Although I consider myself organized in work, I am not as organized in my “work style.” I might work two hours and rest for ten, or work for 15 hours and rest for one. Moreover, the idea of erasing the distinction between night and day… In fact, I am used to long hours of work, merging night with day, and I don’t see a problem with it. Sometimes I look to the right to find that the sun has set, then I look again to find it has risen again. I even wish the day were 72 hours long.
Until recently, I considered this a normal thing, something unimportant that I didn’t even think about… What really mattered to me was what I accomplished, that’s how I measured my day. But the fact that I’m writing this post while lying down because I can’t sit up due to back pain, caused by that bad work habit, is a truth that I believe will change my understanding and make me rethink my “bad” work style. A minor health issue in your body, or in one vertebra in your back that’s no bigger than the size of an “Enter” key, if it causes you pain or discomfort, could cost you your job and the joy of what you do, even if that pain or issue is temporary.
I’ve always read about the concept of “work less” and enjoyed its meaning greatly, and I was convinced of its effectiveness, but I never thought to apply it to myself. The thing is, I’m not as interested in anything as much as I am in getting done what I need to do. The problem is that the nature of freelance work may not require you to work “a set number of hours,” but it does require an open-ended work schedule… You may feel for a moment that you are free with your time, but that’s not the truth… You are a prisoner of your tasks and what you need to accomplish.
Let’s reconsider our work style by asking ourselves several questions:
The Seven Wrong Habits in Work Style
1. Where is your workspace? At the desk, with thinking happening in the kitchen and bedroom, and adjustments being made everywhere?
2. How many hours do you work? Five, six, ten, twelve hours, or an unlimited number?
3. Do you rely solely on your computer for work? Or your phone, tablet, for email, “and Twitter before bed”?
4. When do you respond to emails? Every morning, or in the evening, or during work, or all the time?
5. When you’re not working… what do you do? Twitter, Facebook, blogging, surfing the internet?
6. When do you sleep? Nine in the evening, or three in the morning, or six, or twelve, or is it undefined?
7. Is there something called exercise in your day? Or have you not even thought about it?
The answers to these questions may vary from person to person, but if your answers are similar to the assumptions I’ve written for each question, then my friend, you have a problem with your work style, and I would just ask you to rethink your work style!
