play lights up the brain, it nurtures a supple mind, a willingness to think in new ways and make unexpected associations, play rejuvenates and stimulates our creativity. It also helps us pop the stress balloon. Whether it’s goofing around with your partner, your kids or your dog, do it.
2.We Need to Rest
Human beings need sleep. As vital as oxygen, water and food, a shortage of sleep rapidly leads to problems including impaired learning and thinking, poor judgement, overemotional responses, memory loss, depression, impaired motor skills, weight gain, diabetes, heart disease and in some cases, ultimately death. So close the laptop and take a nap, go to bed early, get up late, don’t set the alarm. Just rest!
3.We Need Time with Our Thoughts
And this is back to shower time. How often do we daydream or even allow ourselves to get bored? When we are driving we have the radio on, controlling our thoughts. When we are at home we have the TV on, controlling our thoughts. When then is “time-out” for our brains? When do we let out minds just wander?
An “unoccupied” mind is actually hugely functional. When we drop things into neutral, ideas flow on their own, memories sort themselves out, and we give ourselves a chance to rest. We also free up our minds to:
• constructively envision our future—essential for planning and goal setting
• reflect on our thoughts and actions—central to living intentionally
• make fresh and creative associations between ideas—key to problem solving
It isn’t enough just to snatch those moments of neutral-thinking in the shower. We owe it to ourselves, our minds, our families and our businesses not to cheat rejuvenation by trying to cram more work into evenings and weekends. But to see what happens to our creativity, energy, and attitude when we take the time our bodies needs to rest.
Read more on: www.michaelhyatt.com