As I was shoveling our walks today, I thought about what happened to my Dad in his late 70’s. He was out shoveling snow, and stubbornly just wanted to finish. He pushed past the point where he probably should have stopped, and found himself deeply fatigued afterwards. Later, we found out he had what his cardiologist called ‘a heart incident’, and that was the start of a slow decline.
How often do you say to yourself something like this?
- I’ll just send one more email before I shut down.
- I’ll just make one more call before I quit.
- I’ll just finish off this other task before going home.
- I’ll just put in one more job application before I stop for the day.
Now doing ‘just one more’ is often a good way to build both physical and mental muscles, and is particularly relevant for workouts. It lets you push through the pain or resistance and actually make more progress.
But sometimes (like with my Dad) it’s not the best strategy. As my good friend Marty Latman likes to say about most decisions associated with a career search, “It depends.”
Think about the other side of the scale. Weigh the benefit of the ‘one more’ vs. the benefit of:
- The rejuvenation you get from leaving the office or shutting down your PC sooner.
- The effect of additional relaxation or sleep on your body and mental state.
- The impact both for you and your family of increasing your work / life balance to the latter.
- How much more effective you may be at that ‘one more’ when you start fresh the next day.
And also look at this aspect:
- When skiing, aren’t you most likely to get hurt when you take that one last run, when you are already tired and sore?
- When shoveling snow, aren’t you more likely to hurt your back (or worse) when you decide to soldier on and clear that one last section of the driveway?
- When writing emails, reports, cover letters, job applications, LinkedIn posts, etc., aren’t you most likely to make mistakes when you’re tired and just pushing to get it off your plate?
- When having a Zoom or phone call, aren’t you more likely to miss nuances or say something you didn’t intend when you are pushing to ‘get it done’?
For meetings, and especially in networking and job interviews, you want to be upbeat, positive and confident in everything you do. If that means you need to knock off early the day before, or take a long walk that morning, or take a break and go to the gym, do it!
So take the time to think about your natural rhythms, and when you are most effective. If you are in an up-cycle (for you), then it probably is a good time to do ‘one more thing.’ But when you’re tired, or in a natural down-cycle, or it’s the end of the day and you’re just trying to push through, think about whether maybe that ‘one more thing’ would be better left for another time.
What do you think?
I think that, with winter, I am in a bit of a down cycle. I did get to have a workout today and I drew a picture and did other stuff that kept me somewhat busy. But I feel more sleepy in the winter and less likely to push myself for a little bit more, like I do in the summer, when I spend a lot of time outside. I think I just have to let it go and to honor my down cycle.
Sounds like a plan to me, Alice. Maybe just consciously build what you are going to plan to do around the reality of the winter effect?
Wise words, John. Love this line, Think about the other side of the scale. Weigh the benefit …
I do make a conscious effort to stop and do a bit less. My guy pushed his body too much and in the wrong form, picking beans in August. He’s suffering back pain issues since. He’s getting treatment but progress slow.
We’ve all been there. I broke two small bones in my wrist in a fall playing tennis. At the 6 week point, I asked my doctor if I could start playing again. His response: “Just don’t fall.”