Published Saturday May 31st, 2008
Terry Davidson, Telegraph-Journal Adjustments: A schedule, trusting co-workers, family can help stressed professionals: experts
SAINT JOHN - What Nathalie Godbout remembers most is constantly waking up at night. And it was not just waking up in a groggy, dozy way, but waking up in a panic.
That was about three years ago. The civil lawyer had just joined the Saint John-based firm Lawson Creamer and had been named the new chairwoman of the Saint John Board of Trade. She was also a newlywed. But, then again, she wasn’t seeing much of her husband those days. Things were busy. She would work long into the night, tackle anything for a client and checking any document needing to be checked, always with one ear turned to her computer’s e-mail chime - anything to maintain the standard. "I never felt work was done," says the 38-year-old new mother. "When you are a high achiever, you want to do things well. You hold yourself to a really high standard, so you’ll sacrifice the things you do for yourself to keep that quality of work there... I had a slew of new responsibilities and I wanted to do well. I was just having such a (hard) time trying to co-ordinate everything." Godbout was starting to slip. The award-winning graduate of the University of New Brunswick started missing appointments. That wasn’t like her at all. And her concentration started to fade as the workday wore on - again, not the usual. She had become less efficient; the days grew longer. And she missed her husband Jim. The lack of balance was taking a toll - personally and professionally. Godbout finally decided to change her work - and her life. She hired an executive coach and learned the benefits of striking a balance between a quality life and professional endeavour. Coach David Veale says there is an increasing number of executives, managers, lawyers and other corporate climbers that has realized the same thing. Still, he says, many remain stuck in the "sleep when you die" mentality of achievement. "These people are high achievers and the people around them are high achievers, so everyone is working longer to be more competitive. It is easy to fall into it." Veale says the three mistakes that lead to imbalance are the unwillingness to delegate work, an inability to "professionally say ’no’"‚" to overwork, and a failure to include planning for balance in a work schedule. "This idea of pause is really, really important. Executives are paid to think and the quality of the thinking will improve with that balance. A lot of creative ideas come when we are not feeling overwhelmed." Still, many Canadians continue to be pedal-to-the-metal professionally. According to a Statistics Canada study from 2005, one in three Canadians considered themselves workaholics. Almost 40 per cent of them said they worked 50 or more hours per week and more than half worried they were not spending enough time with family and friends. About half also said they did not have enough time for "fun". Another report says the ever-increasing hours and pace of today’s workplace is a recipe for "job stress and burnout". All work and no play can lead to anxiety, insomnia, fractured relationships and depression. All this can translate into less efficiency in the workplace and absenteeism, whether that be for entrepreneurs, employees or employers. In a study from 2002, almost 80 per cent of Canadian workers who had experienced depression that past year said their symptoms interfered with their ability to work and workers with white-collar jobs were more likely than their blue-collar counterparts to become depressed. To one expert, things are slow to change. "People get too one-sided," says Dr. Fred Vondracek, professor of human development at Pennsylvania State University. "Balance is difficult to achieve, but it is favourable to have family and other interests outside of your work. It can have a very positive effect on (someone’s) energy " It can reduce stress." Vondracek says the constant stress of a pure-work diet, the family conflict it produces and the lack of healthy distraction can lead to hypertension. Veale says trust in both co-workers and family is a major key - trust that co-workers can handle work you delegate and trust that your family will keep you dedicated to a balanced schedule. Thirty-six-year-old Chris Nadeau worked in the corporate world for the first several years of his professional life. He too was caught in "the rat race" of trying to achieve ultra-quality performance. Eventually, he did strike a balance. Ironically, he did it by starting his own business. "(What) helped me create balance was becoming an entrepreneur," says the husband, father of two and president of Evolving Solutions, a company creating communication-based websites for small and medium businesses. "I’ve set my values as family first, business second and then fun... I didn’t want to work myself to death, and I could see it happening in the corporate structure where people were plowing, plowing ahead... You’re not going to have anything in 10 years if you keep pushing that hard." Nadeau agrees some may find it difficult to comprehend not working flat-out as an entrepreneur, but he says going home to his wife and kids has helped him maintain a consistent focus when he is at the office.
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