How to Dodge the Doom and Gloom

I've been meaning to write a blog entry about a WSJ article from a month ago, by Sue Shellenbarger. It was entitled "Another Casualty from the Crisis: Family Time."

The gist of the article is, as you might expect, that the coming recession, now "officially here" (why it took a year to make it official is another whole blog entry), will put a strain on workers. That strain will come in the form of more work to go around for fewer workers which, of course, translates into longer hours. Here's a quote from the article, where Sue is quoting Jennifer Mathis:

She (Jennifer) expects instead to work harder and longer as co-workers, hard-pressed by staff cuts, look for "more from me, rather than less.

Sounds reasonable, right? Of course we are all going to have to produce more with less, right? And of course that means we are all going to have to work longer hours, right?

WRONG!

It's that last conclusion, the automatic "working harder means working longer" assumption, that makes me want to scream. It's absolutely false. You do NOT have to work longer to increase your productivity. In fact, the OPPOSITE is true. The key to sustained productivity is working SMARTER. In fact, in times of high stress you must focus MORE on your work-life balancing so you can sustain yourself -- your passion, your energy, and your enthusiasm -- over the long run.

Put it this way. Does anyone think this recession is going to be a short one? Are you already working 50-60 hour weeks now? Is anyone expecting more funding next year? Or more hiring to help with workload? No, of course not. Put those together and we are looking at the equivalent of running a marathon, folks. And would you run a marathon by starting out at a sprint?

To me, the logic is inescapable. The current conditions imply we must master work-life balancing. It's the only way to increase productivity in an environment where you know there is no more time to squeeze out of your calendar.

So how do you do that? Well, now would be a good time to review the basic principles of work-life that I've written about in this blog (see here). If you've been considering it but haven't tried it yet, now mght be a time to consider getting a copy of my book and giving it a go as your New Year's resolution (see here).

But let me emphasize one tip that you can start using right away that will guaranty "family time," whether "family" for you means time with your spouse, your kids, or your friends. It echoes what Sue points out at the end of her article about taking the time to "calendar 'family' time" to relieve stress. It's a simple formula which, if you are consistent, will really work wonders to counteract the feeling of "working all the time". I've written about it before. I call it "date nights" and it works like this:

• First, decide whom you want to have a "date" with. Your kids, your spouse, your friends. List the "important people" to you.
  
  
• Second, decide on having some short but regular sessions with them. Don't pick the dates quite yet, just get it into your head that what you're after here is not a "let's plan a 3-week cruise" but rather a "how can I get say an hour into my calendar a couple of times a week" with the people that matter to me.
  
  
• Third, pick the first available time on the calendar for a "date". Don't make it a big, has-to-be-a-perfect-date thing either. Keep it easy. Just some time together doing something you like.
  
  
• Fourth and MOST IMPORTANT -- at the end of the date ALWAYS calendar the "next date". This is critical. Always, always, always make sure that the date ritual has a "closing ceremony" of pulling out the calendar and getting the next date set. You've heard the saying "it's not over 'til the fat lady sings?" Think "it's not over 'til the next date is on the calendar." I can't emphasize this enough -- if you skip this step, it wrecks the whole thing, because you will get busy and 6 weeks will go by before you look up from your blackberry and think "wow...I haven't had a date in 6 weeks. Where did the time go?"
  

If you follow this simple formula, particularly step 4, and if you are consistent, you will find it has a huge de-stressing effect. Why? Because you, and the people who matter to you, will know they are always "on the calendar" no matter what, and that creates a kind of "comfort" to look forward to. It's like anything else: when you have a hard job ahead of you, like cutting the grass on a hot day where it's 95 in the shade (40 centigrade), knowing that you have a nice cold glass of lemonade to look forward to makes the job a lot easier.

Try it and see. What have you got to lose?