Episode 50: SUMMER REWIND - Why your work ethic isn’t working

00:43 Welcome to Unfrazzle, the podcast to help you ditch overwhelm and find focus and flow. I'm your host Louise Miller, productivity mentor and founder of Make It Happen Club, and one of the ways in which iIm creating space to enjoy my summer is by having a break from recording new episodes for a while instead iIm doing an Unfrazzle Summer Rewind sharing some of my favorite episodes from the last nine months So I've selected episodes that feel relevant for this time of year. If you're hearing them for the first time, i hope you find them helpful and if you've heard them before perhaps you'll take something different from them the second time around! Have an amazing summer and I'll be back in your ears with new episodes soon. Sitting down for a laser mentoring session with one of my clients, I can see right away that she's exhausted

01:30 And when she begins to speak my suspicion is confirmed. Brow furrowed, she tells me about all of the things that she has to do her mind is racing and stomach in knots and she's really worried about how she's going to fit it all in and it weighs really heavy on her shoulders and the thing that Jessica is most anxious about is a new workshop which is committed to delivering early next month She tells me, I don't know what to do. I want to create something that i feel inspired by but right now I have no idea what that is and I can see the problem right away she's so busy and overwhelmed that she's in survival mode her nervous system is not happy And how can inspiration flow freely through a tight tangled knot of worry and stress? It's no wonder she's finding it impossible to come up with ideas So I ask her what inspires her

02:23 And there's a pause. And then she says, well... A week away from everything usually does the trick So okay! If it is not possible to take a full week out right now Is there anything you could do To create a mini version of that in the next few weeks? and she pauses again and then she says I suppose i could take myself off to a lovely cafe for a few hours if i can find the time By the end of that 15 minute laser mentoring session She has made a commitment to herself Shes going to take her book to a cafe thats surrounded by greenery She's going to give her brain a rest and begin loosening the knot without needing to do anything more than enjoy her book and a lovely cuppa. And I've been having a lot of conversations like this recently with clients feeling up against it, desperate for space but struggling to take it So how about you? Are you craving that space too? What if it were normal accepted permitted for taking that space to be part of your working week

03:25 What if taking space was actually expected? Can you imagine how much more creative, innovative, energized and connected we'd be. But instead we've been raised in a culture that tells us that real work means sitting at our desks with our heads down and so you know, we cram our days full of doing in order to feel good about ourselves. It's a hangover from the industrial revolution when people had to clock in and out and when productivity was actually directly related to the amount of time they spent their work station But the trouble is most of us are still running this outdated version of a work ethic that's been handed down to us through the generations but that simply doesn't make sense in today's knowledge economy. And it has been shown by people much cleverer than I, that there is a point where doing more does not actually produce more

04:16 We're doing less but thinking more will produce better outcomes. So why do we still feel like we're being naughty or lazy, or slacking off if we take time during our working day to go for a long walk? Or head to our local cafe with the book instead of seeing those things as break time I wonder what would happen if we started to view being away from our desks as valid work time What if taking space became an important business activity, no different from me recording this podcast sending an invoice or showing up for a client? During that laser mentoring call with Jessica I suggested that it might help to view her time reading in a cafe as work and i said that to her because i knew that if she saw it as a morning off there was a very good chance that it wouldn't happen because how could she possibly justify taking a morning off when she's already overwhelmed by how much she has to do.

05:08 But if she could view getting into a different environment and reading for an hour or two as an important necessary part of the process that is going to allow her to create the fabulous and inspiring workshop, then she's way more likely to do it. And hopefully without feeling guilty! So if I'm honest, it does sadden me a bit that we need to frame this much needed space as work But undoing a lifetime of programming just doesn't happen overnight. Your work ethic will probably shout louder than my gentle invitation to take a break! So whilst I strongly believe that our self-worth has nothing to do with how much we get done and that we all deserve and need time to rest, breathe and have fun if the only way we can give that to ourselves is to acknowledge how important it is to our productivity then so be it

05:56 If you're craving space right now but you feel it's a waste of time or luxury that you can't afford, Or that your not allowed to take it. Maybe its time for a reframe? Taking space is an important part of your work so please go put in your diary and then make sure you take it! I hope this helps and am looking forward to seeing again soon Thank you for listening to Unfrazzle. Sharing is caring, so if you loved this episode please share it on your socials or head over to Spotify iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts and leave me a review not only will I be hugely grateful Your ratings and reviews will help others to find this podcast So that even more people can make their ideas happen Thanks so much and see you next time