“Pushing on through” is a phrase we hear often from people in our training workshops. It seems to be a common theme that many of us notice signs of fatigue or indicators that our performance is dropping but we either ignore these signs or notice them and carry on with work anyway.
“Pushing on through” is understandable given the fast pace in many organisations and the volumes of work most people are managing every day. Is it a smart strategy though?
Some of the consequences of ignoring fatigue signs or a decline in performance are that tasks will take longer and we are likely to make more errors. What consequences have you noticed?
In our experience, it can be helpful to experiment with taking recovery breaks and to notice whether you are more or less productive following these. You may want to have a day or a week where you work as you usually would and push on through signs of tiredness or performance decline. Then try a day or a week at work where you take brief recovery times instead. What do you notice? Which style of working is more productive for you? How do you feel at the end of a day/week where you have taken recovery time vs. the times you haven’t?
We are interested in your feedback—let us know the results of your experiments and any good recovery strategies you like.
Ideas for recovery:
- Have something nutritious to eat
- Do some stretching
- Get some fresh air
- Listen to music away from your desk
- Do a 5 minute quiz with your team
- Take an exercise break
- Plan something fun to do when you finish work