There’s the cultural messaging we’ve received our whole lives that putting in more hours and more effort ensures our success, even though discerning what to put your effort into is far more important than blanketing your life in hard work. The stats on overwork also show a huge risk to health. Study shows us that we don’t change our minds even when given new, factual information that proves our previous beliefs wrong. Dialing it back is smart for both our productivity and our health, we have trouble giving ourselves permission to do it.

More Work Hours is Less Effective 🕤

We have a choice to continue our old behavior of blowing past our boundaries to parts of our life outside of work.In those moments Ask yourself "what if I don't do this today?" You’ll probably be behind tomorrow, ask yourself again: Then what? Keep digging until you get to the core story. It will often be like, “I’ll lose my job and then lose everything.” And Then Ask yourself: Is it true? In most situations, probably not. Taking a few minutes to interrupt your automatic thoughts, feelings, and behavior makes it more likely that you can make a change.

Then What?

S<a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2019-45131-001" target="_self">haring your goal with someone</a> you perceive as having higher status or you respect, holds you accountable for doing it because you care about their opinion of you. The person you share your goal with doesn’t have to be within your company. It could be a mentor, friend, or family member who you admire for their ability to do great work while also giving themselves permission to live their life to the fullest. They might also offer helpful guidance to you about how they gave themselves permission to dial it back that you can then follow.

Share with someone you respect 

D<a href="https://hbr.org/2020/05/want-to-be-more-productive-try-doing-less" target="_self">o a 80/20 analysis</a> and determine what 20% of tasks or projects give you 80% of the results at work.&nbsp; <ul><li dir = "auto">List your biggest wins at work (the results you’re after, or your top goals) on one side of a piece of paper and the tasks you do on a daily basis on the left.&nbsp;</li><li dir = "auto">Draw a line from each of the big wins to the tasks that were most directly responsible for that outcome. Circle the tasks that have lines drawn from them. That’s your 20%.</li></ul>You can now give time and energy to the things that matter, and you can see the other areas where you can dial it back, delegate, or eliminate things altogether.

Go all-in on what matters

It's common for people to wish they hadn’t worked so much when they’re on their deathbed. When you feel stuck in an old pattern and have difficulty changing your behavior, fast-forward and ask your 85-year-old self what they would wish they would have done at the current stage of your life. Doing so allows you to see the bigger picture, rather than the deadlines or stressors that are your immediate focus at that time. Giving yourself permission to dial it back (even a little) has the potential to drastically improve your results and protect your health. Work Hard and do work that matters

Fast forward ⏩

Four strategies to help you convince yourself.

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Burning Out? Give Yourself Permission to Dial It Back.

Don’t gossip or tattletale about your colleagues or immediately approach leadership. Have an honest talk with your coworker that adheres to business etiquette rules. Most importantly ask questions to save yourself a lot of embarrassment.

Follow Business Etiquette

Getting asked for help by coworkers can be difficult if it’s in your nature to be kind and helpful. There may also be times when you find it rewarding to help others — even if it means putting your own duty on hold. And, for some, it may just be easier to help them than to hold everyone else up.However, if a pattern emerges, determine whether that colleague is slacking off or taking a genuine interest in learning.

Establish Boundaries

More often than not, you give the benefit of the doubt to people you know and like. Well, you may come to like your coworker more if you actually get to know them and what motivates them.Let’s say that you have an unpleasant coworker. Instead of assuming that that’s just who they are, you find out that they’re going through a nasty divorce or recently passed over for a promotion. Obviously, this would put anyone in a foul mood.

Learn More About Them

Track instances where people aren’t doing their jobs over the course of a few weeks. Remember to account for it if, as a result, your own workload has to increase. These details will help strengthen your argument if you decide to take further action.

Keep a Record

Avoid focusing all of your day’s energy on the fact that your co-worker is daydreaming, scrolling their social accounts, or aimlessly wandering around. Remember,&nbsp;you only have so much energy for the day. So, when it’s depleted, your productivity suffers.Focus on your work and tune them out. If this is a challenge, try to work somewhere else where you can’t notice their laziness. If that’s not an option, you could put on a pair of headphones and listen to music that gets you in the zone.

Don’t Let Them Become a Distraction

If all else fails, you can directly ask your coworker for assistance. Most people can ignore a task. But, it’s much to ignore a person asking for help.Also, this puts lazy coworkers at a disadvantage. They are either forced to say “No,” or to lend a hand. It’s important to remember, though, that laziness doesn’t always imply discourtesy. However, the favor will test their sense of decency towards their colleagues. Also, this is another way to see what they’re good at and passionate about.

Ask Them for a Favor

Let’s say that you’ve decided to try and motivate your lazy coworker. While no easy feat, it is possible. And, it’s if you know their personality types.Why? Because this lets you know how they respond to authority. And, more importantly, how you can motivate them going forward.

Be an Inspiration

There’s a lot of negative association with venting. And, there is some truth to that. I mean do you really feel better after complaining? Even worse, venting can be addictive.However, there are times when getting something off your chest can be a positive. It’s just all how you use venting to your advantage.

Vent — if you must — Productively

In the event you have discussed the matter and nothing has been resolved, you may consider seeking outside counsel before taking any further action. In this case, no lawyer is needed. But, maybe you could ask a friend or family for advice.Or, even better? Speak with a mentor or leader who has been shared a similar experience. It might be possible to learn from their past experiences on how to handle this situation.

Seek Counsel

It’s frustrating to have a coworker who seems to get away with not pulling their own weight. But, ultimately, that’s not your problem. Instead, focus on what you need to get done and how you can be the best you can be. After all, obsessing over fairness, or the lack thereof only leads to negative feelings like anger and resentment — and those feelings are the ones that really slow you down.

Remember, Life Isn’t Fair

Almost every workplace has a lazy coworker. Those people arrive late, take a long lunch, and dip out before everyone Their behavior is always explained by an excuse, and good...

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What to Do When Your Co-Workers Don’t Work

1.The optimistic procrastinatorYou overestimate your skills and underestimate the challenge. Your goals may be too small, or you didn't break the big goals into daily tasks.Solution: Commit to a deadline, or make it a challenge to get done as much as possible. 2 .The distracted procrastinatorYou may love your work, but other tasks seem more appealing because you gravitate towards the path of least resistance.Solution: Block your distractions. Plan days where you reward yourself generously, to make smaller temptations less attractive.

 6 Types Of Procrastinators

3. The perfectionist procrastinatorPreparation scares you. You want improved quality when you didn't work for long enough to optimize. You may waste your time by giving too much time to irrelevant details.Solution: Shift your focus from results to actions 4 The guilty procrastinatorYour interpretation of failure is preventing you from working. You accept distractions because you already lost, but then think things will eventually fix themselves.Solution: When you failed, you did not understand how much you actually learned. Take a day off to stop thinking.

5. The busy procrastinatorYou have over-committed and have no time left. Even if you have time, you sometimes don't see the point in spending time on those tasks.Solution: If a task is irrelevant, stop the task.. Prioritize your goals and work on one at a time. Also, know that you can make progress at a slower pace.

6. The disorganized procrastinatorYour poor time-management/prioritization skills are setting you back. You hate routines because you feel they take away your freedom, but then you never have time to do what you love.Solution: Learn to work smarter with the Pomodoro technique and the Eisenhower's Matrix.

Career

Arun Mahojwalith Reddy on Sep 16

<ul><li>Attemp 1 task at a time</li><li>Take breaks when exhausted</li><li>Combine similar tasks together</li><li>Focus on productivity over extra efforts</li><li>Automate whatever you can</li><li>Always go easy on yourself</li><li>Priority to your work first</li></ul>

Few tips to work Smarter

Smart Thinking

16 of the best ways to work smarter, not harder

Taking time away to relax, reflect, and recharge comes with several benefits. Yet there are times when your vacation ends but your motivation to dive back into work doesn’t follow. If you work remotely, it may be particularly difficult to get back into your routine, because you’re not around other people who have been working steadily while you were away.

Going Back To Work After Vacation

Vacations take you out of the office, and that creates physical and mental distance from your work.When it comes to working, distance is a double-edged sword. It can help you think about your priorities, but it can also make the volume of what you have to accomplish seem insurmountable. If you have a big project to complete, you may find it difficult to see how you’ll actually get it done. That means you need to turn the abstract task into specific steps you can complete. Go back to your to-do list and dedicate specific times to addressing particular components of the bigger project.

The Mountain Seems too High to Climb

When you go on vacation, you realign your priorities. When you get back to the workplace, you may need to convince yourself that the collection of tasks you’re doing is worth the effort.&nbsp;Take the time to look at the work you’ve done. What are the big-picture things you’ve accomplished? The real sense of mission in your work comes from that combination of seeing how the tasks you perform are connected to a more significant set of outcomes.

Nothing Seems That Important

Even if you believe deeply in the mission behind the work you’re doing, you might still have trouble getting back into your work after taking time off. It may be that you’re just bored with the set of tasks you’re performing.Work on concepts like <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-017-9088-8_16" target="_self">flow</a> suggests that people are most engaged with their work when they’re working right at the limit of what they’re capable of doing, and where each action succeeds and naturally leads to the next. If you’re not getting this sense of daily engagement, the job you’re in may no longer be a challenge for you.

When You’re Stuck in a Rut

Three ways to get back in the groove when you’re just not feeling it.

worklifebalance

More Work Hours is Less Effective 🕤

Burning Out? Give Yourself Permission to Dial It Back.

Follow Business Etiquette

What to Do When Your Co-Workers Don’t Work