What could be more demotivating than a neverending to-do list? Yet this is the reality of many employees who feel swamped by their workload. At the same time, workers are under increasing pressure from their superiors to do more in less time. Add to this ever tighter deadlines, and you’re soon on the road to burnout!
Many managers confide that they are victims of a structural overflow phenomenon: their working day simply no longer allows them to meet their obligations. For instance, 77% of French executives felt they have too many tasks to manage at the same time, according to a 2019 survey.
To keep up the pretense of maintaining productivity, some people work outside office hours, which is not without consequences for the body and mind. Fortunately, there is another way.
Cal Newport, professor of computer science at Georgetown University in the United States, encourages working people to slow down in their professional lives. In his latest book, “Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment without Burnout”, he outlines the benefits of what he calls “slow productivity”.
Slow productivity fights against the cult of performance, which subjects workers to a permanent pressure to surpass themselves and multitask. As Newport reminds us, our minds can quickly switch between one task and another if their execution has become automatic and unconscious, thanks to repetitive learning – for example, it’s perfectly possible to walk while having a conversation on the phone.
But it’s much more difficult to participate in a meeting while answering emails. That’s why Newport encourages us to move away from multitasking, saying: “The first principle of slow productivity is described as ‘do fewer things’, which I think a lot of people very naturally interpret to mean ‘finish fewer things’.
“A better way of wording this first principle might actually be to ‘do fewer things at once’,” he told Bloomberg.
Similarly, the specialist advises adapting our work rhythms to those of our body. We shouldn’t hesitate to take a break after several hours of mental activity, or even allow ourselves a longer time to rest and recuperate if the need arises. Of course, this is easier said than done: working to excess is reassuring as it keeps us in line with the norm, even if it’s harmful in the long term.
That’s why it’s important to keep the situation in check by not saying “yes” to every professional request. “A lot of my advice in the book can basically all be summarised as, ‘how do you say no without ever saying no?'” Newport told Bloomberg.
If the prospect of not accommodating the requests of your direct supervisor or your colleagues makes you break out in a cold sweat, don’t worry – it’s perfectly possible to say “no” in a roundabout way. You can, for example, use the “yes but…” approach, or ask for some time to think.
In any case, remember that refusing a request isn’t always negative; saying “no” means preventing yourself from getting overloaded by accepting an excessive or unrealistic workload. It’s all about learning to pace yourself, to keep up the pace over time and not burn yourself out – which will make you more productive in the long term.