The almighty consumer of time and energy that seemingly knows no boundaries.
It makes its way into living rooms, dinner tables, and family vacations.
It can preoccupy our thoughts and commandeer our daily emotional state.
Work can get our “best” every day, leaving very little time and energy for the “most important” things in life.
As a result, health and personal pursuits are abandoned while relationships are put on the back burner.
Sound familiar?
Why are we so willing to exchange the most important things in life for time and energy spent on our work?
Practicality, right?
After all, lack of work performance carries life consequences.
That must bewhy I’m compelled to calls, emails, and texts when I’m at the zoo with my daughter.
I’m afraid of the negative consequences of inaction.
But wait…
What happens when personal health, relationships, and other fulfilling pursuits in life are continually ignored?
It isn’t hard to imagine, just look around.
Physical and mental health is at an all-time low while divorce rates are at an all-time high.
Consequences.
If lack of performance results in dire consequences for both work and life, why does work continue to win the battle of time and energy?
After working with thousands of high performers, I’ve found the answer comes down to one thing.
Structure.
Sometimes meaning needs a map.
When you look at where you’ve consistently invested your best energy throughout your life, bringing forth your best performance, it’s usually where there is the most:
Clarity: Conscious awareness of what you need, want, or intend to do and why
Expectation: You understand what is expected of you so you can economize your energy investments
Accountability: A person or system that oversees your progress and keeps you consitent
Support: People or systems that are aware of and support your specific intentions
Clear reward: You’re aware of an intended positive outcome of your efforts
Evaluation/feedback: A system that lets you know how you’re performing
Scheduling: A system that establish priorities for time and energy
All the above provide a consistent reason for your brain to say, “this deserves a lot of quality energy”.
Companies that want to get the best out of their employees provide and highlight the structure above.
I’ve never worked with a company without a mission statement.
I’ve never met an individual with one.
When the workday is over, structure sounds like stress.
Yuck.
We want “free” time.
In theory, this is time where we do whatever we want to do, assumedly, the most important things in our life.
Our brains are hell-bent on conserving energy though.
In these free moments, if given the option, our brains will choose to do as little as possible.
Staring at screens is an attractive option to support this inclination.
That’s why according to the research, screens consume between 2-5 hours a day of adults’ free time.
There’s nothing wrong with some “void” time, but I’ve never met anyone who claims that staring at a screen is one of the most important things in their life.
Meaning results from acts of commission, not omission.
Despite our brains screaming “no more structure!” after work, it’s often the only way we’ll give high quality energy to anything else.
Structure offers the building materials for boundaries.
To do more of the important things in life, define, plan, and schedule them.
Seek support and accountability.
Bringing some structure to your personal life serves as a reminder that despite finding meaning in your career, work isn’t your only worth.
