Career
Persistance vs. Overwork
As I sit down to write this post, I’m surrounded my mountains of stuff. My office is a complete wreck and frankly, I don’t work well unless my surroundings are clean. It’s been a very crazy few days between flying, being sick, and chasing Benedict all while maintaining a household. I’ve been seeking a greater balance in my life that involves prayer time, reading time, play time, down time, cleaning time, family time, and exercise time, all of which take away potential work time. Whether you’re self-employed, work from home, have a scheduled job, or are a stay-at-home parent, we all face this great balancing act. The sticky part is determining what qualifies as persistence and what qualifies as overwork.
Overworking yourself is just as dangerous as being too idle. If you’re overworking, then by definition, some other area of your life is being neglected. Too much neglect and you start to move into reactionary mode instead of proactive mode. You become a fire-fighter whose priority is whatever burns the hottest. It’s a bad way to live because, like the rat in the wheel, you never catch up.
Persistence, on the other hand, is a necessary trait. It gets you up at 5am to work on your book. It gets you out on the trail when you don’t want to walk. It gets you to your desk when you’d rather binge watch something on Netflix. It’s the coal in the fire that keeps you moving forward, upward, and closer to achievement.
So how do you know if you’re being persistent or if you’re overworking? Persistence respects family time while overworking rolls right over it. Persistence obeys your work hours boundaries while overworking is always on. Persistence recognizes that vacation is an important component of success while overworking sees vacation as an impediment to success.
If you’re like me right now and feel overwhelmed, unsure of which of the dozens of projects to take care of, then you have to make a decision. What is one thing that you can do right now to get back into the drivers seat? For me, it’s a day of cleaning, organizing, sorting, and purging. I think I’ll start that now.
Overworking: it’s never worth it.
Work Needs A Finish Line
The line between on the clock and off the clock has been blurred beyond recognition. Today’s workforce is finding it increasingly difficult to stop working. Ever. We work at home in the evening, in the morning before work hours begin, and even, sadly, on vacation. I’ve allocated myself 7 hours during the day for work and, to be completely honest, I struggle to stop working even then. When I lay my head down in the evening, I’m exhausted from a day full of work and chasing Benedict.
We need to develop a hard stop in the evening. We know where the starting line is in the morning, but we’ve lost the finish line in the evening. Work will expand to the time that you give it, and there will always be more things for you to do. By initiating a time that’s a hard stop in the evening, you know where the finish line is. Once you cross it, you’re done until the next day. It really is that simple and it really is completely necessary.
Our work needs boundaries. We were made to work, and work is a very good thing- when it doesn’t take more than its share of your time. Work provides for your family, helps you grow as a person, contributes to your sense of dignity, and helps your customers to live a better life. Yet, when work creeps into off time and family time, it not only burns you out, it robs your family of the time that they’re due.
A hard stop in the evening can make you more productive. If you know that you stop working at 5:30pm and that’s all the time that you have, you’ll naturally stay more focused. There isn’t any bonus time, there aren’t any more minutes after 5:30pm. Here’s what you have to work with, now go get it done. You’ll surf less, daydream less, and you’ll also skip low importance tasks that might have suckered you in before. It’s a productivity tip that’s proven to work.
Your life needs space. You need time to focus on the other aspects of your life so that you’ll remain a balanced, healthy person. Plus, working too much will lead you to hate a job that you might truly love. Burnout gets the best of far too many people, and the quickest way to get there is by working endlessly.
Find a hard stop time in the evening when you know you can achieve it 80% of the time. If you have a job with a lot of night meetings, you need to be creative. More likely than not, you can find that hard break. Commit to it and then do it! Once you hit that hard stop, leave everything for the morning. Your wife will be glad you did.
Blazing Your Own Path
I wish I had started my web design business back in college. The free enterprise system and the American Dream are built on the idea that if you can do something or sell something, then the only limiting factor is you. You don’t need anyone’s permission. Just get out there and get it done. If I had started years ago, I’d be in a very different place right now. Yet, I’m not going to spend much time dwelling on those missed opportunities. Instead, I’m going to blaze a path forward.
Too many of us live in fear when it comes to our careers. We crave job security, yet job security is a myth. Any company, at any time, no matter how big or small can either grow exponentially or be days away from closing their doors. We desperately want pay raises, but while performance is a must, a company can only afford so much compensation. It’s a great strategy to not put all of your eggs in one basket.
If you want to blaze your own path, if you want to work on some passion that you’ve always had, start small and start on the side. Keep pushing hard at your day job, get home and push hard for a few more hours on your side job. Limit your expenditures, grow slowly, and know that if you can drive it forward, you can win. You may not be ready to work full time on your side job today, but you might be ready next year, or in two years.
If you have something that you truly love, find a way to build it into a business, work like crazy, and make it happen. The only thing standing in between you and success is you. Push, charge, fight, and win.
Rest vs. Idleness
Idle hands are the Devil’s tools, yet God rested on the 7th day. Rest and idleness are very close cousins and it can be difficult to figure out which is which. While rest leads to rejuvenation, idleness leads to a near occasion of sin. Which is which and how do we make sure we’re resting and not simply idling?
Has there ever been a time when you watched a lot of TV after a hard work week, only to realize at the end that you’d accomplished nothing? Certainly your hard work merited a break, but not a break that turned into wasted time. Rest is recovery from good work while idleness is laziness. Rest is sitting down to watch a movie with no technology at hand to distract you. Idleness is mindlessly surfing the Internet. While rest promotes health, idleness is most often a near occasion of sin.
Give yourself the rest that you’re due. Your body, mind, and spirit need the downtime to rebuild energy. Your mind needs a break to restore its creative powers. Be careful, though. Never take more rest than you’ve earned. Never let a good thing like rest turn into something negative like idleness.
Relentless Positive Action
While I was living in Michigan, I was particularly impressed with the Governor’s mantra, “Relentless positive action.” When he was elected into office, the State was experiencing a very tough downturn and Gov. Snyder seemed to not let any problem get in his way. He wanted to get the State back on track and improve the lives of its citizens. This mantra, combined with a dose of courage, helped him make some pretty remarkable political moves. I really liked the idea of relentless positive action because it demands that we always move forward, no matter how big the challenges are.
In our work lives we face daily struggles. There are challenges to overcome, deadlines to meet, goals to achieve, and difficult people to work with. Monday through Friday, we can expect roadblocks and setbacks on a daily basis, any number of which could prove fatal if we succumb to a defeatist attitude. Yet, if we adopt the idea of relentless positive action, we’re able to adapt to a changing landscape, find an opening, and punch through any challenge.
It’s not just our work life that presents a possible challenge. Many of us have hobbies or passion projects. It may be woodworking, playing a musical instrument, crafting, painting, building, writing, or anything else that we have a talent for. It’s likely that there are many professionals working in your space and there’s intense competition if you’re trying to generate revenue from your talent. Still competition can make it easy for us to become disheartened and give up, regarding ourselves as nothing more than amateurs. People will tell you that you aren’t any good, to not quit your day job, in an attempt to dissuade you from continuing. However, with relentless positive action, you recognize that while you may not be good today, you’ll be better tomorrow and the day after and the day after that. Your skill will improve over time and you’ll be able to run with the best of them.
Resistance and challenges are inevitable when you’re out there getting it done. When you adopt a mindset of achieving relentless positive action, you can overcome any obstacle, challenge, or roadblock that gets in your way. As you move forward with intensity and determination, you’ll win both at work and in your personal life.
Struggling with Focus
The reality of the finite nature of time is never more apparent than when you’re doing something that you really love. For whatever reason, time seems to move particularly fast when you’re engaged in a passion project, having a wonderful day, or experiencing some other great thing. For me, I have ideas of things that I’d like to do with Catholic Husband on a daily basis. Each idea has its own unique opportunity and could lead to other great things. However, I know that the key to success in any endeavor is focus. Without focus, nothing can be accomplished.
Each great idea that you have should be captured in some way, shape, or form. Write it down, keep it in Evernote, email it to yourself, or put it in an idea folder. No matter what you do, make sure that it’s saved somewhere. Review your ideas on a regular basis, especially when you’re between projects, and organize it into a prioritized list. Then, work your list. All ideas are great, but not all ideas should be completed first. Your prioritized list can help you know where you’re going and keep your focus right where it needs to be.
One technique is to have three projects that you’re working on at a time. This may sound like it’s the opposite of focus, but let me explain the system using Catholic Husband as the example. One of these three projects is the primary focus. The primary project is the one that gets most of your attention. My primary project is running the blog. Every day, I spend most of the work time that’s been allocated to Catholic Husband working on writing, editing, and preparing blog posts for publishing. Your other two projects are secondary. The reason that I have two additional projects is so that when I’m feeling tired or blocked in some way with blogging, I can still make forward progress on other projects. It also keeps my pipeline built. While blogging is the primary project, I have book writing and web maintenance as my secondary projects. Catholic Husband is a little bit unique because while my primary project likely won’t change, yours probably will. Regardless, a three project focus will help you move through the tough days and round out your progress.
It’s important to give some consideration to each idea, even if you can’t start work on it immediately. Creative energy is a good thing and it might even flow over into the other projects that you’re working on. Each idea might be a game changer, so don’t let any of them slip away.
Focus is the biggest challenge that any success faces. Along the long road leading to a success are plenty of distractions and exit signs. By capturing each idea and maintaining a regularly reviewed idea list, you can ensure that you stay focused on what’s most important while stimulating your creative energy.
Confront Fear
One of the more popular topics in the blogosphere lately is fear. More and more, people who’ve achieved some degree of celebrity have turned the spotlight onto the crippling fear that we all face when we chase our dreams. This light is being used to show that even people who seem to have it all, who are at the top of their game, had to battle it out with their own fears of inadequacy in order to reach their goal. Fear is paralyzing, but often is unfounded.
Fear’s growth is more of a small creep. It’s slow, methodical, and frankly, genius. It knows how to mask itself as humility or as some sort of savior, protecting us from public embarrassment or shame. We give fear way too much credit, often seeing it as a friend instead of the adversary that it truly is. We give it power and influence over us that it doesn’t deserve. As a result, we limit ourselves. We stop chasing a dream that could be really good for us. We stop pursing an interest that would help people. We stop doing what we love over the trivial thought that not everyone will love and adore our work as we do.
We’ve got to get out of the people pleasing business. No matter what your skill, talent, or dream is, it can’t be for everyone. The business side of you will want to expand your audience as large as you can in order to maximize profitability. The problem is, when your audience is too big, you reach no one. You stop responding to the very real and personal problems that each person faces and instead you have to over generalize. When your impact is reduced, ironically, so is your audience. Instead of trying to grab every person’s attention, focus on an audience, and do amazing work. The quality of your work will inspire people at the fringes who will engage your audience. For example, when I write for Catholic husbands and fathers, I might not reach all of them. But, when I write for them and inspire readers who may be wives, they might turn their husbands on to Catholic Husband, and in that way I reach my target audience.
The thing about fear is that it’s a coward. It dissipates the moment we call it out. A strong dose of reality instantly dismisses fear. Reality shows that fear has been lying to you. We see the true size of the danger or the possibility of failure and it’s minuscule compared to what fear told us. In the light, we can see what the darkness truly conceals; there’s never a monster hiding under your bed.
Living a life in fear is a terrible existence. We’re robbed of fun, we’re robbed of spice, and we’re robbed of the true joy that comes with chasing our dreams. I face fear on a daily basis and it tells me that my writing isn’t good enough. It tells me that my book isn’t worth the paper that it’s written on. It tells me that tomorrow is a better day for getting work done. But I know the truth. I know how much fun it is to write, create, and share Catholic Husband. I know the excitement of watching a book come together, the joy of making the website a treat to visit, and the fun that comes with putting my thoughts to paper. I may not be a best seller today, but I will certainly never be one if I don’t try. I may not have the greatest ability to share my thoughts today, but I won’t grow as a writer unless I practice now. I may not sell 1,000 copies of my book this year, but I might sell 10,000 of my next book.
Fear is a lousy friend. Chase your dream, pursue your passion, and live your life boldly.
Managing Notifications
A few weeks ago, I noticed a drop in my productivity. I took a few days to consider the root cause of why I wasn’t being as productive as I thought I should be. I have anywhere between four and eight hours a day when Benedict is napping in which to work and take care of other household tasks. In the past, I’d been able to eke out five to six hours of work without any problems, the rest of the time dedicated to reading, cleaning, or other tasks that popped up. Yet, lately, I’d been having a real problem getting to even just three hours of work. Then it hit me, I was being constantly derailed by notifications on my phone.
Notifications can be a great thing, letting you know when an app needs your attention. For example, notifications might let you know that your mom is calling, that your wife texted you, or that you have a calendar appointment. Yet, if you really dig into this feature, you’ll notice that you’re getting a lot of notifications that you don’t need. Most apps have some sort of notification functionality built into them, but for most of us, the notifications are neither important nor are they necessary. It’s important for you to put up barriers in order to protect your time, productivity, and attention.
I decided to take a few minutes, sit down with all of my devices and adjust my notification settings. It’s important to not just update the settings on your phone. Your tablet and computer likely also have some form of notifications capability, so managing the settings on all of your devices is required. After all, if you’re doing lots of work on your computer, a popup there can be just as detrimental as your phone making a noise at you.
As you go over the settings for each application, ask yourself, “What is worthy of my immediate attention?” You likely don’t need to know in the moment that someone has sent you a pin on Pinterest, or that certain apps have been updated. You will want to know when a task is due, an event is starting, or when someone is calling you. A companion question is, “What can I get on my own time?” You likely check all of your apps that provide the most notifications regardless of whether or not you’ve received a notification. For example, I’ll check Tweetbot several times a day, even if no one has DM’d or mentioned me. So, I can confidently turn off Tweetbot notifications knowing that I’ll see any new information in a reasonable amount of time. Another aspect to consider when working on making these changes is what types of notifications are available to you. Some may be audible, others may be silent. In this example, I’ve turned off the audible Tweetbot notifications, but left the text ones enabled so that, when I do pick up my phone, I can see any updates that I’ve requested. At the same time, I’ve turned off all Pinterest notifications because they’re less important to me.
Changing your notification settings represents a paradigm shift. You may no longer see a little red dot with a number on an app and therefore, based on your previous method of checking for updates, may perceive that there’s nothing to see in that app. However, the only reason there isn’t an app update badge is because you turned it off! In this new paradigm, you go out and actively get information when the time is right for you. So don’t forget to do it!
Through the simple process of updating your notifications, you’ll get back a piece of your day that you’d been losing to unimportant things. Every app developer wants you to believe that their app is more important than anything that you’re doing right now, and most of them are wrong. Be proactive about managing your apps and take back your day.
Be A Thought Leader
There are two types of leaders in your company: the named leaders and the thought leaders.
The named leaders are the usual suspects. They have president, boss, or manager somewhere in their job title. They generally lead the meetings, handle productivity issues, and probably micromanage you from time to time. They have authority, but they might not have influence.
Then, there are the thought leaders. Thought leaders are an especially potent force in the cubicle farm. While named leaders appear to be in charge, thought leaders are the ones who are actually driving an organization forward. When you have a named leader who’s also a thought leader, you’re really in the sweet spot.
Ok, ok, enough. What is a thought leader? A thought leader is that employee (hopefully you!) who pours themselves completely into their work. They’re always looking for opportunities, for ways to improve systems and processes, and they volunteer their very best ideas to the group, always willing to take point and run with it. They’re the person that people come to with their ideas. Thought leaders sit in meetings and are able to steer the direction of a working group or the entire company because everyone knows that not only are they going to make constructive suggestions, they’re going to follow through with them.
There might be someone on your team who has the appearance of a thought leader, but really isn’t. They’re constantly throwing ideas out to see what sticks, but are utterly unwilling to do any of the work. They’re suggesting edits and changes to everyone else except themselves. They’re pompous, arrogant, and trying to appear like a busy-body. Don’t be that guy.
Thought leaders have hundreds, even thousands of ideas each week, but they don’t just blurt them out. They carefully refine, scrutinize, and test each one, only sharing the very best with the group. In that way, when they speak, people listen.
Thought leaders aren’t overly concerned with giving away their best ideas free of charge. They don’t use them as bargaining chips for a better cubicle, a promotion, or more vacation time. They give them away because they know that a more efficient and productive team will make everyone’s life better. Goals will be hit, deadlines will be met, and named leaders will be happier, thereby making everyone happier. They know that improvements in a workplace start from the ground up.
I want you to become a thought leader in your company this year. No matter what level you find yourself at, be an asset! Be invaluable to your company. Look for better ways to do business. Pursue your best ideas with tenacity and become a standout. Never mail in your performance, just be the absolute best person and employee you can.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what title is on your business card or if you have a business card at all. At the end of the day, all that matters is that you gave an honest day’s work for an honest paycheck. And that’s something to be excited about.
Why You Should Do Your Job Well
There seems to be a natural tension between employee and employer. At the company I was at before, though widely known for its many good works in the community, there was a massive turnover of employees before year three. The number one cause cited in exit interviews was poor management.
Perhaps our American way of life and its sway towards freedom doesn’t meld well with the hierarchical system of management. While I think that certainly some of the tension is due to the feelings of the employee, I think there’s a bigger problem. When things get tight, we forget that we’re both dealing with people. As the employee, it’s easy for me to blame the giant faceless company for my problems. As the company, it’s easy to forget that by simply taking care of one’s employees, the entire company will be lifted.
Despite the animosity that generally fills the halls of office spaces across the country, what your company does says little about you. How you function, perform, and exceed expectations in any work environment, toxic or not, says everything about you as a person.
Your job does not define you. Your work ethic does.
Let’s face it, we live in a victim culture. If only the company treated me better, if only my manager understood my work style, if only I didn’t have to file this weekly report, THEN I could succeed!
A solid work ethic blasts through excuses and outperforms no matter what obstacles or seemingly inane tasks are assigned. A strong work ethic is rooted in the principle that St. Benedict stressed so beautifully, “work and pray.” Your work is a prayer. Your work is a reflection on you, your family, and your values.
Your work, in some way, shape, or form, helps someone else. If you’re a customer care phone bank operator, you ease a customer’s problem. If you work at a factory, you make a product so the customer doesn’t have to. If you work at a fast-food restaurant, you give people the ability to not have to worry about preparing that particular meal.
So when you mail it in, fewer people are helped. That customer is frustrated for a few more hours, that customer has to build that product themselves or find someone else to do it, that customer (who’s probably really tired or just having a bad day) has to forage for food.
When you start to recognize that your work matters, that doing your job in the spirit of prayer and service is as efficacious as praying a Rosary, things will happen.
When you engage with your work in that way, people will start to notice. A strong work ethic in today’s workforce is practically a unicorn. Good things will follow. Maybe not today, maybe not this month, but when you come up for a review, things will happen.
Work is good. Work is holy. Work lets you do amazing things for your family, like eat or go on vacation.
Let’s stop being victims. Let’s be a bright spot in our company.