Why You Should Prioritize Wellbeing Over Productivity
The Coronavirus pandemic has upended our lives and demanded more from all of us. We’re navigating a new world of extreme telework, we’re stocking up on months’ worth of food and household supplies, we’re taking on more responsibilities at work and at home.
There are more virtual happy hours, family dinners, coffee chats, and Meetups than one could possibly fit into a week. There are more deadlines, more meetings, more assignments. There’s more pressure to perform, more pressure to get it right.
And there’s more burnout.
In a world where we don’t have the same access to mental health care as we do physical care, and where seeing a therapist still carries a stigma, we try to overlook it.
Women increasingly ignore the signs of burnout. We take on more responsibility at work to prove our value and remind leaders that we’re still here. We strive for perfection, even if it means staying up late or working through the weekend.
And while everything else in our lives has changed, our organizations still demand our best. We still have the same expectations from our leaders when it comes to productivity.
We work harder and longer to try to move the needle, but working harder doesn’t improve productivity.
Putting our wellbeing first does.
Why You Should Prioritize Wellbeing Over Productivity
Burnout and Self-Worth
Burnout was on the rise long before the Coronavirus pandemic, and given our new and uncertain way of working, women are feeling more pressure than ever to perform.
The World Health Organization defined the term “burnout” as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”
Add to that the unspoken expectation to do more when working from home, the extreme telework environment we’ve found ourselves in, and the emotional drain of navigating family dynamics, and it’s easy to feel inadequate or inferior.
Many women equate hard work with their own self-worth, or with the opportunity to prove themselves at work. Now, we’re working harder than ever to maintain focus, productivity, and motivation while also juggling kids, cooking three meals a day, and countless virtual happy hours with friends.
We put so much pressure on ourselves to be perfect, to go above and beyond expectations, but there’s little room for that kind of mentality in a pandemic environment. We’re not bringing our same level of boss lady energy to work, and it’s making us feel incompetent, incapable, defeated.
Our ability to be perfect is limited by our overtaxed thoughts, weighing decisions about the health and safety of our families, whether we’ll run out of toilet paper, or if that tickle in our throat is “just allergies.” We don’t feel like we’re doing enough (or being enough for that matter), and it’s hurting our focus and productivity at work.
Burnout and Being “On”
Before COVID-19, the 8-hour workday was quickly dissolving. We have our work email on our personal devices, and we feel pressured to always be available to fight fires or be responsive if our leaders need something urgent from us.
Given our new environment, we’re more available than ever. Events, travel, and social outings have been cancelled. We’re avoiding grocery shopping and hair appointments. And for those of us who are able to work remotely, we have the technology we need to stay connected.
In extreme telework, the use of video is often encouraged or enforced, which can put added pressure on women especially. Women are societally expected to wear makeup, look presentable, and be positive and pleasant.
Not only do we have to be “on” our devices, we need to be “on” mentally. We feel an increased pressure to perform in meetings because people are staring directly at our faces on screen. For some, this means having the right response to a question or the best idea of the group. For others, this can mean working on our poker face and not reacting to comments or negative feedback.
Burnout and Imbalance
Women are still fighting for equality at work and at home. Because of unconscious and organizational bias, women often don’t have the same opportunities to grow and develop skills at work. We’re reluctant to say no to new projects or opportunities for fear that in doing so, we’re limiting our chances for getting ahead. In our current situation, this means we take on even more work, despite our dwindling motivation and capacity to get it all done.
Women also spend far more time doing unpaid work at home. In one study, when researchers considered unpaid domestic responsibilities as “working hours”, they found that the average woman actually spends 39 more days working than the average man. Women spend more time than men on cooking, cleaning and childcare, even if both parents work full time.
While this is usually more of a societal issue than a workplace one, we’ve been thrust into a world where our work life and home life are indistinguishable. Schools are closed for the remainder of the school year, meaning women are navigating their own work and monitoring homework and lesson plans, while also cooking three meals a day for an entire family. In some cases, women choose to modify their working hours, spending the day caring for young children, then logging back in during early morning or evening hours to get it all done.
How to Prioritize Wellbeing Over Productivity
Recognize the signs of burnout
According to Psychology Today, burnout is a state of chronic stress that leads to physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism and detachment, and feelings of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment. We often don’t recognize burnout until it’s too late; we don’t wake up one day, suddenly burned out. It’s a slower process that creeps up on us over time.
But we can learn to recognize the signs of burnout by paying attention to how these signs manifest in our lives:
Physical and emotional exhaustion: You might feel chronically fatigued, suffer from insomnia, anxiety or depression, experience lack of focus or concentration, or even anger and agitation.
Cynicism and detachment: You might notice that you’re feeling more pessimistic about the world in general, or that you no longer enjoy your work, or that you’re feeling detached from your coworkers or organization.
Feelings of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment: You might feel irritated, unimportant, useless, because you're not able to do things as efficiently or effectively as you once did, or you might feel that you’re not as productive as you normally are.
Choose again
When you’re burned out at work, it’s easy to feel like you’ve lost control. That you’re no longer an agent of change in your own life, or that no matter what you do or how hard you work, it doesn’t matter.
Here’s the truth: what you’re not changing, you’re choosing. Whether it’s your thoughts, your mood, your environment, or what you’re eating for lunch. You are in control of how you spend your time and how you protect your energy.
In The Success Principles, Jack Canfield’s foundational principle is to take 100% responsibility for your life. That’s often a hard pill for many to swallow, and it seems a little insensitive to say when we’re living in a world where so much is out of our control. But it’s central to wellbeing.
When we recognize that we’re in control, we’re empowered to make decisions that protect our wellbeing. We can choose to stop watching the news or to say no to a virtual coffee chat. We stop blaming external things and start to focus on what we can control: our thoughts, our actions, how we support others, how we deal with difficult situations.
When you start to experience some of the signs of chronic stress or burnout, choose again. Choose to give yourself grace over forcing yourself to check everything off your to-do list. Choose to take a nap or go to bed earlier when you feel foggy or tired. Choose to focus on the good things you have in your life rather than dwelling on how much your life has changed. Gratitude goes a long way.
Set clear boundaries around work and home time
In 2019, I had the honor of speaking about this very topic to the AWS Ladies Leadership Group at Amazon. We talked about the myth of work-life balance, and how we should focus instead on boundaries, because they’re more permeable. There’s a lot of give and take between work and the rest of our lives, and it’s true now more than ever.
To set healthy boundaries, start with managing transition times. These are the times between work and non-work, such as mornings and evenings. One of my favorite ways to manage these transitions is to create little rituals for myself to signal the beginning and end of my work day. I start with a morning routine of journaling and meditation, then end the day by putting my laptop in my backpack and hopping on my Peloton. Those are two signals that help me create bookends around my day.
If your transition times aren’t as clear, you can set boundaries throughout your day, including opting for audio calls instead of video meetings, letting your roommates or family know when there are times you cannot be disturbed, or working with your manager to set expectations around times when you’ll be available. You can also set a physical boundary, like claiming a space just for work, that’s outside of your family or home space.
Reach out for support
Many of us feel that asking for help is a sign of weakness, when it’s truly a sign of great strength and self-awareness. And wellbeing is all about support – supporting your physical, mental, and emotional needs.
You can reach out for support from friends and family to vent about how you’re feeling, you can reach out to a coworker to help you with a challenge at work (I did this last week, and it gave me a major ah-ha moment!), or you can reach out to a spiritual teacher, therapist, or coach to help you navigate difficult emotions or challenges.
You can also ask for support from your employer. If you’re feeling overwhelmed with deadlines and more work than you had before, talk to your manager about your workload. You can also request items that will make teleworking easier, like a second computer monitor or virtual access to documents.
Finally, ask for support at home. Work with your partner to share the burden of increased childcare, household chores, and meal preparation.
Protect your energy
The key to protecting your energy after a stressful week is to know yourself and what you need to recover. What you need may change, depending on the situation, so determining what caused the stress can help you choose something from this list to counteract it.
If you’ve had to have several emotional conversations with your team members to help them navigate this new reality, then exercise or a long walk may be the best way for you to clear out that energy. On the other hand, if you’ve been doing nothing but grinding all week, preparing a deliverable for a client or leader, taking the time to do something creative or relaxing may be a great option to build up your energy reserves.
You can also say no to virtual social gatherings, get enough sleep each night, meditate, stop watching the news, practice mindfulness techniques, watch TV shows and movies that inspire you or make you laugh, play with your kids or pets, or start a gratitude practice. Whatever you need to feel whole is exactly what you should be doing.
The Takeaway
We’re not bringing our same selves to work. No one is. And we have to be okay with that.
There’s so much pressure to perform, to do more, to make the most of this time, to maintain social connection, even though we’re physically distanced.
And it’s all too much.
We can prioritize our wellbeing by decreasing demands and overwhelm, increasing support from our employers, and recognizing that we are in control of our time and energy.
It may seem counterintuitive to allow yourself the time to step away from your work when you have competing deadlines and demanding leaders. But it’s time to lose the guilt.
Prioritizing your wellbeing will ultimately improve your productivity and your organization, because it allows you to focus on your company’s most important asset – you.
