Nightmare on Work Street
Let me start by saying—I like to work, to be engaged, to be doing. I get nervous about getting bored. At times, these days, I already feel a bit bored, which is why I wrote in the last newsletter about being restless and seeking a new challenge and ambition.
Yet, I’m also someone who values being well-rounded and taking breaks. I like variety, and I appreciate having multiple, personal interests rather than having my career be the only focus of my ambition. I also revel, I mean really love, taking time away and doing activities that feed my soul and fill me up.
Over the years, I’ve learned to be intentional about how I manage all I want to do across my life and work, because it’s not easy to juggle it all, even when I’m involved in activities I truly want to do.
And when it comes to work in our modern world, for most of us, it’s hard to keep it in a box, to not have it consume more of our lives and our identities than we want.
Plus, some of us may have workaholic tendencies. 🙋♀️ If you relate, don’t feel bad; you aren’t alone. Almost 50% of U.S. workers classify themselves as workaholics, with 66% of Millennials claiming this distinction. And even if we don’t call ourselves workaholics, many of us likely overwork.
The downside of putting too much of our time and attention on our work, even if we love it, may be that we are crowding out aspects of our lives that truly matter to us and feed our resilience and, in turn, our sustainability.
That’s what I discussed with my two latest podcast guests. These were some of my favorite conversations this year.
Simone Stolzoff is the author of The Good Enough Job which came out last year. I was thrilled he was open to being on with me. Simone and I discussed how we are better served creating a more robust identity for ourselves and broadening our lens around ambition so that work doesn’t take over our lives.
I also had on Dr. Malissa Clark who wrote Never Not Working: Why the Always-On Culture Is Bad for Business—and How to Fix It. She’s an associate professor of industrial/organizational psychology at the University of Georgia and director of the Healthy Work Lab. Malissa and I spoke about the effects of workaholism and overwork. Workaholism is a nuanced topic, and it isn’t solely about the number of hours we devote to work. So, I appreciated our conversation and her book, which offer tips on how to break away from these tendencies both personally and within organizations.
I think these are both important conversations and lenses for us to create more sustainability in our lives and work. I highly encourage a listen! (Links below.)
Simone and Malissa made me question: What percent of our identities do we want work to take up? What percent of our time and energy do we want work to consume? Do we think about these questions enough?
So, boo! Can I shock you into challenging yourself to make a small shift this Halloween to possess more of your life for what matters most to you? And to possess more of your identity to become more of who you want to be outside of work?
Let’s acknowledge that work does bring meaning and fulfillment to our lives, while also knowing that it shouldn’t haunt our life and identity and crowd out other aspects that build a richer tapestry of a well-lived life.
With that, wishing you a Happy Halloween!
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