Today’s thought-provoking contribution to the Millennial Perspectives Series comes to us from Blake Cavignac of Intellectual Innovations.
One of the more popular sport analogies that gets thrown around is:
“Life is a marathon, not a sprint.”
As young professionals we have either observed or have been taught that the most effective way to meet the “demands of business” and be productive is to work with a marathon-like mentality: the longer we work, the more we can accomplish.
Because this has proven to get the job done, it’s understandable why many of us have accepted this concept without ever questioning its validity.
Today we’re going to challenge it.
The Research: Running marathons is not as “healthy” as you may think
For some, long distance running is an addiction that they can’t get enough of. Like all addictions, though, long distance running (especially marathons) has severe risks associated with them.
A study that was presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress stated that regular exercise reduces cardiovascular risk by a factor of two or three; however, when extending vigorous exercise, like while running a marathon, elevates cardiac risk seven-fold.
The marathon is the perfect example of the “reverse effect” – where too much of doing something that is good for you has the opposite impact.
The Research: The benefits of sprinting
On the flipside, numerous studies have now demonstrated that running sprints is the most efficient way to improve cardiovascular conditioning.
While sprinting, certain enzymes become abundant in our bodies. These enzymes help our bodies store more calories and energy within the muscle tissue rather than the fat storages.
Sprinting also increases the body’s endurance strength, making long-distance cardio easier to complete. This is why many marathoners incorporate sprints into their training.
Other benefits include:
- Natural growth hormone production, which results in lean muscle gain
- Strengthens your heart
- Boosts your metabolism
- The most effective cardiovascular activity to burn fat
Our Challenge As Young Professionals
This research on marathons and sprints can be carried into the workplace.
Growing up many of us were conditioned to believe that taking “breaks” is associated with being lazy.
Today it has not only become counter-intuitive for us to take breaks but it’s also counter-cultural as we enter the workplace.
The stereotypes about millennials being lazy, entitled and only looking out for their best interests doesn’t help either.
For many of us who don’t want to be labeled as “lazy”, we’ve learned to put our heads down and grind out the days.
Unfortunately this type of behavior results in:
- Our jobs draining the energy out of us.
- Not being able to produce at optimal levels.
- Being in constant reaction mode letting the day control us.
In addition, if we approach the work day like running a marathon, the ability to be fully engaged at any time of that day is nearly impossible.
Knowing that we’re expected to put in long hours at work, we have to find ways to conserve energy just to make it through the day. Oftentimes this idea of “conserving energy” comes in the form of checking email, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, organizing, daydreaming, switching back and forth to different tasks just to break up the monotony.
Unfortunately none of these behaviors create effective energy renewal. Instead they make us less productive throughout the day.
So the question becomes:
What is the most effective way to schedule the day so we can perform at peak levels?
Approach the workday like a series of sprints
Take a moment and think about how the functions of our human bodies were designed:
- Our heart rate pulses.
- The waves in our brains move up and down.
- Our muscles contract then relax.
They were all designed with a rhythmic flow that rise and fall like the tides of the ocean.
This is our genetic inheritance.
Tony Schwartz, founder of The Energy Project and bestselling author of three books said:
“The problem is human beings aren’t meant to operate the way computers do: at high speeds, continuously, for long periods of time. To the contrary, people perform best when they pulse rhythmically between spending and renewing energy – not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally.”
When we disturb these rhythmic pulses by working longer hours with little to no recovery, we throw our bodies and minds out of whack, decreasing our ability to perform and be productive.
In other words, working longer hours DOES NOT equal more productivity.
Instead we perform at peak levels and are most productive when we rhythmically flow between intense effort and purposeful rest – the same way our bodies operate.
The Game Plan
According to the world-renowned research of Peretz Lavie on “ultradian rhythms,” we are most productive when we work for 90 minutes followed by 20-minute breaks.
The time spent working for 90 minutes does not mean switching from activity to activity and multi-tasking. Instead it refers to an intense focus that is solely dedicated to one task.
So whether that one task is sales calls, writing a blog post, etc., it’s critical to block out all the “noise” and resist the temptation of checking email and social media.
Once the 90 minutes of intense focus is up, it’s time to recover for 20 minutes.
As mentioned, recovery also does not consist of multi-tasking, checking email or social media. The most effective forms of recovery are when we are able to fully disengage. This could consist of:
- Going for a walk
- Taking a nap
- Meditation
- Listening to music
- Breathing exercises
- Reading a book
If you don’t think you can focus intensely for 90 minutes, it doesn’t mean that this routine won’t work for you.
Right now I’m only able to go about 45 minutes before I need a break. Like most things, however, my ability to solely focus intensely on the task at hand has increased with practice.
The same principle applies with recovery time. At first you might need more, but as you continue to practice you will become more effective at recovering in a shorter period of time.
Whatever you decide to do, you must commit 100% from being fully disengaged from your work in order to recover and get ready for your next sprint.
At first this will feel counter-intuitive. You will not like it. You will feel like you’re being less productive and lazy by not multi-tasking and taking breaks.
Your mind will be trying to pull you back into it’s old conditioning of working longer hours with the belief that it will result in better performance.
If this was the case and if this is how the majority of us work – Why isn’t “great performance” more common?
It’s also important to remember the purpose of why you have committed to this new routine:
You have committed because you’re tired of letting your days control and take the energy out of you.
You have committed because it has been proven as the best way to increase productivity.
You have committed because effective recovery and renewal is the key to peak performance.
Also, I would highly recommend that you keep a log of what you accomplish with this new routine. By doing this you will find that you’re:
- Accomplishing far more in fewer hours of time.
- You’ll have more energy throughout the day.
- The quality of your work and the results you will be achieving will be superior.
While the research clearly demonstrates that we will be more productive approaching work and life like a series of sprints as opposed to a marathon, we have to achieve the results for ourselves in order to believe it.
So start today.
Fully commit and let the results speak for themselves.
Have you ever tried a workday schedule like this one? If so, what did or did not work for you?
Photo Credit: Sebastian Mary
The post Focus on Being Productive, Not Busy appeared first on Working Self.