The unseen pressure of always being on
You are an entrepreneur. Your business is a reflection of you. You are rightly proud of what you have achieved and what you are continuing to do to spread the message about the value you bring to your clients. You are on the constant look out for opportunity. An opportunity to make a real difference to the bottom line for your business. Yet, you feel the compulsion to be ever present, always on. By feeling that you are always on, what do you gain and at what cost?
During a lot of my 25 year corporate career, I felt drawn into the prevailing company culture of being always on, being contactable at all times, to show my full commitment to what I did. I showed my leaning to be on time, hardly missing a meeting or being late with project delivery timelines.
I did not even question this practice of being constantly on. I accepted it without hesitation, especially when I noticed that everyone else was doing it. Being called a “trouper” by US colleagues become a badge of pride even.
I did not know about the concept of boundaries. My unvoiced question was “What boundaries?”. To me the idea of admitting having boundaries seemed synonymous with “slacking”. No one wanted to be seen as the one who was less than 100% committed to their work, or showing a deficiency of professionalism.
The laptop and the mobile device we could take home with us was a trophy at the time of our apparent importance. Later I began to see it as more of a “ball and chain” rather than a productivity tool.
There were times I would take conference calls while on my driving commute or late at night. I had no idea of how productive I was, I suspect not much. Not to mention how safe this was to be on a conference call while driving through London traffic!
The reality is that there is a hidden personal cost.
What it is really doing to you
When you are constantly on, your mind is always on the alert. Even if there is no big existential threats round the corner in our relatively comfortable modern lives, our minds unconsciously do not always tell the difference. The accumulation of time being in a state of on, will lead to fatigue and decline in performance. You will find yourself feeling distracted, lacking focus. Without appropriate rest and recuperation, burnout, chronic fatigue and poor long term health lie in wait. That will have a knock on effect on your business and how it serves your clients. What is more that your relationships both personal and professional stand at risk of being affected.
Reclaiming quiet
Have you ever had a computer or phone that became unresponsive? You think it developed a fault. What does the helpful technician recommend you do? They would ask if you have tried switching it off and on again! Sometimes it does actually work, even if the actual problem and how it developed remains a mystery.
So have you tried switching yourself off and on again?
If you are burning the candle at both ends, hardly resting, feeling mentally fatigued, what do you do to “switch yourself off and on again” during your working day?
There is a very simple tactic you can use.
Do absolutely nothing. Yes, that is right. Spend a moment doing absolutely nothing.
Doing nothing is like resetting yourself.
Realignment
How do you do this?
Very simple in reality.
Turn off all devices within reach.
Sit in a quiet space.
Close your eyes.
Breathe in and out slowly into your abdomen.
Do this for a couple of minutes.
Then open your eyes and stand up and move a little and return to what you were working on.
You are probably surprised that there is nothing particularly new or sophisticated. Does it need to be to work?
Just as you would not expect to drive a car for thousands of miles nonstop without refuelling, without servicing, you would not expect yourself to keep performing without any reset or rest.
So do yourself a favour. Recognise that you do not have to always be on and choose to turn off. Your will be better for your business and the clients that it serves.
Meet the author
Jung Wing Wan, PhD, is a coach, speaker and founder of Jung Personal Mastery Ltd.
With 25 years in the pharmaceutical industry and experience in over 30 countries, he now helps leaders cultivate self-mastery and lead with purpose.
Drawing from leadership, martial arts and philosophy, he developed the Jung Personal Mastery Method to guide others toward lasting personal and professional growth.
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