WORKING FRESH: THE KEY TO PRODUCTIVITY You’ve tried the rest, now try the best. It’s a cloudy day in May. I’m a junior in high school and have made it to the suburban Toronto track finals in the half mile. I’m one of ten runners from 44 schools and I’m nervous beyond words. We get to the starting line and – BANG – the gun goes off. We sprint the first fifty yards to jockey for position on the inside lane. After that, I settle in and think, “Hey, this feels pretty good!” Coming into the last 200 yards, I go into my final kick. On the last curve, I’m in third place. Just then, a friend yells out to me, “You better hurry – they’re running up your tail”. I try to quicken my pace. But I lose my rhythm and stumble. In that moment, four runners roar by. I finish seventh. Even though my time is a personal best, I feel crushed. I learn an important lesson that day: when you’re going as fast as you can, you simply can’t go any faster. The world of work is now faster than ever. Computers, e-mail, instant messaging, Blackberries, relentless deadlines, tough competition, pressure to keep up – it’s dizzying and exhausting. In order to increase productivity, people are being asked to speed up. But as I learned on the track in my youth, there’s a limit to how fast we can go. There are several reasons for this: • We’re limited by our physiology. Think of Charlie Chaplin in “Modern Times.” • If we go too fast, we miss things and make mistakes. • It’s not sustainable. Over time, we get exhausted or sick. Eventually, we burn out. • It’s not very satisfying or enjoyable to rush through life. Long hours are another problem. I’ve seen legions of patients who are working as hard and as fast as they can. But they still have trouble keeping up. So what do they do? They work longer hours to compensate. Research shows that Americans are working one month per year longer than they were 20 years ago. One in four Canadians is working 50 or more hours per week – a decade ago it was one in ten. We’re going in the wrong direction. Employers have tried everything to boost productivity – except to hire more people to share the load! And guess what’s happened? Workers have hit the wall. The fastest growing segment of disability claims is for stress-related illness, especially depression. Working faster, longer, harder and smarter just isn’t working anymore. What’s the solution? I suggest we start to Work Fresh. I urge my overworked patients to cut back their work hours. Some of them look at me as if I’m loopy. “I can barely keep up as it is. You’re asking me to leave work earlier?” The answer is yes. But the deal is that they have to use the extra time constructively: for sleep, exercise, relaxation, recreation, hobbies and time with friends and family, There’s a sad irony to overwork: all these things we cut back on when we’re overloaded are the very things that would replenish our energy, reduce our stress and actually improve our productivity. These patients all find they’re more efficient and perform better when they take better care of themselves. Here are three testimonial quotes: “It’s amazing. I’m doing more at work in less time. And it seems a lot more fun too.” “I was cheating myself by an hour a day” (she had shortened her work day from 10 hours to nine and found she was still getting her work done). “I’m realizing that Type A people aren’t as productive as they think they are. But they sure are busy!” Here’s a prescription for working fresh: • Get a good night’s sleep. Most of us need at least eight hours to function at our best. • Slow down a little. Pace yourself. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. • Take time outs. When you feel tired, restless or lose concentration, take a break. • Do high concentration tasks when you’re fresh, high activity tasks when you’re tired. If you’re a morning person, write that report first thing in the day and return phone calls and e-mails in the afternoon. • Avoid long hours. Most people can only put in eight or nine productive hours a day. • Exercise regularly. It raises energy, reduces stress and improves concentration. Our work lives are spinning out of control. It’s time to step back and rethink the whole issue. Long hours, accelerated pace and increased effort are not a formula for success. Working fresh is a better strategy for long-term productivity. And for health, too.