I have worked with business partners in the past who started each conversation reciting all the meetings they had endured so far that day and all the meetings they still had to fit in before claiming a modest 4 hours of sleep and starting the self-imposed madness all over again the next day. Their busy schedule was a badge of honor. Stress has somehow become the new status symbol and I continue to find that peculiar—and exhausting.
“Stressed” is now a status symbol and I can’t be sure exactly when it happened. Stress is widely understood to be a negative emotion, one synonymous with (or at least similar to) anxiety and unhappiness. In spite of this, I think it’s safe to assume that most of us have humble-bragged, however indirectly, about how “stressed” or “busy” we are.
The writer’s theory is this:
We have fallen victim to the societal, culturally constructed concept that our input (the effort and energy we expend) is more vital to our success than our output (the actual value we produce).
I am a huge proponent of a strong work ethic but I believe it’s about working smarter, not longer. So how do we shift our focus toward a better balance? Here are some ideas:
1. Remind yourself that happiness is not an achievement.
It’s easy to fall into the mindset that you’ll have time to be happy and enjoy yourself after you accomplish x, y, and z. However, human nature (and plenty of academic research) suggests that after each major achievement, our brain adapts and then sets its sights on a new goal. The cliché that “happiness is a journey, not a destination” holds true here. Insert activities you enjoy, self-love, self-care and relaxation into your daily pursuit of success.
2. Just go to sleep already.
The concept that we need sleep to be successful is not new or groundbreaking, but it’s easy to disregard what we already know to be true: We will be healthier, happier, and more productive if we regularly get a full night’s rest. Make sleep a priority and take the necessary steps to make it happen, even if that means setting a regular bedtime or kicking yourself off of electronics after a certain time.
3. Work smart, not hard.
This may be the most important takeaway: Shift your point of focus to your output, not your input. Remembering that the quality of the end-product is what matters (whether that be a research paper or a work presentation) can help you streamline the process of getting there. We all know social media can be a time-suck, so install a website blocker to keep yourself off of distracting sites, roll up your sleeves, and get your work done more quickly and more productively.
Don’t romanticize stress. Don’t conflate being busy with being successful.
Read the entire article here: http://theeverygirl.com/why-do-we-romanticize-stress
*Image from evatomarket.com
