We can all lift the quality and quantity of our work in certain circumstances but can’t keep this up indefinitely unless we know there will be a time to recover.
Do you remember the scene in Schindler’s List where a camp guard was watching a prisoner producing mechanical parts on a lathe? He complimented him on how much work he had done and asked how long it took him to make one part. He wasn’t sure so the guard pulled out a stop watch and ordered him to make one as quickly as he was capable. You guessed it - the guard now ordered him to continue producing at this heightened rate or suffer the consequences.
Your DI is your discretionary energy. It is the energy you keep for home and hobbies. If you allow yourself to be drained at work, your family will only get the grumpy, worn out you. It doesn’t seem fair that your best people get the worst you.
If your organisation understands that energy is cyclical, it should arrange for periods of renewal. You need regular breaks and larger breaks after sustained periods of high performance. Energy ebbs and flows throughout the day. Heaven help the last customer on Friday when you are about to go home. This flow of energy varies over a ninety to one hundred and twenty minute cycle. If you ignore this continuous cycle you run the risk or draining yourself for the rest of the day. Mistakes and poor behaviour will follow.
If your organisation expects you to maintain your peaks without a time to recover, you need to look after yourself and protect your discretionary energy. Stress at work is now a recognised cause of death in Japan. It is called karoshi. Long hours without recovery is a death sentence. Death of imagination, politeness, attention to detail and just plain death.
Find some way of renewing your precious energy. Your physical energy renews itself if you push hard and rest afterwards providing you eat and sleep well. Pain will tell you when you are near the limits. Your emotional energy capacity is also increased by widening your range of emotions, expressing them and finding a way of dealing with negative emotions. Some people get great benefit from speaking about stressful situations with a trusted friend. Others seem to absorb the stress whilst doing something they enjoy.
So look after your energy. Take time out regularly throughout the day to recover and renew. I find that two hours is my limit for working on a project without a break. Find an activity that renews your spirit. Helping others seems to use and renew energy at the same time. Tiring and fulfilling. You need to find an activity that does this for you. Don’t get stuck in a job or activity that drains your energy and depletes your spirit. This is the start of a road that leads to boredom, sickness and spiritual bankruptcy. If you can’t change your job, change your attitude to your job. Serving others is the highest calling.
We have enough people out there who hate their jobs. How about joining the group that love their work and look forward to Mondays? Your clients will notice. Your family will notice. You will get even more DI.
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The Art Of Influence