Years ago, I took a taxi at around 2:30 pm. As my driver dropped me off, he switched off his meter and cheerfully declared that he had made enough money for the day and that we would surprise his daughter by picking her up from school.

As a wellbeing coach, I work with high-performing professionals who deliver extraordinary value for their organisations year after year and yet never feel that they do enough. Many operate constantly on the edge of burnout. Their workloads are enormous.  When asked how one client knows she has done enough, she replied “When I am so exhausted at the end of the day, I can do no more”.  Unlike my cab driver, many workers don’t seem to know when they have done enough work that is good for business, but also for their own sustainable wellbeing.

Researchers have discovered a phenomenon known as the ‘autonomy paradox’¹. It seems that in the knowledge economy, the very technology that allows people to work anywhere at any time has increased autonomy, expectations of their availability, increased engagement and thereby reduced individuals’ ability to recognise when they have done enough and can switch off.

Sometimes life offers us an ‘enough’ switch with a chronic health condition that forces us to stop. Before things get to this stage how can you activate your ‘enough’ switch to facilitate wellbeing for sustained productivity?

• Crowd out work with meaningful alternatives. Like the cab driver, genuinely make time for the important people and activities in your life. If family doesn’t draw you away from work, join a sporting team or music ensemble that needs you to show up. Schedule a workout or dinner with friends to draw your mind away from work.
• Accept the pain of imperfection or incompletion. For many people work is like the infinite scroll function on social media apps. It is NEVER done. Be prepared to occasionally sit with the discomfort of leaving things undone. Remember this short-term pain felt by not doing something perfectly or completely, is in service of the long-term gain of your physical and psychological health and therefore enduring productivity.
• Acknowledge your “DONE” list. We are subject to a negativity bias which means we give undue focus on things still to be done on our ‘To Do’ list. We rarely pause to acknowledge what we have achieved. Towards the end of the day give yourself a small boost of energising positive emotions by taking 90 seconds to savour your DONE list and the impact of those tasks completed, no matter how small. Ask yourself is this ‘enough’ for today? If so, signal the end of the day in an audible way with a satisfying click of the laptop lid.

Many people have more autonomy over what is ‘enough’ than they realise. How can you continue to calibrate your ‘enough’ switch for your current role?

Click here to contact Steople today and discuss how to balance your workload for sustainable wellbeing.