Exhausted? Let’s Leap Forward!

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What It’s About: Almost every person I talk to in my professional and personal life today, ends up using the “exhausted” word. Obviously we are worn out by the pandemic and associated concerns. After all, most of us are wearing masks and keeping an unnatural distance from people we love, while we listen to reports of increased infections in wave two or three. Understandably this is anxiety inducing. On top of this, almost every pattern of life as we knew it, is different or uncertain. Even celebrations we might depend on to comfort us, like Thanksgiving, are unfamiliar in some way. And then there is WORK. For those of us fortunate to be employed, almost every work process has changed, and we didn’t have much time to absorb how that happened. Out of necessity, we started to do things differently just to get our work done.

AND the circumstances of these giant upheavals connect and swirl through our personal lives in unimaginable combinations. No wonder we all feel EXHAUSTED.

So What?: I am going to focus on the WORK part of this equation. I know that we have been talking about not going back to pre-COVID conditions for some time. However, I think the bridge between saying that, and realizing it’s true, has been a long and shaky one. And while there will be a day in the future when we will be past the epidemic, we will NOT FULLY return to the way it was. There will be many changes that will become permanent regarding where and how people show up for work; especially for knowledge workers. Most front line workers should not expect things like personal safety processes to return to the past either. Masks, gloves and plexiglass are likely to be even more common.

How do we find happiness and positivity in this disrupted work environment? I think ALL of us should become more conscious and intentional embracing this uncertain future. Leaders and workers cannot expect that the lunch room and water cooler will return intact. So, we have to accelerate ways of creating great workplaces in these new conditions, not as temporary stopgaps, but as the next, even better way.

Now What?: Every assumption about the way workplaces should operate need to be openly reconsidered. As a mundane but practical example, do we need meetings to be in hour increments just because our electronic calendar assigns it that way?

How much screen time makes sense in a period of time?

What does a regular work day/week even look like?

How do we help each other manage energy and results more than time and activity?

What new skills and attributes are now “minimum musts” for current leaders?

What are the self accountability expectations of employees at every level?

How do structures need to evolve?

What does membership and loyalty really mean?

How much more importance does the sense of meaningful belonging have?

What additional importance does mental health and well being have?

What fundamental culture elements are shifting under our feet?

We ALL feel the tremors. This can paralyze us, or we can leap forward with more intentionality and courage even though the path is uncertain and uncomfortable.

How does this recommendation help address feelings of exhaustion? I believe when we consciously accept our situation, we will decide to MOVE ahead. It may not be our daily effort that is exhausting us so much as the state of mind hoping for a return to the past? Moving forward gives us more energy and can revitalize us.

Thank Big, Start Small, Act Now

- Lorne

One Millennial View: People who know me have likely never heard me say the word “exhausted.” I kind of hate that word. Its definition is “completely used up.” Well, even at my most tired, I’ve fortunately never been “completely used up.” So, when exhausted is used to describe a long day at work, or an hour long workout, I think it’s a prime example of accepted exaggeration. That somehow always irked me. And frankly, there’s some self-accountability that goes into keeping yourself from becoming exhausted. Dwelling on the past might be a good way to accidentally sprint mental marathons that can get you to that point. It’s true, real exhaustion is likely more in play these days, and it’s important to be mindful of that. Either way, I’d rather exhaust myself moving forward, than running a marathon backwards.

- Garrett

Edited and published by Garrett Rubis.

Exhausted? Let’s Leap Forward!

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