Stay sane at work - leverage busy-free cycles
We’re all human beings - most of us probably have high and low points in a job. Like me, I get to work in a projectized environment a lot, which means that things get really crazy as deadlines approach. Then things start to cool off, and suddenly it feels like I’m in limbo again.
I think that every job has its own work cycles, and it’s good to observe how these cycles come and go. At the same time, anyone who tells you that it’s the same all year round is bogus. Even worse advice is to take it as it comes - you can get seriously burned out.
As human beings, we’re experts at creating comfort zones for ourselves. We start to gravitate toward comfort zones when we don’t feel a real purpose in our work. This creates an artificial rift against what we say we’re doing.
One example is employees surfing Facebook during work. Given the right working environment, people wouldn’t be glued to their Facebook accounts so much. We tell ourselves that we ought to be doing something more productive, but even that is artificial when we don’t feel that what we’re doing is purposeful.
One solution is to carefully and mindfully plan out what you want to achieve from the job, say - within a year, a quarter, or whatever. Observe the busy-free cycles and take note of those who gravitate toward comfort zone areas. Make a decision how you want to carry yourself in the workplace, and avoid conforming to the status quo just because everyone is.
This makes it easier for you to perform when it matters, and relax when things cool down. It’s also a good way to show that you can perform under pressure, and are mature enough to take advantage of the breaks.
They teach these kinds of things in the project management industry, but it does make a lot of sense no matter what type of job.
