Theme: Insights & takeaways

When I was about thirty, there was a period at work that was tough for me. I’d landed in what had been a big project, with an important but dissatisfied customer. There were months of clearing up the mess with a very small team led by an aggressive manager of the clients. At night, if I managed to sleep at all, it was never for more than two or three hours. But somehow I kept going. The project reached the finish line and the client was satisfied.

In the days following the completion, I was working at the office on a research proposal for yet another new client. The office was empty. And the unanswered telephone was ringing non-stop. Eventually, I ran down to the reception to answer it myself. It was my mother. She asked where I was. It turned out it was the 24th of December, and we had arranged to celebrate Christmas with the family in Austria from the 22nd. I had completely forgotten. And that was why I was the only person at the office. I got into my car and drove to Austria without stopping. Thirty seconds after getting into bed, I fell into a deep sleep. I didn’t wake up for twelve hours. When I did, I felt good and wanted to get out of bed. But I couldn’t. I no longer knew how to coordinate my body so that I could get up.

At any given moment, hundreds of thousands of Dutch people are sitting at home suffering symptoms of burn-out, and it was recently revealed that a significant percentage of them are young employees. I was never officially diagnosed with burn-out. At first, the doctors thought I was suffering from depression, but the antidepressants had no effect. That turned out to be the wrong diagnosis. To help me recover, I engaged a personal trainer who drew my attention to an article titled The Corporate Athlete, by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz in the Harvard Business Review. I’d recommend this to every professional.

I learned a few things from the article that I’ve since shared with colleagues and employees when they come up against the limits of their ability. The most enlightening piece of advice is to ‘manage energy, not time’. Unlike time, energy can be replenished. However, you have to make an effort to do so. Energy can also come in waves, and you should capitalize on that. When you’re in a flow state, keep working. In a book by Tommy Wieringa, I read a nice quote by the Japanese painter, Hokusai, who said: ‘You must cherish inspiration as a little baby.’ At other less productive times, there’s just no point. It’s better to go and do something else, like go to the gym or sit outside with a drink.

One of Loehr and Schwartz’s interesting insights is that the best athletes only really perform for a few hours a week. During the other hours, they are training for that performance and recovery from it. Completing a marathon on willpower might make you feel good but it’s not a great idea. And that goes for professionals too. You should aim to perform at your best for just a few hours each day and plan your schedule to make sure that’s sufficient.

If you want to manage your energy, you must incorporate certain rituals and habits into your day, so that you’re never in an active state for too long. Since the age of thirty, I’ve hardly ever lunched at the office or at my computer. I always found the Dutch lunch culture stifling, partly because the food in most company canteens is dreadful, and partly because I want to get outside for a while, to create some peace and quiet in the day. A schedule needs some leeway. At present, I never plan more than three meetings a day. I work the rest of the time but don’t have to adapt to other people’s schedules.

Experiencing a burn-out or getting overworked is, in itself, not such a bad thing. It’s good to know where your boundaries are, and it would be strange if you never stepped over them at some point in your life.