“I’m so busy!” How often do you say or think this throughout the week? We live in a society that glorifies hustle. But our culture’s obsession with busyness is not only counterproductive but also damaging to relationships, well-being, and ministry. In their book Rework, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson critique workaholism, challenging us to rethink our approach to work and ministry and embrace a healthy, sustainable rhythm.
Our culture celebrates the idea of the workaholic. We hear about people burning the midnight oil. They pull all-nighters and sleep at the office. It’s considered a badge of honor to kill yourself over a project. No amount of work is too much work.
Not only is this workaholism unnecessary, it’s stupid. Working more doesn’t mean you care more or get more done. It just means you work more.
Workaholics wind up creating more problems than they solve. First off, working like that just isn’t sustainable over time. When the burnout crash comes—and it will—it’ll hit that much harder.
Workaholics miss the point, too. They try to fix problems by throwing sheer hours at them. They try to make up for intellectual laziness with brute force. This results in inelegant solutions.
They even create crises. They don’t look for ways to be more efficient because they actually like working overtime. They enjoy feeling like heroes. They create problems (often unwittingly) just so they can get off on working more.
Workaholics make the people who don’t stay late feel inadequate for “merely” working reasonable hours. That leads to guilt and poor morale all around. Plus, it leads to an [butt]-in-seat mentality— people stay late out of obligation, even if they aren’t really being productive.
If all you do is work, you’re unlikely to have sound judgments. Your values and decision-making wind up skewed. You stop being able to decide what’s worth extra effort and what’s not. And you wind up just plain tired. No one makes sharp decisions when tired.
In the end, workaholics…may claim to be perfectionists, but that just means they’re wasting time fixating on inconsequential details instead of moving on to the next task.
Workaholics aren’t heroes. They don’t save the day, they just use it up. The real hero is already home because she figured out a faster way to get things done.
Instead:
Throw less at the problem. When things aren’t working, the natural inclination is to throw more at the problem. More people, time, and money. All that ends up doing is making the problem bigger. The right way to go is the opposite direction: Cut back.
So do less. Your project won’t suffer nearly as much as you fear. In fact, there’s a good chance it’ll end up even better. You’ll be forced to make tough calls and sort out what really matters.
Interruption is the enemy of productivity. If you’re constantly staying late and working weekends, it’s not because there’s too much work to be done. It’s because you’re not getting enough done at work. And the reason is interruptions.
Instead, you should get in the alone zone. Long stretches of alone time are when you’re most productive. When you don’t have to mind-shift between various tasks, you get a boatload done. (Ever notice how much work you get done on a plane since you’re offline and there are zero outside distractions?)
Meetings are toxic. The worse interruptions of all are meetings. If you decide you absolutely must get together, try to make your meeting a productive one by sticking to these simple rules:
- Set a timer. When it rings, meeting’s over. Period.
- Invite as few people as possible.
- Always have a clear agenda.
- Begin with a specific problem.
- Meet at the site of the meeting instead of a conference room. Point to real things and suggest changes
- End with a solution and make someone responsible for implementing it.
Good enough is fine. Problems can usually be solved with simple, mundane solutions. That means there’s no glamourous work. You don’t get to show off your amazing skills. You just build something that gets the job done and then move on. This approach may not earn you oohs and aahs, but it lets you get on with it.
When good enough gets the job done, go for it. It’s way better than wasting resources or, even worse, doing nothing because you can’t afford the complex solution. And remember, you can usually turn good enough into great later.
Go to sleep. Forgoing sleep is a bad idea. Sure, you get those extra hours right now, but you pay in spades later: You destroy your creativity, morale, and attitude. Once in a while, you can pull and all-nighter if you fully understand the consequences. Just don’t make it a habit. If it becomes constant, the costs start to mount.
This article is taken from Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson (Crown Currency, 2010). Used by permission. This book is available from the publisher and Amazon.
Related Resources
- Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
- 4 Rhythms of Rest for the Weary in Ministry by Laura Heikes
- 7 Excellent Reasons to Learn to Say No by Ron Edmondson
- Improve Your Time Management and Enhance Your Ministry featuring Nicole Reilley — Watch the Leading Ideas Talks podcast video | Listen to the podcast audio version | Read the in-depth interview
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