Are you working too hard?

 

In London recently I had coffee, tea actually, with a former coaching client. He has a senior role in HR, so we quickly got to talking shop.

He was sharing that people in London, even ambitious people, generally end their workday by 6:00.

It was something I knew, but prefer to forget. We Americans swim in a system that assumes more is better.

The latest iteration of this is the trend in leadership training that focuses on growth – in mindset, in intelligence, in happiness.

The idea of personal growth is obviously one that I applaud. Continuing to grow and learn is what life’s about.

I raise a yellow flag when this way of thinking becomes a path to sustained overwork and burnout.

If the narrative becomes, “More work means mental growth, and when I have that, I’ll be successful,” then a system that has its flaws has won.

In my work with clients, I focus on personal agency rather than productivity. What I want is for people to have awareness about the system we’re operating in, so they can be at choice about how to respond.

Find work that energizes you. Pace yourself. Restore and have fun with friends and family.

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