FIGHTING FATIGUE AT WORK
YOUR table is piled with files to be tackled, pin-ups are over flowing with appointments to be kept up, chores abound all around you... But hey! Where is your energy gone? Why are you shelving your work, doing trivial things in the interim, like a couple of phone calls while dodging work, telling yourself all the while, "I will just do it---o.k., just a little time more and I'll do it." Does the very thought of work fill you with lethargy? Welcome to the bandwagon of what business schools today call "WAS" -- Work Avoidance Syndrome. It simply means fatigue -- a condition that affects everybody from time to time, no matter what the job or position. It results from a consistent drain on your mental and emotional batteries, caused either by a physical condition or by your improperly paced work schedule for accomplishing all the tasks for which you are responsible.
And, like a run-down car battery, your mental battery can easily be recharged -- often without even leaving your desk or workplace. If you suffer from chronic and inexplicable WAS and fatigue, see your doctor to discount any physical causes.
Assuming there's no physical basis, try the following methods for overcoming fatigue at your work.
Get organised
A major cause of fatigue is mental disorganisation caused by disarray, not knowing where to start wading through the work pile.
Combat this by making a list of all the tasks or projects on hand. Segregate the work into piles, according to project. Give each a priority order number. Keep only the four most important on your desk. Put the others in a drawer or filing cabinet. Just by being temporarily out of sight they will be out of mind, releasing the stress of worrying about them while you concentrate on the tasks at hand. Sing to yourself "one task at a time, sweet god!"
As you complete each task, take the next one out of the drawer and add it to the workload on your desk. While you are at it, remember not to have too less on your desk either, lest you feel complacent, even though you may have many more jobs waiting in the drawer.
At the same time do not tackle too many tasks in one go; you will only feel dejected at the end of the day. Set yourself realistic goals.
Challenge Yourself!
Some times, fatigue is caused by boredom and routine. Turn your routine work into a series of "beat the clock" games, challenge yourself to see if you can complete a given job in a certain amount of time. By overcoming the boredom of routine work, you re-energise yourself.
And when you do it, give yourself a small treat. Again, be realistic. Whatever time you set for a job, double it to accommodate inevitable interruptions. S
econdly, when you accomplish a task earlier than the time allotted, don't waste the time thus saved. Immediately begin start another task.
Don't overwork
No matter how heavy your workload, it's a bad idea to "over work". Especially, don't work through lunch, nibbling on a sandwich with a cup of tea at your desk. Most office fatigue is caused by repetition. The sheer sameness of moving from one task to another -- however different each may be -- will discharge your batteries. Without that long break in the middle of the working day you will find the afternoon dragging and will be more prone to fatigue. Even if you take your lunch with you, don't eat it at your desk. Get out of the office into different surroundings. The variety will spice you up for the rest of the day!
Work out sessions at work place
Efficiency experts recommend exercising for at least three minutes every two hours to fight fatigue by restoring muscle tone and circulation that may have slowed because of sitting in the same place.
Nothing elaborate, just try to leave your desk, even if it's only to go to the coffee or soft drink machine.
Talk to your subordinates, walk around showing interest in what they are doing. If you are really pressed for time and can't get away from your desk, use isometric exercises, which pit one muscle against another, and simple muscle-flexing routines without even getting out of your chair.
Get work efficiency assessments done
If you think you could be working more efficiently than you actually are, or if you are troubled by chronic and inexplicable fatigue, which is affecting your decisions, ask your organisation for a free and confidential work efficiency assessment in your office at your convenience.
It is not the problem that weighs you down, but the way you carry it!
So remember, it is all in the mind. Shake out those cobwebs, tackle your work day to day, and see the zing come right back into your job!
MALLIKA JAYASHEELA
faqs@cnkonline.com
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