โ๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐บ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ต๐ณ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จโ, my client Tom* explains. โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ณ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ค๐ถ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ต๐ข๐ด๐ฌ, ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ!โ
I can so relate to this!
My mind also has a tendency to always wanting to improve what I do, ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ I do things, to be ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ง๐ญ, ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐, ๐จ๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ !
Even writing this little article, I have to reign my mind in, to stay on task, and not rush ahead.
Itโs a plight I come across a lot, both in my professional and my personal life.
โ๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐โ โ whether thatโs about how to make the most of the hour I have spare between clients, to the friend who has their entire familyโs lives scheduled and structured to the n-th degree, to the neighbour whose garden is perfect – but never quite perfect enough…
High achievers are masters of efficiency: We optimise our schedules, our routines, even our self-care. But when does optimisation cross the line into overdrive?
The drive to refine, improve, and maximise can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, it fuels success. On the other, it can create an internal pressure that never lets up, turning even rest into a task to perfect.
And here is the catch: This relentless pursuit of โbetterโ can actually become more costly than beneficial!
ยท It can overcomplicate even simple tasks
ยท By trying to optimise, we might actually cause ourselves even more work
ยท That can take more time, effort and energy than the task itself, and then
ยท It can make it hard to recognise when weโre running on empty.
The irony?
The very habits that make us high performers and high achievers (think, hyper-efficiency, relentless goal setting, and the ability to push through) can also be what lead us to burnout.
Burnout may then feel like that constant sense that ๐ง๐จ ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก.
๐๐จ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ ๐:
Instead of optimising for productivity, or focus on an elusive goal or outcome, what if we actually learned to enjoy (or at least appreciate) the process?
Letโs start a conversation around โOptimisation Pressureโ (by the way, I made this term up. Maybe thereโs a better word for it? ๐
