When I first went into my recruitment job aged 22 I was terrible. I was really the worst. My peer group that joined at the same time or before me would look at me with the kind of sympathetic look you might give to someone who has been diagnosed with something particularly bad.
After 9 months, my market coverage changed, as a result my boss also changed and I was rocking! It was simple, the harder I worked, the more people I would find jobs for. So I worked harder than I had ever worked before, which wasn’t particularly difficult. I would get in around 7-8am, work through lunch and finish around 8pm. Fortunately it was not possible to go into our offices on the weekends, otherwise I would have. In fact, I did when I moved overseas.
One day though, I became sick. My throat swelled up so badly that I could hardly breathe and definitely could not swallow. Luckily my mum was able to make the 2 hour drive to collect me and take me back to my parents house.
This is called stress.
…and not looking after myself, at all.
My daily routine would be to wake up early in the freezing, dark English mornings. Make the 30 minute walk through a particularly sketchy neighbourhood and finally get to the business district. Buy myself a large Starbucks coffee and get up to work. That was a great feeling. I felt a sense of accomplishment at that point, in a nice office overlooking the city, wearing a suit (albeit a cheap, needlessly tight one from Topman), not having to live in my crack den rented house in the city centre.
After finishing that coffee, I would go on to make endless coffees all morning. In the afternoons coffee stopped working. So Mondays through Wednesdays I had diet cokes in the afternoons, typically 3 or more in the afternoon. Thursday’s though, even those didn’t work, so I moved onto the red bulls. Thursday drink nights of course meant that it was red bulls all day and Friday lead to cans of Monster and increasing the volume of caffeine further. Then it was the weekend, drinks Friday night and try to recover over the weekend
There is a weird pleasure that comes from working hard. I believe it is where passion is born. A lot of people talk about what they want to do with their lives, asking themselves whether this job or company makes them happy or not. I believe its your responsibility to create your own happiness. Which is often found through working harder than anyone else in a particular job and/or company, so that you are the best or close to it. Then you will have pride and can make the job look easy to others. What was your favourite subject at school? I bet it was the one that you found the easiest.
The downside was that I was totally unprepared for stress or burnout. I had heard of these terms but I had never experienced it or seen it first hand. I was a kid. But this did wake me up and start the very long journey of managing myself properly and learning that no one else is going to do it for you. There is always more that can be done.
Key tactics that I have learned that help me:
- Try not to work past 7.30pm unless it is a rare exception, such as an old friend/client (where is the line anyway?) or a new one you really need to impress. Other than that, of course evening dinners or drinks with colleagues or clients, also fine on occasion but not too often. It will take its toll
- Use your energy – If you are a morning person, do all your creative and complicated tasks in the morning, or vice versa
- I run half way home 3 times a week, killing two birds with one stone. Exercise and minimising commute time to get back and see the family
- No coffee after 2pm
- Get out for a walk around 3pm or 4pm, especially if you work through lunch. You may feel guilty doing this, but you will come back far more productive
- Food – eat right, eating whole foods (vegetables in particular), minimise carbs and as for meat that’s up to you
- Don’t get rushed into making a in important decision or sending out work without sleeping on it for a night
- Continue to read up on ways to improve sleep, not everything works for everyone
- Alcohol is a tough one for many, only you can decide how much is right. This has a cumulative effect, the less you drink over a few months, the better you consistently sleep over a few months and beyond.
- Try to get one or two hours each night to do something you want to do, watch some horrendous Netflix show, go to the park with your family, read a book or work out. Whatever you enjoy, totally guilt free!
- Invest time in speaking with friends and family. Some things at work can, in the moment, feel huge and extremely important. Speaking to someone you’re close to will pull you out of this world and back into the real world, putting everything in perspective and reminding you to be interested in other people’s lives
- On the weekends try to get out and see nature, it can actually be painful prying your phone from your fingers but beaches, hiking, cycling, skiing, running and so on are great for a mental break
- If certain things at work are the problem, minimise time on them. For example speak with your boss to minimise the internal meetings! Similarly, can your boss or someone else take up some of your work load, for example interviewing potential new joiners. Get comfortable saying “no”.
- Reach out internally or externally to the organisation to find a coach or mentor
In summary though, it really is up to you to manage yourself. Through trial and error, you can ensure you have the life you want to ensure you have long term success in the career you love!
For any questions, advice or even if you would just like to brainstorm, reach out through the “contact us” section.
