simplerich

I’ve talked about the triage my company went through. There were deep cuts and they were necessary; some may still be. I can’t see how much more there is to cut. I think we’ve lost the fat and anything else would be meat. I say that not because I’m one of the meat heads that are left, but because everybody’s so over-worked right now that taking time off means coming back is almost worse than staying on. I don’t really mean that… much.

I was working recently in a hotel room while I waited for a blizzard to blow itself out and by working I mean I was on facebook seeing what my 36 closest friends from high school that I haven’t talked to in twenty years were eating for dinner or watching on television. You know… when I say it like that it’s a little off-putting. Anyway… One of the things that was said by someone who I confused for his brother (or maybe vice versa) when I first found them both on facebook was “I think people are working longer hard faster to stand out not to be voted off the island.”

I’ve noticed some very similar behaviors where people who are nervous about their job, whether they should be or not. Instead of them just beavering along on their jobs doing it the way they  know how to do it and have been doing it for years. Now, suddenly, since the firings started, there are phone calls, e-mails, faxes, all sorts of things that virtually shout to the bosses “Hey! Lookit me working! See that time stamp!?! It’s 10pm on a Sunday! How’s THAT for dedication?” That’s what they think they’re saying. They might be saying that to someone else.

To me they’re saying, “I suck at time management! I’m disrupting those around me to make sure I’m noticed! I’m insecure and want to make damned sure you know it! Here’s me never having down time to rest and recharge so I’m more effective later!” That’s what I’m hearing from them. It’s not what they mean to say, but it’s what I’m hearing.

Listen to me now, and hear me later! Take time off! You have to have time away from a task to be effective. I’m not kidding. If you can’t stop doing what you’re doing long enough to take a lunch or take in a movie with the phone turned off then YOU are the problem. If you can’t let go you’re a terrible manager and employee.

I don’t want an army of people who are always on. I want an army of people on top of their game. There will be times when we’re required by our jobs to do long hours. But if you’re doing them to generate noise to appear busy and important then you’re increasing the noise and decreasing the ease with which I can distinguish signal from noise. When I start screening your calls, you’re in trouble. It means you’ve become a bother instead of someone with whom I feel I need to communicate. That’s a situation where we both lose.

So, unplug, disconnect, get a hobby and cultivate it. If you’ve got kids, go play with them. If you DON’T have kids find some you can borrow and do something they want to do for a while. Nothing takes you out of work world stress more than playing with Hot Wheels on the floor with a 3 year old. (Whatever you do… don’t take the Mustang without asking first – you’ve been warned.)