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.)

In Frank Herbert’s Dune the Litany Against Fear went:

I must not fear
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

When I first encountered that I was at an impressionable age. I thought then, and still believe to a certain extent, that Fear is the great enemy (Yes, I put a capital letter there on purpose.) Fear clouds our minds and makes us act irrationally. People leap from burning buildings out of fear of burning. Drowning people, afraid of drowning will take their rescuer with them to the bottom out of fear. Fear makes us do things we wouldn’t normally do. It takes us beyond ourselves to a primal state where an older, less rational, more reactive part of our brains makes decisions for us, and they’re not always the best decisions.

The examples I gave, burning, drowning, those are extreme examples of acute fear of an acute, extreme nature. What about day to day fear. Not the mind-numbing cold sweat nightmare fear that causes us to sit bolt upright in bed, heart racing.

But the low level, constant chronic rather than acute fears:

• of failure at work
• of loss of job
• of disappointing our loved ones
• of being downsized
• of that pain in our side? Is it a heart attack?
• of violence in our schools? Are our kids safe?

These fears live with us, riding on our backs every day, whispering into our ears during the quiet times in traffic. They can be a steady dialogue that we have with ourselves. The common name for them is stress. But that’s just because stress is a manly name. It’s socially acceptable to be stressed, but who wants to admit to being afraid?

So. When you’re stressed, or when you’re afraid, use some of these tips from Diet Blog for dealing with stress. They’re good for you. You’ll be better for it. Remember how I said in the outset that people acting out of fear don’t make the best decisions? It’s also true of people under constant low level stress.

From: Diet Blog: 17 Simple Ways to Release Stress

Here are some strategies for dealing with stress.

1. Use deep breathing - breathe in through your nose down to your stomach, hold your breath, and breathe out through your mouth.
2. Get aerobic exercise daily.
3. Take a walk, even a very short one when you’’re upset.
4. Practice yoga or tai chi or progressive relaxation.
5. Enjoy the soothing aspects of water -– swim or take a bath or a shower.
6. Make time to talk to friends and family members.
7. Pet and play with an animal.
8. Listen to or play uplifting music.
9. Read an inspiring book, sing a song, recite a poem.
10. Spend time in nature.
    …

There are more obviously… seven more or the title of the article wouldn’t make any sense at all would it? Practice as many of these as you have time for as often as you can. At least two a day. You’ll make better decisions. You’ll be a happier person, and you’re quantity and quality of work will improve. You’re friends/family and employees/employer will be glad you did. (FWIW: The ones in red are the ones I try and do every day. I get a lot of grief about listening to KLOVE but it’s calming.)

Again, with apologies:

I must not fear
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.

Such a great book. It’s about time to read it again I think.