Community post by Annalisa Gennaro
At the beginning of this year, I fell apart. I found myself in pieces, struggling to say a single word without bursting into tears. I had severe sleep issues, suffered from intense anxiety and experienced a form of depression. I had to stop, to take a break, and recover. During this time, I reflected on what truly matters in life, and how we should protect ourselves and our loved ones from these risks. I wished to write a farewell post as a former CNCF Ambassador to thank everyone. The book I refer to is “Slow Productivity” by Cal Newport. Not everything I will hint at refers to my very personal experience.
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The modern era is characterized by competitive business environments; however, knowledge workers find it difficult to balance work and life. Many of the new facets of remote work arrangements and the persistent implementation of redundant productivity (and busyness) tools have also developed a culture where eradicating people is achieved instead of processes. As a result, tracking systems such as these impose excessive constraints on the knowledge worker and expose them to burning out and health problems especially mental health problems. In his book “Slow Productivity”, Cal Newport, a writer and academic, points out that the rush of many works destroys the welfare of the worker and the end result of the work resulting in wastage in the long term.
Inaccurate Evaluation of Productivity in Knowledge Workers, Its Causes and Consequences
One of the critical challenges that knowledge workers encounter is the absence of appropriate productivity metrics. It differs from conventional types of labor, with output quantifiable, thus knowledge work is more involved in complexity and cannot be restricted by basic measures, such as the number of hours spent working or the tasks settled. According to Newport, assimilation of the standards of knowledge work into the industrial prism is irrational: “Concrete productivity metrics of the type that shaped the industrial sector will never properly fit in the more amorphous knowledge work setting. (Nor should we want it to fit, as this quantitative approach to labour ushers in its own stark inhumanities). In the absence of this clarity, however, pseudo-productivity can seem like the only viable default option.” (in “Slow Productivity”).
As a result, productivity was measured with the help of close supervision tools such as the amount of time spent on different screens, emails sent and designated tasks performed within the set time. However, such methods frequently lead to quantity over quality, making the worker engage in an endless observable cycle of tasks revealing activity that may not necessarily depict the worth of the work done. Newport states: “The more activity you see, the more you can assume that I’m contributing to the organization’s bottom line. […] we also gravitate away from deeper efforts toward shallower, more concrete tasks that can be more easily checked off a to-do list. Long work sessions that don’t immediately produce obvious contrails of effort become a source of anxiety […]” (in “Slow Productivity”). This inconsistency provokes work related stress and anxiety allowance where the employees have to earn their relevancy by proving it’s worth on such shallow metrics.
Setting and Respecting Boundaries: Why This is Crucial
Newport stresses the necessity of boundaries, not just towards coworkers but critically towards the C-people higher in the hierarchy. He claims that always being on call is bad for the self and for any real work that could take place, high-end innovation needs periods of disconnection and reflection.
And this production-saving measure has to be brought about with distinct conscious effort on the part of the employees:
Assertive Communication: Such expectation can be created where assertive and effective communication can be possible regarding working hours and availability. Newman sagaciously argues that knowledge workers should not wait to be directed but rather take charge of the boundaries establishment and maintenance, you have to be proactive in protecting your deep work spaces, because no one else will do it for you.
Defending Your Schedule: Similarly, Newport highlights those inherent time fatigue where one should focus on none of the other tasks or requests that do not lead to focusing on the goals in the long pull. It is not necessary to respond to all issues at hand immediately, and in such a case it becomes important to resist the temptation to do just anything in order to retain focus and mental energy for more worthwhile endeavors.
Time Blocking: Newport supports the practice of time blocking where people assign certain hours for serious work, other hours for rest or personal engagement and clients. This is not only a strategy for increasing productivity, but also a means of enhancing focus and improving health. Time-blocking is much more than a means to improve performance, it’s a way of protecting performance and achieving balance: “[…] I recommended better organizing your horse using time-blocking so that tasks could be better separated from deeper efforts.”
The Challenges and Opportunities of Remote Work
As is the case in remote work, flexibility is built into the equation, but there are always hurdles to the achievement of the intended target of improving the sphere of life balance. Many such organisations have now adopted monitoring practices like tracking time spent online or online task performance to determine how productive employees are. Newport observes these practices as enhancing the culture of overwork, more so in the remote working setups: “Slow productivity supports legacy-building accomplishments but allows them to unfold at a more human speed”.
Boundaryless work has negative consequences on remote workers, as they are likely to work more hours, check emails after hours or even the constant sense of obligation to be at work. Newport warns of this inclination and stresses the need for work cutoff times as well as breaks: “The way we’re working no longer works. What’s needed is more intentional thinking about what we mean by “productivity” in the knowledge sector – seeking ideas that start from the premise that these efforts must be sustainable and engaging for the actual humans doing the work“.
Strategies for Protecting Work-Life
Burnout is inevitable unless knowledge workers actively maintain a balance, and adopt resilience-building approaches that can vary widely.
Fixed Routines and Time Discipline: Even in remote work, establishing fixed routines that separate work from personal time is recommended. This helps to create mental and physical space for relaxation. A solid routine is the key to creating a healthy distance between work and free time, and to protecting moments of true rest.
Minimizing Notifications: Another way to watch the clock when it is not the time to work is to restrict the number of notifications that require action remotely. This can also protect leisure time as these work related notifications are not warranted especially after office hours. Lessen the interruptions for focus’ sake and hopefully avert burn out.
Scheduled Breaks: Breaks are one of the most important parts of the work for the entire day and by no means a waste of time. Breaks are not the dispensable perks, instead, they are the basic necessity for high-level cognitive performance.
Mindfulness and Stress Management: Knowledge workers, especially, can benefit from managing stress and focusing through the adoption of mindfulness or meditative practices. Taking care of one’s mental health in the same manner as physical health is important.
Letting Go of Non-Essential and Monotonous Tasks: If there is a need, sometimes, identifying strategies to assist oneself from performing nonessential tasks or automating mundane work may help save working hours and concentration towards value-added tasks. Newport says that an attention to what is most important is one of the key abilities any knowledge worker can learn.
Conclusion
Do not confuse productivity with busyness: you shouldn’t be busy to demonstrate being busy during your workday. We should be measured on the basis of results that may go beyond the hourly tracking of our tasks.
“It seems like the benefits of technology have created the ability to stack more into our days and onto our schedules than we have the capacity to handle while maintaining a level of quality which makes the things worth doing… I think that’s where the burnout really hurts – when you want to care about something but you’re removed from the capacity to do the thing or do it properly and give it your passion and full attention and creativity because you’re expected to do so many other things.” (Steve, a strategic planner interviewed by Cal Newport).
Knowledge workers are able to safeguard their time and concentrate on important, worthwhile activities by establishing reasonable limits, being clear in their communication, and using techniques such as time-blocking and practicing mindfulness. This way it is possible to not only enhance one’s work but also achieve a more healthy, practicing work-life balance. This is what I wish for all of us. It doesn’t matter the industry field we have been working in, which company hired us or which personal and professional goals we set for ourselves.
Take care.