We know that busyness at work doesn’t equate to productivity nor talent. We know that working to the point of exhaustion isn’t admirable. We know that being too busy at work to honour other commitments doesn’t mean you’re important. We know that working more hours than everyone else isn’t a status symbol. And we know that busyness can lead to burn-out which isn’t healthy.
Yet somehow, busyness has become the norm and burn-out accepted as part of working life. The beauty and necessity of thinking time or idleness at work seems to be replaced by a need to feel and/or be seen as active. Our brain indeed benefits from down-time which allows information processing, learning and forming memories. Plus, the psychology of scarcity suggests that when we are time-poor our ability to make decisions is impaired. Busyness creates busyness.
We know that managing and reducing workplace stress is critical for our wellbeing. But it can be challenging to do so particularly when we aren’t in full control of our work schedule. Fortunately, we have more control over our leisure time (i.e. non-work time) and this realisation was a key factor for me to manage workplace stress.
Read my full article here.