#83 - The art of procrastinating instead of working harder

Humankind has become super-productive. Over the course of multiple decades and centuries, advancements in technology and management have allowed us to automate many activities and become more productive. However, this increase in productivity does not at all mean that the workload has decreased over this period. On the contrary, people – on average – are working two hours more everyday since the pandemic. If more productivity isn’t the solution, then what is?

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Transcript

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Do you think you were born in this world to become super productive? To deliver all your to do sometimes at the cost of your family time or yourself? Do you think the answer to your high workload and lack of time is to become more productive than it is to go even faster? that the answer is to squeeze even more to dues in your day? Do you still believe that when you manage to squeeze even more work in less time, then you'll finally be able to find the time to relax? When you deliver this project, then you'll be able to be happy. When you have this promotion, then you'll have more freedom to do what you want. Are you a win den person. I'm Murielle, co mum and educator, I used to work really hard and sacrifice important things to me until I lost my motivation. Fast forward past many failed attempts and lessons learned. And I found a way to reach great results while working less. Today, I'm obsessed with helping other leaders build meaningful lives. So each week, I'll be sharing inspiration to change your life and organisation. This is rebel leader with a heart. In my previous podcast, I talked about the socio economic history of why so many of us are so busy, we've become very productive, and we have technologies that allow us to automate many activities. So in principle, we should be able to only work a couple of hours a day. But in reality, many of us have never worked this hard. And with every crisis we faced in the last years the pandemic, the war, the energy crisis, an extra layer of workload and stress was added on people. Statistics show that on average, people work two hours more every day compared to before the pandemic. It seems that commuting time has been replaced with more work time, and many of us have become human doings instead of human beings are working machines. Even our spare time often consists of many to do's do the groceries for a dinner party with friends. We search holiday destinations, book flights and visit us for the upcoming holiday. Bring children to their music and sports activities screen the garage, fix the lamp bulb in the hall etc. And I noticed a strange phenomenon, something that so many of us aren't aware of. It's something I only recently realised myself. And it's so strange because we think this phenomenon will allow us to find more peace of mind that it will free up more time. And many books about this topic or even bestsellers. We take courses about it and believe it will be the answer to all our problems. While I realised that it's only creating more work, it's leading to more stress, and robs us even more of time. Before I tell you what it is. Let me ask you a question. Do you think you were born in this world to become super productive? To deliver all your to do sometimes at the cost of your family time or yourself? Do you think the answer to your high workload and lack of time is to become more productive? than it is to go even faster? that the answer is to squeeze even more to dues in your day? Do you still believe that when you manage to squeeze even more work in less time, then you'll finally be able to find the time to relax. When you deliver this project, then you'll be able to be happy. When you have this promotion, then you'll have more freedom to do what you want. Are you a win den person? The strange phenomenon I discovered is that the more productive you are, the more work you'll attract. Or the more you work, the more work you'll get. Do you know the quote Do you want to get something done? Ask a busy person. Now just look at yourself when you want a project delivered. Who will you ask first? The colleague that delivers most of the time, or the one that doesn't because he has other priorities than work or did you notice that when you empty your Inbox by answering all the emails you receive in even more emails, or when you finish a task, you see other opportunities to see to make it even better. And in my previous company, I noticed that when I hired new people to do a job, after a few weeks, those people were overworked as well, even for roles that didn't exist before. So at some points, we recently acquired a new company. And that company existed for 20 years and was growing every year without any marketing, just thanks to word of mouth. But to grow even faster, we decided to hire two marketing managers. And after two months, both marketing managers were overloaded with work that they had created. And that's when I realised as a managing director, that hiring extra people wasn't always the answer to extra work. It wasn't solving the workload problem, and becoming more productive isn't the answer to having more time or finding more peace of mind. On the contrary, the more productive we became as a society, the more we were expected to do in less time. And when I say we're expected, I mean that we expect this from ourselves, or colleagues expected or bosses or family, we live in a world of opportunities, we always have the opportunity to do something else, to fix another issue to answer another request. And in the 50s, when household started to buy all these household appliances, like fridges, washing machines, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, some people were wondering, but what are people going to do with all this free time they have? Well, unfortunately, there wasn't any free time left, because the cleaning standards were raised. People wanted to buy more stuff, and women wanted their financial freedom and so started working, and time only became a scar SEER resource. So if you believe that the answer to your overwork, and lack of time, lies in becoming more productive, or in working harder, you might fall hard. Because it's the exact opposite that will happen. The harder you work, the more work you'll attract. Just look at your own situation. Do you truly believe in your heart and in your gut? That if you run a little bit faster, if you become even a little bit more productive, that that will be the answer for you to have more impact and more balance, to find more time. So what's the secret? Then? How can we get out of this rat race? How can we stop being so busy, and start having time to really enjoy life and still have an impact at work? Because that's what we want? No, we really want to enjoy life. But we still want to have an impact in our lives and at work. Wouldn't you enjoy life more if you had more time, if you still had that impact you crave for. But you still had time also to be really present with your family and partner. If you had time to smile and chat with random people in the streets, time to exercise and eat healthfully time to sleep as much as you'd like time to make love. Time to listen to your colleagues to think about a challenge that you face, to explore and learn new things, to be creative to let your mind wander. I love that. I love it in the morning when I waking up. And I have these ideas and these thoughts that wander that's often where I get my best ideas, or to simply enjoy a cup of coffee in the sun during a break time to show love and recognition to the people in your life and time to really listen to another human being. Imagine for a second what you would do if you had all the time in the world. And of course, if you could still deliver and have an impact at work at the same time. Now I want you to just sit down and think for a minute what you truly need to be happy in life. And just think for a second about a happy time in your life. Who were you? What were you doing and who were you with? I remember I was very happy during my student life and I didn't have a lot of I had no money, no car, no house, only a very small room, no expensive clothes, cheap camping holidays, and no fancy restaurants. But I was constantly surrounded by friends, I learned new things, I had a lot of fun. laughs parties played games met new people all the time. And I had time. I wasn't running all the time. The truth is, we live in a world where we can have anything we want. But we've been convinced that we need to be productive all the time to get it. And that's the big lie. You don't need to be productive all the time to have an impact. On the contrary, I know found out that being productive and trying to be even more productive, will make you less impactful. And it will rob you even have more free time, you can make a difference by slowing down and enjoying your life more. In fact, I noticed that my happiness, and my impact increased when I started to slow down and work less. And I started this trend when I was the CEO of a company of 130 people. And I continued it when I became an entrepreneur and an academic director. In fact, I have never worked this little than in 2022. And at the same time, my impact and my revenues have never been this high. Now, I'm sure of course, there is a sweet spot to find. Because if I completely stopped working, of course, I won't make any revenue or won't have any impact. I currently work a maximum of 30 hours per week, and I have a lot of holidays and days off. Now. I'd like to ask you something. Are you ready to test this concept? Did I manage to convince you that the answer to your busyness or lack of impact? isn't working more or being even more productive? Are you ready to give slowing down and procrastinating a try? But how can you start? Well, first of all, you need to understand that your worth is not defined by how much you produce, or how much money you make. Your worth is defined by who you are as a person. And so you are so much more than just your productivity. In fact, a Harvard study on happiness analysed many people over a very long time. The study wanted to see what the factors were that differentiated, healthy and happy people from the others. And what they found out was that it wasn't social status or money that made the difference, but the quality of their relationships and their Art of Letting Go. And I realised that I had linked my worth very much to my successes in the past. And in fact, I often tell my learners that I became a CEO, because I unconsciously felt that I wasn't good enough, I should have anticipated more I should have done this, I should have foreseen this, etc. And so I did everything that was expected of me to get my high school degree and to be accepted in a great business school. And there, my worth was linked to my ability to succeed with honours, and to be accepted by a great company. And in that first great company, I was looking for a promotion, it was crucial for me to reach my objective and to deliver what my bosses and my colleagues were expecting from me, the car, the big office, the title, the salary, the status, I got it all. And that's when you notice that all that doesn't bring you through happiness. In fact, it can even be at the cost of your happiness. And recently, a director in a big construction company told me, my wife left me I was barely present for my children. I had almost no time for my friends and myself, but I couldn't stop. The workload was too high. We had unfilled vacancies, and I couldn't properly support my team anymore. As I wanted to do it. I tried to change the situation and had countless conversations with my management. Each time they promised me more resources This, but they couldn't fulfil their promises, I was working 12 to 14 hours a day, because the need to deliver a good job was unconsciously higher and bigger than all the rest. I couldn't stop if it's meant the project was not delivered as expected, it would have made me feel worthless or unsuccessful. I have always delivered what others expected for me and university and in my career, how could I not deliver any more, even if the circumstances weren't great. And I felt that I was putting my family at risk. But I unconsciously thought my relationship with my family was strong enough to get through this face. The problem was that it wasn't a face anymore. My hard work and lack of presence had become business as usual. At some point, I decided that I couldn't continue like this. But I was too late for my relationship with my wife. After waiting for me to be more present for too long, she gave up and found someone else. And I don't blame her. But I decided to take a break from work because this isn't a life I want to live anymore. I don't want to risk losing everything, myself included, just to deliver a good job in very tough circumstances. Now, I don't know how to change this yet. But the salary title and exciting challenges aren't worth it anymore. I want to be present for my child, for my future partner, for my friends, my family and for myself. And I still want to be fulfilled at work. But I have to admit that I don't know if it's possible to have that kind of life today. I haven't cracked the code yet. That's also why I've taken a break to think about the life I truly want to live. Now, for many leaders, I know for many of my friends and family, this testimonial is very recognisable. And a problem that leads us there is that we tend to link our worth to our hard work or to deliver what is expected. So look at yourself again, do you think that delivering what your company expects, having the next promotion or a big salary will make you truly happier, especially if it's at the cost of your relationships with yourself or your loved ones? So stop defining your worth to external success factors. So how can you start slowing down and changing and getting out of this rat race? Well, first, don't define your worth, and link it to what you're producing. Secondly, it's time to let go of the mindset that working harder or becoming more productive will help you save time, or will make you happier. As I explained previously, the more you work, the more work you will attract. And this is the hardest mind shift to make. Because you see all these requests, opportunities and threats. You feel compelled to do something about it. It's a compulsion. We could even call it an addiction because this urge is often uncontrollable. Some people lose their health and their marriage because of this urge. And it's completely understandable because from a very young age, you have been educated to do everything that is requested of you. You have been conditioned to deliver everything. Just like Pavlov trained his dogs. It's so deeply ingrained that it has become who you are. But it's a never ending vicious circle. The only way out is to slow down and embrace the art of procrastination. And I can already hear your thoughts. That's impossible. Who's going to do the work then? Isn't that selfish towards my colleagues? How can I slow down when there is so much to do? I feel guilty. My boss will think I can't deliver, I'll get fired. The project won't be delivered as I want it. And I feel bad for me it's important to deliver quality. I want to make an impact. And I get it. I really do. And I was in your shoes before as well. But let me ask you this. How is that working out for you so far? Are you happy with the way things are going? Do you feel you have enough time for To the things that truly matter to you, do you feel your work makes a real impact? Or are you just going through the motions? Is your work life balance satisfying? Or would you like to change it? If your answer to any of these questions is no, then it might be time for you to rethink your approach and give procrastination a try. I started to embrace the art of procrastination as a managing director, I continue to adopt it as an entrepreneur podcaster and academic director today. For me, it leads to having an even bigger impact while working way less than before. Now, how, I'm sure you're wondering how, how will this work? How if I slow down and do less, how will I have a bigger impact? Well, when you realise that being more productive isn't a way anymore, you get in touch with your own limits, when I still believed I could do it all by being extremely productive. I wasn't focusing or prioritising that much. On the contrary, I unconsciously choose the most urgent or easiest task, I wouldn't stop very often and lose my energy. And losing my energy would lead to me being more reactive to situations or in my relationship with others, I wouldn't get what I want it as often as a consequence, I would be less creative too, as our creative brain only starts working. When our rational brain stops, I would be more operational working on symptoms of problems instead of root causes. I would handle more out of stress and fear, then out of love and trust. So what is embracing the art of procrastinating, it's simply allowing yourself to not deliver everything you're supposed to do. It's about learning to focus on the most important tasks, and saying no, or simply ignoring all the rest. It's accepting that you'll disappoint people, including yourself, it's deciding what is worth your time and what isn't. It means also being more strategic with your time and letting go of the need to control everything. It's about listening to your needs. Now, of course, this doesn't mean that you can never do anything else than your top priorities. But it's means that you shouldn't feel guilty about not checking all the boxes on your to do list. Now, procrastination has also a very interesting impact on our relationships with others. Because when we're more productive, we tend to put more pressure on those around us. We want them to perform as well as us, or even better, we become demanding. But on the other hand, when we start to procrastinate more, we become more relaxed and understanding with others. We let them be we don't put as much pressure on them and trust them more. And that space allows them to blossom. So what are you waiting for the world wounds and if you don't do everything on your to do list, slow down and focus on what truly matters embrace the art of procrastination. Now in my next podcast episode, I'll share the biggest roadblock when you start to slow down and procrastinate and of course, I'll also give you some tips on how to overcome this roadblock. Now go ahead, slow down and master the art of procrastinating and share your experience your thoughts and your challenges with me because I'm really curious and I'd like to help you. Yeah, you finished another episode of rebel leader with a hearts if you want more, go to rebel leader with a heart.com For show notes and past episodes. If you love the show, subscribe, leave a review and share it with your friends The more the merrier. Thanks for tuning in and have a great week you rebel leader with a hearts