1344: Why Your Work-Life Should Never Be Built on the Silicon Valley Model by Carl Pullein on Self-Improvement

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Work Daily, Episode 1344.

[00:00:04] Why Your Work Life Should Never Be Built on the Silicon Valley Model

[00:00:07] by Karl Palin of KarlPalin.com.

[00:00:11] And hey there! I am Dan. I'm your host and welcome to this Wednesday edition of the podcast

[00:00:15] where I read to you every single day talking about work, productivity, entrepreneurship,

[00:00:20] and a whole lot of related topics.

[00:00:22] So we're going to get right to it today as we optimize your life.

[00:00:30] Why Your Work Life Should Never Be Built on the Silicon Valley Model

[00:00:34] by Karl Palin of KarlPalin.com.

[00:00:38] I've been reading Lab Rats, How Silicon Valley Made Work Miserable for the Rest of Us

[00:00:43] by Dan Lyons and I've been amazed that intelligent and incredibly talented people

[00:00:48] have become so obsessed with working for a Silicon Valley startup that they are willing

[00:00:52] to sacrifice not just their private lives but their dignity and health as well.

[00:00:56] Our work should be enjoyable and fulfilling, but it should not become all-consuming.

[00:01:01] Work is something we need to keep us mentally healthy.

[00:01:04] It gives us a purpose and a reason to get out of bed in the morning.

[00:01:07] It also provides an income so we can put food on the table

[00:01:10] and enjoy the benefits of living in an amazing world that allows us to travel

[00:01:13] to far-off places that would have taken months to get to just a hundred years ago.

[00:01:18] But that does not mean we should allow work to consume all our time.

[00:01:21] We need rest and relaxation too.

[00:01:24] One reason you need time for yourself is to preserve your ability to be creative.

[00:01:28] Our creative ideas do not come from sitting in front of a computer screen

[00:01:32] 20 hours a day dealing with the same issues.

[00:01:34] They come from nature, from getting outside and spending time with friends and family,

[00:01:39] and the experiences we have when we are not doing our work.

[00:01:42] You will never improve your skills doing the same stuff every day over long periods.

[00:01:47] To improve your skills, you need time away from your work.

[00:01:51] But far and away, the most important reason you need to be taking sufficient rest

[00:01:54] is for your health.

[00:01:56] If you're not taking care of your health,

[00:01:57] then no matter how much money you earn working in a slavish startup culture,

[00:02:01] it will not be beneficial to you as you will not have the health,

[00:02:04] energy and vitality to enjoy it.

[00:02:07] Sure, you might think because you're still young,

[00:02:09] you can slow down and take care of your health later, but that rarely happens.

[00:02:13] The damage you do to your health today will come back and haunt you later.

[00:02:17] Heart disease, back, shoulder and neck problems develop when you're young

[00:02:21] and become debilitating in your later years.

[00:02:24] Is that obsession for money really worth that sacrifice?

[00:02:27] Instead, you should be developing yourself,

[00:02:30] building healthy, positive habits and seeing your work as a purpose.

[00:02:34] Developing real meaningful friendships will always be better

[00:02:37] than developing a network of acquaintances you only use to further your career.

[00:02:41] Here are a few ideas that will go a long way

[00:02:43] toward helping you develop the right mindset for a healthy, positive life.

[00:02:48] 1. Always make time for yourself

[00:02:52] This needs to be a daily activity.

[00:02:54] Whether you meditate, exercise or journal, you need time each day for yourself.

[00:02:59] Giving yourself 30-60 minutes each day to do something you love doing

[00:03:03] will give you the necessary mental space to relax, have fun and focus on yourself.

[00:03:08] Exercising, walking and meditating are three activities that should form a part of your

[00:03:12] daily life. It does not mean spending hours in the gym or out running,

[00:03:17] it just means you get around 30 minutes of physical activity each day

[00:03:20] and some quiet time to reflect and relax.

[00:03:23] 2. Never sacrifice your sleep time

[00:03:27] As more and more scientific research is being published on the debilitating effects of not

[00:03:31] getting enough sleep, we should all be aware now of the dangers of persistent lack of sleep.

[00:03:36] Without the right amount of sleep each night, you will never be able to perform at your best.

[00:03:40] So, take some time to work out how much sleep you need and make sure you get that each night.

[00:03:45] The long-term damage consistent lack of sleep does to your health is just not worth it.

[00:03:50] Trying to do an all-nighter might sound heroic, but the reality is you're not going to be doing

[00:03:54] your best work or be efficient if you are in a state of sleep debt. You'd be far better stopping,

[00:04:00] getting a good night's sleep and returning to your task refreshed and alert the next day.

[00:04:05] 3. Review your personal goals and objectives once a week

[00:04:09] When we allow ourselves to become absorbed in the daily grind,

[00:04:12] we lose sight of what is important to us as individuals. We are constantly firefighting at

[00:04:17] work and never stopping to look up to see if what we are doing is important to us as individuals.

[00:04:22] This is why each week you should be reviewing what you've done and asking if what you did that

[00:04:27] week aligned with your personal goals and objectives. If your goal is to start your

[00:04:31] own business, for example, how much time did you spend developing your business ideas?

[00:04:35] How much time did you give to yourself and your personal relationships?

[00:04:39] If you spent all your time on your work issues, then you know you need to adjust things so you're

[00:04:44] giving yourself time to work on what is important to you. And 4. Spend time with the people that

[00:04:50] matter to you Relationships are important. We humans are

[00:04:54] social beings and we need that connection with people that matter to us. If you are not spending

[00:04:59] time with the people you love, and instead are spending all your time in your place of work

[00:05:03] thinking, when I'm rich I'll be able to spend more time with my friends, you are deluding yourself.

[00:05:09] Money never replaces real friendships, and you will never feel you have enough money.

[00:05:13] Make sure you spend quality time each week with the people that matter to you.

[00:05:17] It will give you more balance and happiness than money ever will.

[00:05:21] When you take a little time each week to work on yourself, your health, and your relationships,

[00:05:26] you will have far better balance in your life. You will find yourself much more relaxed,

[00:05:31] and your creativity will explode. Now that's a far better way to live your life than being a lab rat

[00:05:37] chasing something that will never bring you long-term happiness or health.

[00:05:45] You just listened to the post titled, Why your work life should never be built on the Silicon

[00:05:49] Valley model by Karl Palin of KarlPalin.com. We're driven by the search for better. But when

[00:05:57] it comes to hiring, the best way to search for a candidate isn't to search at all. Don't search,

[00:06:02] match with Indeed. Indeed is your matching and hiring platform with over 350 million global

[00:06:09] monthly visitors and a matching engine that helps you find quality candidates fast.

[00:06:14] Ditch the busy work, use Indeed for scheduling, screening, and messaging.

[00:06:18] 93% of employers agree. Indeed delivers the highest quality matches compared to other job sites.

[00:06:25] One of the things I love about Indeed is that it filters out those incompatible applicants. So

[00:06:29] when you're hiring, the process is much faster, and you only have to consider applicants that are

[00:06:34] already likely to be a great fit. And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit

[00:06:40] to get your job's more visibility at indeed.com. So just go to indeed.com. Start up right now

[00:06:47] and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast,

[00:06:51] indeed.com. Start up terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? You need Indeed.

[00:06:59] And thank you so much to Karl for letting us share the articles from his site regularly here at OWD.

[00:07:04] Karl is a renowned productivity and time management coach who's now helped thousands

[00:07:08] of people around the world get better at managing their time and become more productive

[00:07:12] using technology they carry around with them every day. You can check out his podcast,

[00:07:17] which is called the Working With Podcast, and Karl has written three books on productivity

[00:07:21] and time management, and he's also got a couple of courses you can check out.

[00:07:25] They're called Time and Life Mastery and Your Digital Life. His stated purpose is to help

[00:07:30] people learn how to manage their time so they can enjoy their lives and build a life they are truly

[00:07:35] proud of. And Karl is also featured on Optimal Living Daily, which is the original show in our

[00:07:40] network, so you can check out that podcast for more. And be sure to come by KarlPullein.com

[00:07:45] to show your support, and that is Karl, C-A-R-L, Pullein, P-U-L-L-E-I-N.com.

[00:07:54] That wraps up our episode for today. I do hope you enjoyed the post from Karl and that you'll

[00:07:58] join me again tomorrow, where your optimal life awaits.