Thrive: Create spaciousness.
I have a confession.
My workdays are not spacious. I fill my calendar with back-to-back meetings, saying “Yes” to too many things so that my days can be overwhelming and exhausting. As an entrepreneur and CEO of a start-up business, co-founder of a non-profit, a person on a mission to change the world of work, and leader of a growing team of affiliates and partner relationships, my days can start at 6 or 7 a.m. and end at 6 or 7 p.m. with barely a bio break.
I love what I do, but I am not proud of this habit. It is NOT good. My mind and body tell me it is not good. My husband tells me it is not good. The research tells me it is not good. I know it is not good. So I’m learning to create more spaciousness in my day and my life.
Mind you, I don’t expect this pace from anyone else. Our team ethos is personal agency and trust: You get to decide how much and when you work, and we will adapt to each other as much as possible respecting sleep habits (early and late starts), time zones, family and pet needs, workout routines, and all. We encourage you to decide what healthy and happy means.
But my choices have not always been healthy or happy, and I know my example communicates something. People see my calendar. They meet me when I’m not fully awake yet, or bouncing between too many topics to be truly present. It matters to me AND my team if I practice spaciousness, so I’m in the process of learning and changing.
Many of YOU are suffering from a lack of spaciousness too.
In EVERY organization and team we work with across many industries – IT, government, education, social services, the trades, business, and more - we see the same kinds of issues, some situational, some cultural, some self-imposed: Leaders and team members overwhelmed by their workload and struggling to get through the day. Understaffed because they can’t find enough people to hire, or understaffed because they are underfunded. Allowing no time for social connection, fun, or relationship building. Struggling under constant pressure from customer demands. They feel guilty for taking breaks because those they serve are vulnerable and desperate. Overburdened by process or bureaucracy. Unable to let up because heroics are the cultural norm.
Reality Check
No matter what the impetus to overfill the workday, understand this: We are less productive without spaciousness. We get less done.
Consider this body of research on productivity:
Social connection: Humans are naturally social beings, but in today we're experiencing a loneliness epidemic. Experts share that actively reducing isolation in the workplace benefits not just employee health, but also a company's bottom line. Making space at work to form connections with colleagues not only fosters valuable networking but also promotes social learning and tribal knowledge which in turn boosts long-term productivity.
Rest and recovery: Rest and recovery for our bodies and minds are essential. We are naturally inclined to rest daily, and when we neglect this, the effects are immediately evident. Both mental and physical fatigue can diminish our alertness, leading to safety risks and reduced productivity at work. The principle 'go slow to go fast' applies here. To truly unlock our potential, it's vital to prioritize rest and recovery, especially when our bodies signal the need for it.
Breaks: Taking the right kind of breaks can make a big difference in how employees feel and perform at work. Researchers suggest regular short breaks (specifically micro-breaks) that incorporate a rejuvenating activity helps reduce feelings of emotional exhaustion, increase job satisfaction, and encourage an employee to be more likely to go above and beyond in their jobs.
Movement: Moving regularly throughout the day has been proven to boost work productivity, particularly by reducing inefficiencies. Simple actions like sitting less and walking more can lead to statistically significant improvements in both employee mental and physical health, as well as perceived and actual productivity.
Play: Playing is a normal part of human life. It helps us experiment with new kinds of problem-solving and perspective-taking while giving us the opportunity to enjoy novel or mastered experiences. Playfulness significantly enhances an organization’s climate of creativity. Incorporating opportunities for play within our workday is shown to increase innovation, without risking team or individual productivity.
Doing nothing: The busier you become, the more you need quiet time. Researchers indicate that doing nothing, idleness, and occasional boredom can be crucial for the creative process. The introspection and reflection that naturally occur when we consciously choose inactivity help us counter the information overload we face daily, particularly at work.
Being in Nature: Being in nature is proven to help reduce stress and increase mental well-being. As the body of research continues to expand, the impact of stress on an employee's productivity and commitment to their employer becomes increasingly evident. As stress levels increase, productivity and commitment decline. Intentionally spending time in nature is one effective method to counteract the natural stressors of work and life.
Look at that list again. All are really part of a well-rounded human experience. The important secret that organizations and teams who are wise will grab onto here is this: Teams that structure the workday and team norms to make room for these aspects of our humanity will be more productive. These behaviors are not a waste of precious time but actually help us to get more out of the time we spend on our work tasks. Who wouldn’t do that?
Beyond the Need for Resilience
Two things to keep in mind:
We should not be designing workloads or structuring jobs to be so overwhelming as to need these as resilience practices to recover from overwhelm. We should be designing work and staffing our teams to be reasonable and humane in the first place.
And if the nature of the work is traumatic and particularly challenging, we should be building in spaciousness and supportive rituals and structures to heal and recover. An educator should not be accosted in the classroom, and then be expected to continue teaching after the student is removed. A social worker whose client passes away should not be expected to pick up the next file and carry on. An EMT who responds to a serious accident should not go on the next call. Each of these people, and others in high-stress professions, need the space and time to heal and process humanely.
The consequences are serious and detrimental for allowing toxic stress to build up after such events. And it is also harmful to go from meeting to task to problem-solving to meeting to product creation to meeting and on and on without break or space. We need room to be, to process, to move the stress through us, as well as to experience other aspects of life and being human.
If you have autonomy over your day, use it to put new, better habits into practice. If you need buy-in from your supervisor or team, use this article to discuss the negative consequences of a lack of spaciousness and form new team agreements on healthier habits that will improve productivity and longevity too.
New daily habits to create spaciousness
Here’s what I’m learning to practice. What else would you add to this list?
Calendar rules: Create calendar rules that align with your spaciousness needs. These will be different for each of us. Set and adhere to clear start and stop times; or adapt so that an early start means an early end. Limit the number of certain types of meetings or work in a day. Create rules for buffer time between meetings.
Schedule and Protect Space: Book time for what you need to make space, to leave your office, to move. Book time for doing nothing. Schedule time for socializing. Then honor these commitments to yourself.
AI is my friend: Use apps to prompt movement and taking. Learn to use AI for things that are chewing up time such as drafting agendas, crunching data, processing inputs into a first draft, or producing simple outlines. Discover what AI can do for these types of mundane tasks, and then use the regained time for spaciousness for the human-centered, evidence-based practices listed above, not to work more.
Reward yourself: Set a goal for improved spaciousness, and then reward yourself with something you enjoy. Those goals might include limiting the number of meetings in your day, the number of minutes you spend up and moving, the time you spend not at your desk, or time you spend socializing or outside in the middle of the day.
New periodic ways to welcome spaciousness
Get Out of Dodge
To write this blog (and a bunch of other things I’m working on), I added a couple of days onto some client work in LA and am staying by the beach alone to write. Beyond my patio in the marina are sea lions who occasionally make a racket, palm trees wave, sailboats, kayakers, and paddler-boarders come and go under sunny skies and 72 degrees. My mind has room to think and create.
Alaine de Botton points out in his beautiful book of essays “The Art of Travel”, that our thoughts, emotions, and way of being can be confined by the static furniture and familiar objects of home. His answer is to leave these confines behind for a time. Travel, in any mode, but especially on trains, cars, bicycles, or boats, for example, where we can watch the world move, frees us up to find ideas and possibilities as we physically move through new places.
Lazing Around
Too often time off means time spent on home projects, errands, and other kinds of busyness and production, rather than on rest. Some of that can be gratifying and can create its own spaciousness. Organizing a messy corner of the house can create its own roominess and mental clarity. But we also just need to rest and do nothing!
Case in point: Today, I slept in, and then sipped coffee while watching the sea lions from my balcony. I read a little, had a late breakfast, and then took a nap until 1 p.m. Some might say that if my intent was to write today, I wasted the morning. But I knew that resting my mind and body would help me write. It did - it is!
Spacious Socializing
Make time to hang out with people. The pandemic took many of us out of our social routines creating disconnection and loneliness. Embrace a new kind of socializing that is more roomy and relaxed, less driven and bounded. Last night, after arriving in LA, I met my dear friend Sam and spent a relaxing evening catching up. We walked on the Strand at Hermosa Beach, then meandered to dinner, wandered some more, and ended up in the corner window of a bar for drinks and dessert. Our time was leisurely, with no next thing to get to. We were just present and took plenty of time to share and listen, laugh, and celebrate life. (And a local tip: Zane’s has terrific cocktails!)
Take the Time You’ve Earned
Take your paid time off (PTO) to rest and relax, and encourage your team members to take theirs too. Many of us start a job excited about the PTO, perhaps glad for more PTO than in our last role, but then never use the PTO or work while on PTO. In fact, over half (52%) of employees report working while on PTO. And many of us don’t actually rest and find spaciousness while taking PTO. Consider these most common reasons for using PTO, in order of popularity: attending a wedding, taking extra sick days, participating in holidays or family functions, traveling or taking a trip, attending scheduled appointments, celebrating one's own birthday, and moving. These are all valid reasons for time away, and it is worth reflecting on how our time off helps create the spaciousness we need.
It is interesting to note that unlimited PTO is gaining popularity, as workers long for more rest with 70% of workers expressing interest in joining a company that offers unlimited PTO. Currently only 4% of US companies do. However, there can be unforeseen drawbacks. While the typical US employee takes an average of 20.3 days off per year, those at companies with unlimited PTO report taking only 10 days off annually. Whatever your benefit program, commit to yourself and commit as a team to supporting the use of PTO.
Book Time Off as a Team
A Human Workplace is collectively taking time off for the last 2 weeks of 2023; no one will be working. No emails, questions, or documents will stack up. It’s all going to stop, and we will all rest.
We are also thinking about the summer months. As a US company with team members in several countries, our Canadian and UK team members are mystified and somewhat frustrated by the American habit of working straight through the summer months without taking off August or even more time as much of Europe, the UK, and Canada do. So we are considering how we might learn from them, honor this norm, and benefit from it too! Stay tuned.
I’ve Not Lost My Mind; I’ve Found My Heart and Soul
I realize that some people are going to read this and think I’ve lost my mind or that I’m out of touch with reality. “You want me to encourage my team members to book time NOT working in their workday?” Yes, I do, and I want you to do it too.
We have a kind of sickness in Western society, especially in America, characterized by fear, scarcity, and abuse. And it’s eating us alive. Younger people entering the workforce are not going to have any of it. They’ve seen what it does to people and to the planet. The sooner we adjust our way of working to be more spacious the better. This is part of actually doing better work and being more loving and human as we do it.
And now, I’m going for a walk.
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I share more about leading teams that thrive on To Work: With Love a NEW series airing on the Gut + Science leadership podcast. Find episodes HERE.
If you’d like to take a Thrive Self-Assessment, email me at Renee@MakeWorkMoreHuman.com
And if you want to talk about real strategies for wholeness, contact us here.
Our Thrive Strategy Lead is Faith Addicott and our Thrive Program Lead is Lili Boyanova Hugh. To learn more about bringing Thrive to your team, reach out here.
