Creative Reaction

At sundown today (7:06 PM in the Northeast) begins a National Day of Unplugging, adhering to the traditional Jewish Sabbath, and ending at sundown tomorrow.

It’s been a while since I posted about the concept of a Technology Sabbath, so I’m glad to see this.

The National Day of Unplugging is promoted by Sabbath Manifesto, “a creative project designed to slow down lives in an increasingly hectic world.”

Sabbath Manifesto has 10 Principles:

1. Avoid technology.
2. Connect with loved ones.
3. Nurture your health.
4. Get outside.
5. Avoid commerce.
6. Light candles.
7. Drink wine.
8. Eat bread.
9. Find silence.
10. Give back.

Commerce and Technology are valuable tools, though like any tools, they have drawbacks and disadvantages when improperly used. Even if strictly as an experiment, you do not use either for 24 hours, you will be forced to stop and think about your habits. A little perspective is a healthy thing.

This sobering Harvard Business Review article discusses the link between management and employee health, contrasting good and bad bosses, and the implications are startling.

Poor management practices can adversely affect otherwise healthy employees, raising blood pressure and increasing the level of stress hormones, setting the stage for heart attacks and strokes.

On the other hand, “a present and active manager, providing structure, information and support, counteracts destructive processes in work groups, thereby promoting regenerative rather than stress-related physiological processes in employees.”

There are  three specific behaviors you can exhibit to both reduce stress and lower the risk of heart disease in your employees:

1. giving information and sufficient control to employees in relation to their responsibilities
2. thoroughly explaining goals and subgoals and
3. effectively pushing through and carrying out changes

Read these carefully. Your management skills quite literally make a life or death difference.

There’s a thought-provoking post over at Harvard Business Publishing, entitled Why It’s Not Selfish To Take Care of Yourself, which happens to be a great follow-up to yesterday’s post.

Perhaps the reason it resonates with me is that I need reminders to implement this kind of advice in my life. As a husband, father of five, homeowner, business owner and church member, I have my fair share of responsibilities. Add to that a multi-generational “martyr complex” in my family (“willful suffering in the name of love or duty”) and its easy to understand why I feel guilty about sitting and watching a movie or a football game.

I would imagine many business owners and entrepreneurs face similar challenges – that of overextending themselves for the sake of several good things, and yet to the detriment of all. (This should not be confused with actual selfishness - ”placing one’s own needs or desires above the needs or desires of others”)

Quoting the post, “if you don’t take care of yourself then you can’t really serve those who depend on you.” ”While it might seem noble in the short run to sacrifice the needs you have to cultivate your mind, body, and spirit, over time it’s a recipe for burnout.”

“The key is to very specifically identify how, by better meeting the expectations you have for enhancing your mind, your body, and your spirit, you are indeed making things better at work, at home, and in the community.”

So I dedicate this final thought to myself as I try to squeeze 20 hours of studying for a certification exam into my week:

“What have you done recently to take better care of yourself and strengthen your ability to perform well in the other parts of your life? In these stressful times, it’s more important than ever that we all do so.”

37Signals had an excellent post last Spring entitled Sleep Deprivation is not a Badge of Honor, in which David speaks frankly to recovering workaholics (myself included). His apt analogy equates “borrowing” sleep with borrowing money from a loan shark; you pay a high interest rate with high stakes.

The costs of not getting a healthy amount of sleep include:

• Stubbornness
• Lack of creativity
• Diminished morale
• Irritability

I would dare say this is rampant problem. In fact, creative people tend to brag about how little sleep they got (along with other aspects of the previous evening’s exploits). This is clearly to the detriment of business and creativity.

Managers and owners, adequate rest is all the more vital for us! We must be “always on”. Being well-rested enables us to be agile, keep a healthy perspective, be able to make decisions quickly, and have the emotional energy to inspire others. Our employees depend on us.

Aside from strongly encouraging (and allowing!) employees to get healthy amounts of sleep, and leading by example, is there more that we can do? Do we have a “napping” policy and the means to accommodate napping? Do we downplay the “masochistic sense of honor about sleep deprivation” in our offices? Do we manage our businesses in a way to allow our employees to “have lives”, being able to spend time with their families, be involved in creative endeavors, volunteer their time and/or spend time outdoors, perhaps by shortening the work week?

We owe it to ourselves and our employees. (And our employees should give their best to us and each other.)