Is there a limit to your capacity? Take the test yourself!!
Mommy went to a speech this morning. Recently, Cornell launched an employee survey about workplace satisfactory. The result came back consistently that people are over-worked and under lot of pressure. In order to respond to the employee quest, Cornell administration hosts a series of speech to HR community. This is one of the events.
The core concept of the presentation directly challenged what mommy has believed for years — your productivity is measured by the accomplishment (number of tasks) you deliver every day. According to the presenter, each person has a set of capacity that can be renewed with energy and time. If someone knows how to leverage these elements, he/she can gain sustainability by cultivating activities that will bring more energy to your life. Multi-tasking, which is something mommy has been practicing for years, is a false optimal strategy that people believe can bring more productivity. ONE THING AT A TIME that you can fully absorb is the way to go.
Conceptually, we all believe that’s the way we should operate. However, in reality, when you have multiple roles with endless accountabilities on your shoulder, it is hard not to make choices to put priority (or make sacrifice) in your life. For me, the first thing to go is my sleep. I am proud to be noctural because that’s when I can focus the most and be productive. However, I also live through the consequences of my choices. Sometimes, I guess the cost benefit ratio with the diminished return when I violate my own biological clock is not worth it.
I always thought that I can endure quite a bit of pressure and can always bounce back quickly from an undesirable stage in my life because I have a strong will power. Again, another myth, I guess… It seems that will power is a limited resource and gets deplated every time we use it. Maybe that’s the reason that my new year resolutions for the last three years never worked. I vowed to take stairs instead of the elevator every year and it lasted about a week and half before I gave up……
We all completed an “energy audit” this morning. This is an audit to see where you are with your energy level. You can try on your own and see how you are doing:
Mark any description that fits you:
1. I don’t regularly get at least 7-8 hours of sleep and/or I often wake up feeling tired.
2. I frequently skip breakfast, or I settle for something that isn’t particularly health, if I eat something.
3. I don’t do cardiovascular training at least three times a week, and strength training at least twice a week.
4. I don’t take regular breaks during the day to renew and recharge.
5. I often eat lunch at my desk, if I eat lunch at all.
6. I frequently find myself feeling irritable, impatient or anxious at work, especially when demand is high.
7. I don’t have enough time with my family and loved ones, and when I am with them, I am not always really with them.
8. I take too little time for activities that I most deeply enjoy.
9. I rarely stop to express my appreciation to others or to savor and celebrate my accomplishments and blessings.
10. I often feel that my life is just a relentless set of demands I am expected to meet and tasks I have to complete.
11. I have difficulty focusing on one thing at a time and I am easily distracted during the day, especially by emails.
12. I spend much of my time reacting to immediate demands rather than focusing on activities with longer-term value and leverage.
13. I don’t take enough time for reflections, strategizing, and thinking creatively.
14. I rarely have any time when my mind is quiet and free of thoughts.
15. I often work on evenings and weekends and/or I rarely take an email-free vacation.
16. I don’t feel passionately committed to what I do.
17. I spend too little time at work doing what I do best and enjoy the most.
18. There are significant gaps between what I say is important in my life and how I actually live.
19. My decisions at work are often more influenced by external demands than by a strong, clear sense of my own purpose.
20. I don’t invest enough time and energy in making a positive influence to others and/or in the world.
How are you doing with your score? Here is the key:
17-20 Full out energy crisis
13-16 Imminent energy crisis
9-12 Significant energy deficit
5-8 Moderate energy deficit
Below 5 Fully energized
Honestly, I would LOVE to meet someone who scores below 5 in our age group. I don’t think I will be able to manage that without Prozac.
Any strategy to help us to rebuild our energy level? We are all creature of habits. It will help to build positive rituals (not habit — because ritual is intentional while habit gets formed without much efforts). Behaviral changes take baby steps but there needs to be a starting point somewhere.
Hope this is enough of a think point for everyone to start building your own positive ritual. I will think about mine — maybe later (after I reply the email from my dear husband about pursuing more investment ventures……..) haha.
