that’s why you should never give more than 100% at work
Do you often feel that despite going above and beyond, you're still not satisfied with yourself? Providing you maximum output, do you still find yourself struggling at work, unable to complete everything on time and in good quality?
Maybe your boss is putting even more pressure on you because of this, so you're pushing yourself even harder. Does this situation sound familiar? Have you ever experienced further performance improvement coming from this behavior? Personally, I haven't seen many examples of that.
In my latest group coaching program that started on Monday, several participants reported giving 200% effort in their work, but they still couldn't meet the expectations.
Then, on Tuesday, one of my individual clients talked at length about how their inhumanely demanding bosses set unrealistic expectations and how poor the workplace systems and procedures they had to operate with were. It's no wonder that, according to their account, a previously burned-out colleague couldn't even handle half of the current workload alone.
Despite the examples mentioned above, my clients who were suffering from these situations all pushed their performance to the extreme until symptoms of burnout, physical illnesses, and complete loss of self-esteem appeared.
It's crucial to understand that the level of stress depends on the gap between demands and resources. The higher the demands and the fewer resources available, the quicker we burn out as a consequence of untreated chronic stress.
Recovery from this point is very difficult and lengthy. In most cases, employees resign with bruised self-esteem because they can't take the ever increasing pressure anymore, and employers might say "well, they couldn't handle the pressure" and hire the next enthusiastic employee who will likely face a similar fate in an environment with unrealistic expectations.
This cycle can continue indefinitely, but it's worth considering what we can do to prevent burnout.
Here's my advice:
Set realistic goals for yourself, goals that you have a significant influence over. If achieving these goals is far from the level expected by your boss, start communicating assertively about the additional resources you need to meet the quotas. It might require an extra person, a better procedure, or perhaps a new software, but the key is that if you don't get the requested resources, don't blame yourself in an unsustainable situation. Instead, stop working after reaching the results you can reach at a sustainable pace in 40 hours a week!
Believe me, the moment your employer realizes that with the given circumstances, the expected results won't be achieved with this many people, they will take action to address it.
There are two possibilities:
They might put you under pressure, start an HR performance improvement plan, and eventually try to get rid of you. In this case, it's better for you to start looking for a more humane workplace while you're still in good shape and leave at the first good opportunity.
They might also realize that indeed an extra person is needed, the training, that software, etc. must be purchased and provide you with the requested resources. That's not a bad solution either, right?
The worst thing you can do for yourself, your current and future colleagues is to push yourself to 200%. Because then your employer might say to themselves, "Why would I change anything? We're getting results like this already. Everything is just fine"
Please stay at 80% and occasionally, when there's a deadline or an important milestone to achieve, you can push yourself to 100% for a short time, but never go beyond that. How can you keep going at more than 100% without running out of juice?
If you find yourself in a similar situation, write down realistic goals for yourself, make a list of the missing resources, and start communicating them assertively.
And remember, even the most resilient person can be overwhelmed. It's not your fault.
