Military leaders have PLENTY of reasons to be overworked…“The Commanding General is visiting next week!” “The units are waiting for us to publish the order!” “Soldiers’ lives are at risk!”
The reality is that Soldiers’ lives will always be at risk. Command authority in the military will always dictate immediate response/action to higher headquarter demands. There will always be something to look at on the BlackBerry. We can’t fight these facts, so why not focus on being as efficient as possible despite them?
This post is all about giving you resources for eliminating distractions, delegating, prioritizing, and protecting your cognitive function. And along the way you’ll be challenged reconsider sacrificing so much “life” in the name of work.
Photo by U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Grovert Fuentes-Contreras
A Culture of Busyness
“Why You Need to Stop Bragging About How Busy You Are”
This FastCompany.com article describes a culture that military professionals know all too well – the “culture of busy.” Does this excerpt sound familiar: “Logging in long hours and complaining about not having any time in the day is considered a status symbol and a sign of success.” The article insists that workplace leaders must change the cultural mindset by devaluing busyness and punishing inefficiency. “If you cannot figure out how to do your job in 40 hours, we will fire you.”
“Are You Addicted to Being Busy?”
Unfortunately, we can’t entirely blame “the culture” on the problem. The biological effect of staying busy is that we can get a chemical high from the constant “pings” of attention and the sense of reward for completing tasks. This Inc.com article cites a “builder’s high.” It’s “that jolt of satisfaction you get from creating something truly useful or meaningful. While this “high” sounds like a far healthier alternative to other sources of brain stimulation, it is possible to become biologically addicted to getting stuff done.”
We’ve created an impressive amount of institutionalized drama around getting things done. We are surrounded by stimuli built to drive us harder and faster…my advice is to constantly take the time to stop and understand the true nature of your busy.
“Too Important to Sleep”
I’ve seen it over and over again…leaders exhaust themselves because they think they have to be personally present for every operation and activity. Or worse, they’ve created a team that can’t take action without their approval. I once saw a commander stay awake for the opening 48 hours of an operation then pass out in exhaustion. I’ve also seen leaders try to survive on 4 hours of sleep because they’re “dedicated to the mission.” In all cases, the result was decreasing cognitive function and poor decision making.
“Your Brain on Six Hours of Sleep A Night”
Consider this fact next time you try to lead a combat operation on little sleep: sleeping only 6 hours per night for just 14 days decreases cognitive function to the equivalent of .1% Blood Alcohol Concentration.
“Thomas Edison and the Cult of Sleep Deprivation”
This article from The Atlantic explains how the workplace culture has trended toward sleep deprivation. “For some, sleep loss is a badge of honor, a sign that they don’t require the eight-hour biological reset that the rest of us softies do. Others feel that keeping up with peers requires sacrifice at the personal level—and at least in the short-term, sleep is an invisible sacrifice.”
“6 Strategies to Sleep Soundly, Wake Rested, and Accomplish More”
Michael Hyatt has several posts about how to improve sleep quality and commit to getting more rest. “Commit to getting more sleep, establish a ritual, and kill the lights” are among his recommendations. Aside from the above blog post, check out his podcast on the topic, Podcast #68: Sleep and Your Productivity.
Cognitive Degradation & the Myth of Multitasking
Multitasking is merely the opportunity to screw up more than one thing at a time. – Steve Uzzell
“If You’re Always Working, You’re Never Working Well”
“Everyone who thinks they’re good at multitasking is wrong. We’re actually multiswitching [and] giving ourselves extra work.” Each shift of focus sets our brain back and creates a cumulative attention debt, resulting in a harried workforce incapable of producing sustained burst of creative energy. Constant connection means that we’re “always at work”, yes, but also that we’re “never at work” — fully.
“The Cost of Continually Checking Email”
“Suppose each time you ran low on an item in your kitchen—olive oil, bananas, napkins—your instinctive response was to drop everything and race to the store. How much time would you lose? How much money would you squander on gas? What would happen to your productivity?” This article from Harvard Business Review references research showing that multitasking drops IQ by 10 points.
Daily Productivity
“Two Lists You Should Look at Every Morning”
Almost everyone has a To-Do list, but what about a Don’t-Do list? This Harvard Business Review blog post explains that eliminating distractions is as important, if not more important, as trying to focus on the priorities.
“How to Better Control Your Time by Designing Your Ideal Week”
Do you have a plan for how you will spend your time? What about a personal battle rhythm? Michael Hyatt presents his Ideal Week method of planning his work schedule, much as we create unit battle rhythms and meeting schedules. It’s definitely worth a look.
These 10 suggestions from Laura Shin on Forbes.com show how you can plan your day to maximize your cognitive capability and preserve your limited decision-making resources. Don’t forget to schedule down time for recharging.
Delegation & Email Management
Michael Hyatt’s podcast on “The Fine Art of Delegation” will give you perspective and tips to win a battle that military leaders and staffs fight on a daily basis. Be sure to read The Military Leader post on the topic.
Here are two more posts from Michael Hyatt about organizing email that are worth a try. (Warning: you’re gonna do a lot of deleting.)
- “Yes, You Can Stay on Top of E-mail”. Pick one: Do – Delegate – Defer – Delete – File.
- “Declare Email Bankruptcy and Get a Fresh Start”. Can you get to zero Inbox messages?
“Don’t Check Email First Thing in the Morning”
Not sure you can slash your email inbox cold turkey? This article from Laura Shin Gives some alternate strategies for gently managing email’s effect on your day.
Wrapping It Up
The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results
“Your Work Is Not Your Life”
To bring the topics to a purposeful conclusion, consider this article from Howard Tullman on Inc.com.
In the frenzy of the work and the world it’s really important that you don’t lose your sense of purpose, perspective, and proportion–and risk losing yourself in the process. Your business and your work will always be what you do. These things are not who you are. And it’s critical right from the start that you not confuse or conflate the two.
But here’s the bottom line: Your family (when you have one) will be a much more important extension of yourself than any work you do. There’s always more work, but you only have one family. And, believe me, good friends are also few and far between. Friends are the family that you get to choose–they’re hard to find, even harder to leave, and impossible to forget. So, as you make ’em, make a plan to hang on to them. They’re as important an investment over time as anything else.
Questions for Leaders
- Are you mindful about your life? In other words, do you evaluate the quality of your own work, daily activities, family time, etc.?
- What would you need to change about your life to become just 25% more efficient? What possibilities would doing so create?
- How have you helped your own team be more productive, not only so that they can get more work done, but so that they could more easily pursue their true purpose?