Off The Grid

CONNECTIVITY IS A BIG TURN OFF

I've just had a really interesting chat with a psychologist this evening. The reason - I've just been through an extensive period of stress in a job where it's left me run ragged. I'm knackered both mentally and physically. This is not uncommon for someone of my age, particularly for a man, but we are not alone. There is a marked increase in cases for office workers showing signs of burnout and everything I've gone through, the psychologist has been through herself to some degree and so has her husband.

We're all stuck in a modern day burnout nightmare:
The psychologist recognised the symptoms in herself 10 years ago and this has helped her to learn more about ways to help others overcome these problems. I mentioned the modern day phenomena of 'always on technology' and I was surprised to hear that she turns her phone off regularly, either to airplane mode or switches over to 'do not disturb' and avoids using email wherever possible - basically off the grid like I wish to be. This is such a relief - and yet, so simple to fix. Turn off the phone! So now, my partner and I have talked about a holiday where we leave the phone and technology at home. Imagine that.... no smartphone!

We'll have to talk at meal times. I'm sure we'll manage. I'm already making changes to my technology use. My email signature now has a sign-off about intermittent checking and I've told family and friends that I may not always be easily contractible as I'm going to start leaving my phone at home or turned off more often. This won't be easy once I start working again though...

It's known that we have a problem within the workplace and yet we continue to make things worse - not better. Until the office environment is improved to allow a more modern way of working without the intense stresses of keeping up with email and the ever-faster turn around times, I'm switching to a completely different job - something where there's high demand with flexible hours but the pay is good too. Maybe I'll become a psychologist!

Overstimulation

BRAIN BURNOUT

Do you sometimes feel you're brain is like a TV set with a stuck channel switching button? I do. I think the years of cramming as much in to my day all at the same time, have taken a toll - I'm getting brain burnout.

I posted earlier in the year about Inspiration Overload and the need for better time management to do all the things we want in our lifetimes. Since then, I've thought more about this modern-day phenomena of having so many information channels open to us and what it could mean trying to digest everything all at the same time. Learning is fun and work is rewarding too. I get a kick out of both and like the feeling of delivering under pressure and the rewards of completing a set of tasks for myself - often before most people have got out of bed these days. It's like a game and feels like you're creating time when you manage everything so efficiently - juggling responsibilities and learning new stuff in that limited window of time. It's been my key motivator for getting up so early every day. However, I'm starting to feel a little like a pinball machine and not sure it's doing me as much good as doing less and focussing more on one thing at a time.

My mornings start with a glance at the calendar & to do-list, then I'll have a series of windows open on my computer that will contain the inspiration and reference materials ready to ingest, learn and write about. As I only have a limited time-frame to work within, I'll often be 'multitasking' in order to get everything done and there's many reasons to suggest why juggling multiple tasks is best avoided.

Multitasking is a myth
Research confirms that what we are in fact doing, is flicking back and forwards between each task - as our brains can only manage one set of instructions at a time. In doing so, we are losing valuable time in the switch - which, over a period, shows a decrease in productivity and can actually do us harm. Each time we complete a little task like answering an email/text or completing a to-do, there's a release of dopamine in our brains that gives us that 'rewarding' feeling.

It's been shown in studies on rats that we can become addicted to these reward 'hits' in the same way a drug addict will be addicted to a cocaine buzz. Repeated and sustained periods of information bombardment can tax our brains in a way to cause exhaustion, anxiety and in some recently shown cases with gamers, even death.

Get organised
Having so much digital house-keeping to do can cause a lot of stress. This means over time, an increase in levels of cortisone. In the good old days before always-on technology, there were times spent away from computers and now smart phones, when you could focus on just the one task - and quietly use your brain. It is great having a mini-computer in our pockets but we have to keep on top of everything that this technology brings us. We need to get organised and this book by Daniel Levtin should help - The Organised Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload.

Creating folders for keeping your email in-box clutter-free is just one of the fixes you can make, but understanding how our brains have evolved and work will help us to understand our limitations more. My digital content/connectivity has gotten to the point where I'm now getting sick of my phone buzzing away with notifications and I fear burnout if I don't switch off more from having this level of connectivity.

I'd like to remove myself completely from the digital world at some point like this guy did, but for now it's all about managing the time I'm exposed to it. I've stripped back on subscribed newsletters, switched my email app to manual checking for new mail and removed most of the notifications from Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and any of the other non-important apps on my iPhone. I've added a sign-off to my email which states the times I will be checking mail and my working hours. Arguably, the best thing to do, is ditch the mobile all together and switch back to a regular phone, but that's difficult to reverse unless everyone does it.

We can certainly take some time out to be mindful as we see from the teachings contained in this post - watch the video under the heading: An Ancient Practice, A Modern Need. But if we still wish to stay connected, it should only be in moderation. Maybe there's an app out there that restricts the phone's functionality, in essence, only allowing short periods of time throughout the day via a stop watch, with pre-determined minutes for using the phone for anything other than calls. If there isn't - someone make it please!

Burnout

PTSD

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It's not just the armed forces that get affected. I've been reading some articles today about the effects of being subjected to sustained high levels of stress, the infectuous nature of working with trauma sufferers and fallout from being in this kind of environment for too long. Our front line could be the 9-5, the trauma sufferers our colleagues and the fallout can be the consequences from not dealing with something we're not even unaware of being affected by...

Numbness

When exposed to high levels of stress for sustained periods, soldiers have been observed to display behaviour changes in the form of; mood swings, anger outbursts, lack of empathy and numbness. There's also been studies to show how these same traits can be found in the office workplace - indicated by a clear increase in stress-related symptoms being diagnosed over recent years. A friend of mine who worked in the stock market, had to leave his job because it was affecting his marriage so much. He wasn't as aware of the changes to his character as his wife and friends were at the time, because he spent a major portion of his time at work. This kind of work, although well-paid, is known to be a hi-paced and stressful job. Being in media, there are known high-stress factors affecting certain roles, but being in an ever-more competitive market, the acceptable levels of stress have increased significantly across a multitude of roles and certainly not just representative of those with the highest salaries. So it's inevitable that more people are now working in an elevated state of stress which is not healthy for long periods and is likely why I've noticed the behavioural characteristics my friend, a high-earner from the stock market was displaying in more of my colleagues who are merely doing a regular job in lower paid roles. 

The signs that we're over-stressed don't show up as much until we're outside of the toxic environment. Our partners and friends will point out to us the times we're clearly out of balance. These can show up with an unexpected outburst in minor stress situations, for example; when driving a car. Other sure signs are fatigue - being exhausted at the end of the working week with no energy for the weekend's activities or isolation - unusually quiet/withdrawn & feeling flat/numb in what are usually known to be fun and upbeat situations. 

The feeling of numbness is hard to describe. You can be doing something fun or not so much fun and there'll be no great deviation from the line of zero emotion. There's no/little spike of excitement when there should b,e or emotion when something bad/sad has happened. It is interesting that I've been able to witness and observe these feelings in myself and mostly rectify numbness quickly & easily by readily having something on hand to jar the dulled brain back into life. For others, where they've not been made aware of their symptoms until they are close to burnout, it's maybe not been so easy to fix. 

Life Mantra

There's a simple way to keep on top of how you're feeling and that's to write things down. I've been doing this consistently since 2010. Every year I make a list of the things I want to achieve at the beginning and evaluate them at the end of the year. This is great practice as there's a master plan in place. But, you'll have some known truths about yourself that will help or hinder your achievements and this is where your mantra comes in. I write down what things negatively affect me - like being in a stressful work environment, dealing with difficult characters or having to repeatedly do things that irritate me. I'll then have a list of positives that I can also get from being in those environments/situations and have some extra known tasks, activities and tricks that I can draw on to help adjust the balance if the day is particularly tough. Some examples of these easy to obtain positivity enhancers are:

- Doing some exercise at the gym

- Riding my road bike

- Going for a walk

- Eating a nice meal

- Watching or listening to some comedy

- Watching an inspirational TED video

- Listening to music or a pod cast

- Sleep

The not so easy to get immediately but best positivity enhancers are things like; taking quality time out, ie. getting away for a weekend break or longer with partners and friends. These need to be factored-in regularly and there needs to be time for assessment and self-reflection. I now make regular checks every day when writing a blog and it's helped keep track of a number of things - in particular, the life/work balance. 

Get out and move on

Whatever your reasons for remaining in a bad situation/environment/job, when you realise that the positivity enhancers are being over-used and their restorative effects becoming weaker/not as long-lasting...it's time to look at options before burnout takes hold or manifests into something even more serious. 

The work-live balance

This article link gives a bit more info on the topic of working in toxic environments. I believe there's a lot more studies required, especially around having increased connectivity periods - the 24-7 smartphone phenomena means we're spending less time away from thinking about work. Certain firms in Europe like Volkswagen are realising the impact of having a poor work/life balance and are now regulating how much time is spent at work either physically or virtually by restricting hours and connectivity times. 

I have friends that are showing signs of burnout written about in here and I've observed some of these symptoms in myself too. High pressure is ok and can actually produce better, more rewarding results but we need to be more aware of the damaging effects that come from being exposed to sustained high-stress situations in toxic environments. If it's making us ill - It's time to get out.