• Make Time for Recreation

  Filed under Shift Perspective
  Dec 23

  Audio:  Make Time for Recreation [Time - 7:49, File Size - 7.3 MB]

  “Do you know what the word ‘recreation’ means? It means ‘re-creating’ your energy, your enthusiasm. You’re no good to me all burnt out and crispy. So this weekend, go camping with your family or something… anything. Just don’t bring back your musty old, stressed-out self!”  – Anonymous supervisor, my first job out of grad school

  “Rule #24:  One must pay close attention to workaholics: if they get going in the wrong direction, they can do a lot of damage in a short time. It is possible to overload them and cause premature burnout but hard to determine if the load is too much, since much of it is self generated.  It is important to make sure such people take enough time off and that the workload does not exceed 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 times what is normal.” – from One Hundred Rules for NASA Project Managers (Curator: James Atherton)

  “I’ve created the concept of a holi-hour, a shortened version of a holi-day.  I allow myself at least an hour each day to relax totally.” — Susan Jeffers in Feel the Fear… And Do It Anyway

  _____________________________________________

  Energy, enthusiasm, creativity, and the ability to interact pleasantly and productively… if you or your team is going without adequate time off, it is unlikely that they can muster any of these traits in a sustained way.  Simply put: Working around-the-clock without taking time for recreation is not heroic, nor is it even sensible. It can lead to mistakes, low-quality project results, and (worse) to burnt-out team members and even shattered personal lives.

  The trouble is that many professionals — the top-knotch people we all want on our teams — may have accepted a level of overload in their lives when they were in grad school or serving internships that is simply unrealistic and unsustainable over the course of a career. It’s important to their long-term health, and the health of your organization, that they learn to value recreation as much as they value making high-quality professional contributions. The fact is, in the long run, quality results depend upon rested, invigorated people.

  Greers Challenges…

  Reflections

  Reflect on these questions:

  • Who on your team is consistently working long hours, accumulating overtime, or “living their work?”
  • Are these people producing quantity or quality that corresponds to all the hours spent?
  • What would happen if they had less work and more recreation in their lives?
  • Are you a role model for a balanced life? Do you show people, by your example, that recreation and renewal are important to you?

  Team Challenges

  • Observe your team, especially those working long hours. Tactfully ask them:
    • Does your spouse, partner, or family approve of your working extended hours?
    • How might we balance your workload so you have more time off? (How could we provide you with more help?)

  Project Manager Challenges

  • Pay attention to your team members. Look for signs of fatigue, burn-out, or simply loss of energy and enthusiasm due to overwork. Then encourage them, “for the sake of the project,” to take some time off for recreation.
  • Look for ways to get more people to help your team. Can some tasks be delegated to interns, administrative aids, or other less-than-expert people?
  • Make reasonable schedules that don’t require long periods of extended overtime. Then fight for these reasonable schedules.
  • Help your senior management, customers, and team members see that project team members’ recreation is vital to your organization’s sustained success.

  Learn More…

  • Go to PhilosophersNotes and get the full notes and MP3 on Susan Jeffers‘ Feel the Fear… And Do It Anyway
  • Check out my web-published articles:
    • Too Many Projects? Prioritize Them!
    • What’s Project Portfolio Management (PPM) and Why Should Project Managers Care About It?
  • Check out the entire collection of 100 Rules for NASA Project Managers
  • Get the 6 hour version of Susan Jeffers‘ Feel the Fear… And Do It Anyway from LearnOutLoud.com
  • Check out Susan Jeffers‘ Feel the Fear… And Do It Anyway on Amazon

  Tagged as: Add new tag, burn out, delegation, fatigue, NASA's 100 Rules for Project Managers, overload, overtime, project estimating, project scope, recreation, schedule, scheduling, Susan Jeffers
  
  1 Comment

One Response to “Make Time for Recreation”

1. 

   Totally Stressed Out said on January 30th, 2009 at 1:26 am

   As a Newbie, I am always searching online for articles that can help me. Thank you

Leave a Reply