You are building momentum…or burning out. Twelve months from now, the choice you made will be clear.
- A common excuse uttered while burning out is “I don’t have time to care for myself.”
- A mistake is believing that a balance between work and life can be achieved.
These errors stem from outdated thinking born from a previous era: Not long ago we were instructed to separate the time and activities dedicated to resolving the “urgent” while committing ample effort to doing what was “important.”
“That thinking is no longer effective,” a senior leader told me last week. “Differentiating the urgent from the important worked when environments were stable. The volatility today requires addressing what is urgent while also accomplishing what is important.” For example:
- Urgent: A supplier struggles to provide product on time. Important: The conscious team solves the problem in a manner that creates a new process which reduces cycle time.
- Urgent: Customer feedback requires fixes that extend workdays. Important: The conscious leader virtually attends meetings while increasing their pulse as they walk the path around campus.
- Urgent: Budget constraints eliminate the team off-site. Important: The conscious team answers the question: How will we use every-day meetings to grow bonds of trust?
Burnout is inevitable when operating with the belief that addressing the urgent takes energy. Operating at cause, instead of effect, reorients energy and returns you to control…and the ability to do what is always important.
Your schedule today is designed for your improvement.
