2077: The Epidemic of Overwork AND Guilt-Free Legato Time by Julie Morgenstern on Work Life Balance

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[00:00:58] This is Optimal Work Daily. The Epidemic of Overwork By Julie Morgenstern Of juliemorgenstern.com Are you buckling under the weight of an overwhelming workload? If so, you're not alone. We are living in a time of extreme overwork, and studies show that it has created a global crisis of burnout. So, what do we do? Do we do? Just buckle down and continue to work extended hours trying to tackle everything flying at

[00:01:27] us, even if we burn out in the process? Or is there a better way to navigate our extreme workloads? I'd like to propose a new approach that will enable you to work smart, not hard. Here are three very practical techniques to negotiate your way through a crushing workload, and focus on what is most important. Number one, speak up. A simple first step is to speak up. Remember, time is not just an individual resource. It's a collective one.

[00:01:55] You and everybody you work with are all time-starved and trying to move mountains with limited resources. So be a time leader and make it comfortable, frequent, and fluid to talk about time together and problem-solve time dilemmas. Of the many questions you can ask to make sure everyone is focused on the highest and best use of time, let's start with the first two essential ones. Whenever you're being given a task or an ask that feels overwhelming and is more than you have the capacity for,

[00:02:24] ask two questions. First, what is the goal we're trying to achieve? And once you understand the goal and acknowledge its importance, you can ask the second question. What's the most efficient way for us to get to that goal? Suddenly, you are a strategic thought partner to that person. You are positioned to work together to achieve the shared goal in the most efficient way possible, saving everyone time. That makes you a hero, or what I like to call, a time leader. Two, prioritize looking ahead.

[00:02:55] No matter how busy you get, how much is flying at you, never allow yourself to skip daily planning. When you don't take a few minutes at the end of every day to step back, look at your schedule, update your to-do list, and plan the next day, you will undoubtedly get caught up in unnecessary urgencies and redundancies. Because you have no time to think strategically. Block and stick to 15 to 20 minutes at the end of every day where you stop, look, and plan tomorrow plus the two days following.

[00:03:23] This will allow you to regroup and become as strategic as you can about what is the highest and best use of your time, and negotiate with people if you find things that are redundant, meetings where you have no value to add, and obsolete tasks. You will catch double-booked meetings, see redundancies, and anticipate what might derail you. And number three, leave space and grace.

[00:03:47] When managing overwhelming workloads, we tend to pack our days so tightly that there is no room for anything to go wrong. Then, when the inevitable obstacles arise, there's no space to problem solve. If we are all just so busy doing without any time to think, there is a great deal of chaos. The busier we get, the more important it is to build in the space and grace to collaborate with your colleagues on the problems and processes that arise. Meet with your team at the end of each week for a 30-minute breather.

[00:04:16] As a group, evaluate how the week went, identify any processes that can be improved, and look at the week ahead to see what is coming up, what can wait, what can be streamlined, and even cut completely to keep everyone focused on the highest and best use of your individual and collective time. Time is a shared resource, so it is worthy of shared problem-solving. In a situation of overwork, your greatest strength is collaborating with others and speaking up.

[00:04:44] When you realize that time is a shared, important, and finite resource, you will be motivated to speak up, prioritize planning every day, and leave space and grace to collaborate with your team. These tools woven into your everyday life will leave you more productive and feeling in control and satisfied with your work. Guilt-Free Legato Time by Julie Morgenstern of juliemorgenstern.com

[00:05:14] When you block off time in your calendar to focus on proactive, deep-thinking work, do you find it hard to concentrate because a little part of you wonders if you will be seen as irresponsible when you don't immediately respond to Slack or email? You end up making little progress on your project because everyone is used to hearing back from you within minutes. The culture and habit of instant response causes us to be anxious about being offline, even for just a couple of hours.

[00:05:40] It's common to think that deep work is your work, while meetings and email requests are other people's work. But the truth is, the focused work you are doing is really the team's and company's work. It's also where you make your unique contribution. So there is no better time to do deep, focused work than during your prime working hours. So, how do you break the instant response impulse and do your quiet, focused work guilt-free? Here are three practical strategies.

[00:06:08] 1. Do a Reality Check A client of mine whom I consider a true time leader coaches her team to do a reality check on what she calls SIP, self-imposed pressure. Many high-achieving professionals have an internal drive to exceed expectations and pride themselves on always being available and responsive. Search your soul to determine how much of the expectation for instant response is self-imposed pressure, and whether it's true that others expect or need a response instantly.

[00:06:37] For the most part, people understand if you don't respond in 10 minutes or even 2 hours, knowing you may be in a meeting or doing work. Consider what percentage of the anxiety to always be available is self-imposed pressure versus real external needs. 2. Align with your inner circle Communicate with the small circle of people who you work with closely. Identify your team and colleagues that are most used to an instant response, or are reliant on your feedback. Say to them,

[00:07:06] I'm trying to get deep work done and a big project finished. I won't be on Slack or email for an hour or two at a time. If you have anything urgent that can't wait, please call me. This way you remain accessible and reliable to the people who most depend on you, while also being responsible and able to get the deep work done. 3. Make the deep work visible Don't hide what you are doing. Make it transparent. Make the deep work visible by blocking the time in your calendar.

[00:07:35] You can call it project work, focus time, legato work, or even the name of the project you are working on. For example, strategic plan, write newsletter, or product development. And talk to peers, direct reports, and managers about what you're doing in that time. Things like, This week in my deep work time I'm completing the strategic plan. Or, I'm developing a new product strategy. Or, I'm working on process improvement for that repeated problem that consistently wastes our time.

[00:08:05] Communicating what you are doing and what the results are will not only quiet your anxiety when you disconnect, it might even inspire others to carve out time for their own deep thinking, legato work. When you practice these three simple, but not easy, tips, you might really change the instant response expectations, both internal and external. You and your team will come to realize that constant accessibility is not where we truly make our impact.

[00:08:29] It is the balance between responsiveness and deep thinking work, where we make our unique and best contributions. You just listened to the posts titled, The Epidemic of Overwork and Guilt-Free Legato Time by Julie Morgenstern of juliemorgenstern.com. Study And play Come together on a Windows 11 PC And for a limited time, college students get The best Of both worlds

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[00:09:51] Julie Morgenstern is an organizing and productivity consultant as well as a New York Times bestselling author and speaker. For over 25 years, Julie has been teaching people all around the world and at all stages of life how to overcome disorganization to achieve their goals. She's the inventor of the inside-out approach to organization and she's also the brain behind their services. Julie has a bunch of great articles and much more on her website. You can check it all out at JulieMorganStern.com

[00:10:19] And again, a big thanks to Julie for letting us share her work here. Okay, that's gonna do it for this episode. I thank you as always for being here with me and for clicking subscribe or follow in whatever podcast app you use. And I hope you'll be right back here with me tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.