Work is a Sticky Situation

Huff Post, Frank Talarico Jr. – July 11, 2017

My son loves pancakes. He’s seven. When we have pancakes, and we did this past Sunday, more than a sufficient amount of maple syrup is necessary for him to truly complete the experience of enjoying his breakfast. The quality of my nutritional judgment aside, I typically will cut him a deal: I’ll pour a small puddle of the sticky, sweet goodness on one side of the plate. It’s his job to make the most of it, ration it so he gets full coverage on all of his pancakes, and make sure that he leaves the unavoidable mess at the breakfast table. Inevitably, he runs out of syrup and lobbies for more (and loses), and there is always a mess around what can loosely be called his breakfast plate. No amount of warm paper towels, no length of vigorous scrubbing of his tiny fingers really ever gets ALL the syrup. And even when you think you’ve got the boy cleaned, he smells like maple syrup the rest of the day.How hard is it for you to wash your work from your fingers when you’re out of the office? I’ll bet, you seldom make the most of your time away from the office. I’ll hazard a guess that you don’t effectively ration your time away, to insure you’re covering all the other areas of your life — areas like friends, family, and your own self care. When did we become stuck to work like a seven-year-old covered in maple syrup who gets stuck to a paper napkin? It’s near cliché to say that our world has changed and in it we must live. But what is truly keeping us from “being away from the office?”

1. Work is no longer confined to four walls Ever check your email on an airplane? Of course you have. Unless you’re on the precipice of closing the deal of a lifetime while on a thirty-two hour flight to Africa, why is in-flight Wi-Fi that critical? Wouldn’t you rather read the latest “all-the-rage” novel? How about have conversations? Best of all, why not be inside your own head for a while, no matter how frightening that can be. Take stock of where you are and the person you feel in your heart you are in this world. Make plans to do something for you. Or just sit still. Now I am awful at this too. I confess: even when I set the auto responder to explain I am “out of the office,” I still check—and reply—to work emails. I don’t even bother setting an out of office courtesy email anymore. Those that work with me even on a semi-regular basis know I am going to read and reply. It’s a character flaw, indeed, but it is also indicative of the state of this new world of work. For most of us, work is no longer something that happens in an office, cubicle or loft. Work is now more portable than ever, making it harder than ever to stay away from work when we are not physically in our place of business. Work follows us. It’s our job to run way from it. Unplug, literally. Power off. Resist the urge to take one last look.

2. Get a Sundance Kid Butch Cassidy had the Sundance Kid. Together they formed the core of the “Wild Bunch,” a wildly successful band of outlaws who were best known for their very little use of violence and their successful use of intimidation and negotiation. Sounds like a business unit. Could be the C-Suite of any mid-sized or NASDAQ-traded company. The larger point is that Butch Cassidy had a partner in crime, someone he could trust. Who do you have in your “Wild Bunch” that you can trust? Don’t have someone? Get someone. Being absent does not mean being vulnerable, especially when you know your Sundance Kid has your back.

3. Practice Makes Perfect The best way to get good at anything—from a tennis groundstroke to a greenside chip in golf—is repetitive practice. So practice getting out of the office, cubicle or loft. Unplug your devices—ALL of them. Give your earned trust to your Sundance Kid. Make it a habit to be away. The more you find yourself practicing the art of not allowing work follow you out the door, the better you will become at getting that “stickiness” off of your hands. Your blood pressure will improve. You will be more attentive to the other aspects of your life that deserve and demand your attention. Don’t worry, even if you follow this advice, you’ll still smell like maple syrup all day. Work is a part of us as human beings. For most of us, it sets our priorities, defines our lives and sets our goals. It’s our job not to get stuck so deeply in it that the benefits no longer exist and the rest of our world falls beyond repair, even with use of a warm paper towel.Popular in the Community