
I recently suffered a bout of burnout. Its cause was overwork (on book launch tasks) and too many social engagements (to promote my book and expand my social network). Luckily, the brain is a self-healing apparatus, if you only give it time. I scaled back my commitments for a few weeks, and I took a weeklong vacation during which I didn’t work at all. Now I’m back at it and going strong; and I’ve been reading up on how to avoid burnout in the future. Do you struggle with too much work crammed into each day and week? In this post, I’ll share expert advice about how to avoid burnout and enhance productivity.
Too much work, too little time? A great book on how to avoid burnout
I recommend the book Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout, by Cal Newport, to everyone who has absolutely no time to read it.
I’ve read most of Newport’s books. I confess, I’m a fan. That’s because his insights on the modern workplace environment are spot-on, and his tips really work. (Bonus: I recently learned that he lives in the DC area, like me! We’re “neighbors”!)
Note that this blog post applies to anyone whose job, or significant pastime, requires them to do more brainwork than gruntwork. References to “knowledge workers” include not only office employees but also remote employees and freelancers, as well as hobbyists who engage in brain-intensive activities. References to “knowledge workers” include not only workers who use the analytical part of their brain but also workers who use the creative part of their brain.
Why do knowledge workers always seem to have too much work to do? Part 1: The old factory model
Newport makes the interesting point that in the old factory model of the Industrial Revolution, worker time on the job equals company productivity. But this isn’t true of knowledge workers.
Workers whose job is to physically make or do stuff can work all day long and into the night, if they have to, as long as their bodies remain strong enough. Managers of manual laborers typically want them to work as many hours as possible, because this results in higher profits for the company.
In contrast, workers who use their brains to produce simply cannot perform at the same level of competence all day long and into the night. The brain needs breaks from hard intellectual work (termed “deep work” by Newport). But we have inherited the old outlook from the factory era, whereby more working hours equals more productivity. The truth is, knowledge workers need to cap their deep work hours if they wish to maximize productivity. Otherwise, they will be running on empty all the time.
Why do knowledge workers always seem to have too much work to do? Part 2: The stress heuristic
Knowledge workers do cap their deep work. They are forced to, because the brain can only take so much before it needs rest. However, Newport points out that they often cap their deep work in an unproductive way:
Get articles like this in your inbox every Monday! šš©š
Keep up with the best modern books. ššš Get hot takes on the modern literary world. š®šš„Subscribe to the blog for the discerning reader by š clicking here and giving me your first-born child and an original of Shakespeare's First Folio š
“How do knowledge workers decide when to say no to the constant bombardment of incoming requests? In the modern office context, they tend to rely on stress as a default heuristic for moderation. If you turn down a Zoom meeting invitation, there’s a social-capital cost, as you’re causing some mild harm to a colleague and potentially signaling yourself to be uncooperative or a loafer. But, if you feel sufficiently stressed about your workload, this cost might become acceptable: you feel confident that you’re close to becoming unsustainably busy, and this provides psychological cover to skip the Zoom. You need to feel sufficient personal distress to justify the distress saying no might generate in the other party.”
Reading this makes me flush with embarrassment. I have been guilty of this. I have been so guilty of this that it caused my double-arm computer overuse injury ten years ago, as well as untold and unnecessary stress.
It’s a boundaries issue. It’s about knowing when to say no.
Newport continues:
“The problem with deploying this stress heuristic, of course, is that you don’t start turning away incoming tasks until you find yourself already creeping up to the edge of unsustainable workloads. It ensures that you’ll remain permanently in this exhausting liminal space that immediately precedes the overhead tax tipping point. This is why so many knowledge workers feel vaguely overloaded all the time . . .”
When Newport writes “overhead tax tipping point,” he means the point at which productivity precipitously drops because the knowledge worker has burnt out.
It’s important to stay far enough away from this burnout tipping point that you’re not, at best, exhausted all the time, or, at worst, slipping into full burnout mode and requiring extensive time off to recuperate.
How to avoid burnout, part 1: Say no to extra tasks before you’re teetering on the edge of overwork.
It’s okay to say no at times when you’re feeling no job stress, no scattered rushing vibe, and no terror of imminent deadlines. If you are feeling those feelings, you are too late: you should have said no earlier.
Already a subscriber? Get bonus articles every Wednesday! ššš
Read about modern books I didn't feature on the blog (and why not). šš¤ Read about great classic books. ššŗSupport this blog and my author career on š Patreon, where fans support creators š
Free gift of one month ā”ļø if you're one of the first six fans to click here ā¬ ļø
Keep in mind that your boss and coworkers actually want you to avoid work stress and burnout. Overwhelmed employees do not do productive work. If things get bad enough, they might not be able to continue working. Your boss and coworkers want you to do everything in your power to remain healthy enough to be productive at work.
It’s important say no at the point when you think saying yes will lead to intense anxiety. Don’t delay saying no in an effort to prove that you’re a good employee. You’re a good employee every time you say no before your overtaxed brain forces your hand.
How to avoid burnout, part 2: Newport has many more ideas.
Saying no is only one of a large number of ideas Newport has for slowing down to enhance productivity. Just to give you an idea of the breadth of Slow Productivity, here are some of the bits of advice that he expands on in the book:
- Limit your number of overarching missions, big projects, and daily goals.
- Ask other people to help, so any given burden doesn’t fall completely on you.
- Avoid projects with lots of annoying little tasks (Newport calls these “task engines”).
- Spend money on software and professionals who save you time and energy.
- Keep two task lists, one for “eventual” tasks, and one for “urgent” tasks. When you complete an urgent task, promote an eventual task to the urgent list, thereby limiting your number of urgent tasks.
My personal favorite Cal Newport tip on how to proceed when you have too much work to do
Saying no is a great tip, one that I can’t live without. But here’s my personal favorite:
When you start working in the morning, focus your brain on one big task. Only one big task.
Don’t try to do a million things at once. Multitasking will prevent you from accomplishing that one big task.
Once you’ve completed that one big task (or made good progress on it), you can turn to the plethora of small and easy tasks that you were tempted to do first. It’s better to do those things when your brain is tired, not when you’re fresh and able to conquer something big.
I hope this blog post helped you gain insights on how to avoid burnout and conquer the problem of too much work for a knowledge worker to handle.
Do you feel burnt out?
Featured in this blog post: Slow Productivity by Cal Newport Buy it now
I have too much to do today to make any long comment, ha ha, but I certainly needed to read this today. I particularly need to remind myself to say no *before* I feel like I’m going to have a stroke!
TY, TY.
Chessie, lol I’m glad you had time to make this comment! Glad the post was helpful, and I hope you say “no” a lot in your future! š