Ever felt absolutely exhausted at work? Who hasn't? Long hours, deadlines to meet and pressure can lead to stress and a feeling of being completely drained. But those aren't the only things that bring us to that point. Studies have shown that we have more natural energy when our environment, health and emotional balance, money and relationships are all operating at a high level.
When I first heard this, like many people I was somewhat sceptical. How could these matters have an impact on my energy levels and the way I handle my work? After examining it more closely I discovered that the results of the studies were not necessarily related to workaholics (people whose work dominate their entire life), but included ordinary folks who just work an average eight- or ten-hour day and have time outside work for themselves.
My enquiry led me to a coaching tool called, "Clean Sweep" prepared by Coach U, a coaching company accredited by the International Coach Federation. The idea behind the "Clean Sweep" exercise is to identify how balanced we are in four important areas of our life: physical environment, health and emotional balance, money and relationships.
The programme makes a series of statements describing what might be considered to be benchmarks or goals and asks the user to tick a box against those that are true for their life. Some of the questions are obvious while others are obscure. Here are a few interesting examples of the statements in the "Clean Sweep" exercise:
"My personal files, papers, and receipts are neatly filed away."
"I am not tolerating anything about my home or work environment."
"I use caffeine (chocolate, coffee, colas, tea) less than three times per week, total."
"I don't rush or use adrenaline to get the job done."
"I have something to look forward to every day."
By responding to these seemingly random statements I began to develop a picture as to how balanced my lifestyle was. I was fascinated by the results and found they fairly accurately reflected the balance in my life. I could see the areas where I needed to take steps to improve the balance and, as the instructions for the tool claimed, to gain more natural energy. When I learnt that most people take several weeks, months, or even up to a year to address their "problem areas," this gave me the encouragement that I could do it. I now use this coaching tool with my clients, who have found that it works and particularly like the fact that they can monitor their own progress.
Another coaching tool that my clients have responded to very positively is an exercise called "What Are You Tolerating?" We all put up with a lot in our lives. We tolerate unsatisfactory situations, unfinished business, people's behaviour that drags us down, and even our own habits and behaviour! In fact, we're all tolerating a lot more than we realise, and these "tolerations" actually affect our energy level and vitality, sometimes leaving us with insufficient energy to cope with the normal demands of our working day.
By making a list of all the things you are putting up with (tolerating) at work, home, with family and with yourself you'll start to become aware of things you hadn't even thought about that are affecting your energy, productivity and your working day.
Here are some examples of the type of things that people have identified as situations they put up with or tolerate:
- Not enough storage space for my files
- Not having a spare key for the car
- A desk full of stacks of papers
- Negative attitudes of people I work with
- Peeling wallpaper
- Eating too much sugar and salt
- Being overweight
- Poor customer service
- A partner's messy office
- People who don't return my callsNot saving money every month
- Hair that doesn't look good
- Excessive clutter
- Broken cabinet door
- Working at a job I don't enjoy
This coaching tool is very useful when coaching people at all levels. For example, a senior executive arrived exhausted for a career coaching session. He was not physically exhausted but felt mentally swamped with issues in his personal and professional life, leaving him with a feeling of being unable to cope. We worked together to identify the specific things he was tolerating in the various aspects of his life - not just career issues. At our next coaching session he reported two significant revelations he had had. The first was that the list of tolerations (things he was putting up with) was considerable. Secondly, he estimated that 80 per cent of them could be dealt with by taking two days off from work.
Why was this so important? By taking positive and decisive action to address the things that were draining him he had more energy to deal with and address the 20 per cent that were more challenging and time consuming.
Why is it so important to deal with our tolerations? Let's examine that question by considering that ideally we start off each day with, say 100 units of energy. This should be enough to see us through the day and give us energy to cope. If we are loaded down with tolerations we may only start with, say, 40 units of energy. When we face challenges throughout the working day, if we are not firing on all cylinders then we will naturally find it more difficult to cope.
One of the best explanations I've heard of the importance of having a balanced lifestyle is found in Stephen Covey's book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. He tells a story of two woodmen who were sawing logs. One was working far longer but was sawing fewer logs than the other woodman who worked fewer hours and took frequent breaks. It turned out that the woodman who was working fewer hours and cutting more logs was taking time out to sharpen his saw!
Some people buy into the myth that employers want to have workaholics on their staff. Enlightened employers understand that it is better to have an employee whose work is part of their life rather than one whose work is their life. Whether you fall into the category of being a workaholic who needs to sharpen your saw, or if you would just like to make a clean sweep, address your tolerations, and gain more energy and balance in your life, a coach may be able to help you.
Daniel Ough, founder and director of sandpipercoaching.com and jobsearchhelp.net, answers questions related to careers exclusively for readers of Friday. Email: friday@gulfnews.com
