long hours Archives - Sharon M Weinstein

June 20, 2021 By Sharon Weinstein

The Big Reset…who owns a great work environment?

It’s been more than a year since we pushed the reset button. During this time, many of my clients and colleagues began to be “home-based” members of a team. Moms have been pushed to the limit with work, schooling, child-care, and stress. There was a time when it was taboo to talk about the stressors of work/life balance in the physical workplace. My clients report that now is the time when it is okay to make the personal professional. After all, how many times, when on a Zoom or Teams call, has a child entered your workspace (whether it is a real space, the kitchen island, or a bedroom)?

Some companies pushed reset by shuttering satellite offices, knowing full well that employees are perfectly capable of maintaining productivity in a home setting.

We have become much more flexible, and there are many facets to flexible:

Shifting work hours or job-sharing to accommodate school schedules and drop-offs plus the formidable child-care crisis that occurs between 3 and 5 pm
A shorter workweek which has been successful in Europe for many years
Support for those who work from home, including a budget for a desk, chair, or desktop monitor

Who owns a great work environment? It is a shared responsibility that is owned by the employer and the employee. It’s time to push reset and acknowledge that shared responsibility. The employer can ask direct reports about their preferred styles of working and what support they may need. Continue to schedule remote or hybrid team meetings to enhance engagement. If onsite, maintain a safe setting and reread the three facts of flexibility!

The employee can maintain boundaries, advising kids and partners of dedicated work time, and may need privacy. Keep regular hours, whether remote or in-person. Take the time to take care of yourself, allowing downtime, hydration, and small talk to support your own physical, emotional and social needs.

It’s been more than a year, and we are ready to return to the workplace or to maintain a more flexible workspace no matter where that may be. The Big Reset is here…and we all own the responsibility for making that work environment a great one! Are you ready to push reset?

November 24, 2020 By Sharon Weinstein

Take a Break…you deserve it!

We want to do the best job possible. We want to perform at the highest level. We want to succeed. Sometimes the environment itself impairs our ability to do so. When I worked in Eastern Europe, my nurse colleagues did not have healthy work environments. At the time, they worked without electricity, without an emergency generator, without adequate food for patients and staff, and in less-than-desirable conditions. I still recall seeing a full-term infant pass away because it wasn’t possible to control the baby’s body temperature in a nursery that was as cold inside as it was outside. But the nurses, with conviction, did what needed to be done; they performed at their best.

Providing a Wellness Environment

There is no doubt that a healthy, healing work environment is conducive to staff satisfaction, optimum performance, and good results. By embracing a workplace of wellness replete with circles of wellness in which staff may relax, rejuvenate, and rejoice, we take the first step toward total wellness. Staff feels appreciated, valued, and recognized in a meaningful way.

Performance levels drop as work periods become longer and sleep loss increases. Staying awake for 17 hours has the same effect on performance as having a blood alcohol content of 0.05%. The most common effects associated with fatigue are:

Sleepiness
Lack of concentration
Impaired recall
Irritability
Poor judgment
Reduced ability to communicate with others
Reduced fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination
Reduced visual perception
Slower response times

What can you do, here and now, to enhance your performance and be a better version of yourself? It’s simple… take a break! Ongoing breaks are critical to our performance and to our health. Where can you start? Start Maintain a personal and professional environment that sustains, rather than drains, you, by following these tips:

Intentionally build breaks into your day; schedule them on your calendar or in your diary
Start the day, your calls, and your meetings with mindfulness
Keep those appointments with yourself

I was inspired by my nurse colleagues in Eastern Europe. They performed at their best, and so can you. That said, you must take a break! Remember, in the words of Mohandas K. Gandhi, “There is more to life than increasing its speed.”

March 24, 2019 By Sharon Weinstein

Are you a meeting planner with too much to do?

Achieving More by Doing Less…what meeting planners need to know-

Are you kidding me?
Is this even possible?
How can I make it happen?
When do I start?

Work-life or workday balance…what is it and why does it matter? Whose responsibility is it? As meeting planners and team players, we share the responsibility of implementing strategies to ensure work-life balance.

Annual conferences, regional meetings…they spell long days, long weeks, and the need to be on- all the time with multiple responsibilities pulling you in multiple directions! There is so much to do and so little time! How can you achieve more and do less?

Is all this a cliché or is it reality? In today’s environment, it certainly seems that it is indeed our reality – a reality of the times in which we live and our expansive scope of work. Balancing work and personal life can be a challenging task. Are you prepared for the challenge?

Is your performance impaired because you are out of balance? Are you caught up in the balancing act, unable to do it all and care only for others in your lives without caring for yourself? You are only as good as you are balanced! If you do not take the time for yourself – yes, even with the array of responsibilities pressuring you now – you will not be the best that you can be. That personal best includes you as parent, partner, friend, partner, professional, educator or event manager. That personal best is what will enable you to reach new heights in your career, to achieve your goals and to maintain your health.

It will start with a successful conference or meeting, allowing you to achieve more and do less, minus the stress. To learn about the five steps needed for balance, opt into https://smwgroupllc.com and receive the secret tool that will get you to, and through, that next meeting.

June 28, 2016 By Sharon Weinstein

How’s the C-Suite treating you today?

The Chief

So you are the Chief – Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer or Chief Information Officer! What is that “C” contributing to your stress levels, and what are you willing to do to relieve the stress. Do you really think that stress doesn’t have an impact on your body, your memory, your ability to function as a Chief, and your outlook on life?

The numbers tell it all about the body

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 60% to 70% of all disease and illness is stress-related.
An estimated 75% to 90% of visits to physicians are stress related.
According to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Women’s Association, 60% of women surveyed said work stress was their biggest problem.
Job pressures cause more health complaints than any other stressor, says the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Your outlook

I can guess what you’re thinking… here’s one more thing I have to worry about. As a senior executive, you need to worry! You can’t – nor do you ever want to – eliminate stress altogether. Some stress is beneficial. I’ll even go out on a limb and say that stress by itself is never actually harmful or bad. It’s your reaction to stress that creates problems. It’s your outlook that counts!

We’re simply trained to ignore the signs of stress in an attempt to keep the problems at bay. No wonder: changing life-long behaviors is in itself stressful. This is a classic mind-body disconnect.

The Three Phases of Stress

As you know, just being in business today creates stress, and at your level, stress is more prevalent. Here’s how most people react to a stressor (such as: earnings announcement, problem at home, manufacturing flaw, countless and mind-numbing meetings):

First, in what is called the “Alarm Phase,” they react to the stressor. This might result in a burst of anger, shock, or surprise.
Second, they move into the “Resistance Phase,” when they begin to adapt to the stressor. They learn to cope with the dysfunction, lack of sleep, or 16-hour work days. This phase can last for years, and after a while will feel very “normal.”
Third, the body finally loses steam. They go into the “Exhaustion Phase,” where their ability to resist is reduced. They’ll feel tired, unable to concentrate, and will often catch colds or become ill – the body’s way of slowing them down.

I know from experience that there are many ways to more effectively handle the everyday stressors, as well as those big once-in-awhile stressors. I’ve taught meditation, mindfulness training, breathing exercises, and disseminated countless bits of information on general nutrition and the benefits of regular exercise. Perhaps, as the C-suite executive, it is time for you to learn how to relax!

Squeeze a few minutes of relaxation into each day

Far too many of us lead lives that are frenzied and hurried from the moment we wake up in the morning to the moment we crawl into bed at night. The more packed every moment of your day is the more you need to make time to relax; for a few minutes of deep breathing to 20 minutes of deep relaxation or yoga. Making this a habit will keep you in better stress shape for the day that chronic stress knocks on your door, which it almost certainly will if it hasn’t already. After all, in your senior position, the problems land at your door.

The human system can tolerate a tremendous amount of stress. Over the years, however, too much stress breaks down your resistance to illness and disease and impacts your memory. Remember, the negative consequences of your stress are strongly influenced by your rest habits. Since stress is unlikely to diminish in our high-pressured American lifestyle, take the time throughout your day for the natural unwinding of your stress response.

There are only 24 hours in each day

You don’t have time to rest, you say? You have more time than you think you do. You could:

Do deep breathing while driving to work and during other stressful moments throughout your day.
Get up 15 minutes earlier and spend the time doing deep relaxation, yoga or journaling.
Take 2 minutes several times a day to tense tight muscle groups for 10 to 15 seconds, and then relax them completely. Repeat this two to three times each round.

So you are the Chief

How is the C-Suite treating you today? There is no better time to consider the actions that you will take to enhance your role and to preserve your ability to function as a Chief.

November 24, 2013 By Sharon Weinstein

Fatigue – how do you know when it affects YOU?

We all experience it at one time or another, but how do we know when it is in control, and when we have lost control? The death of a young nurse from Ohio was a wake-up call to the health professions and others that long hours, lack of sleep, lack of hydration and more is just not working. So, what is your role in dealing with fatigue? What do you do to overcome the challenge, and is it working for you?

To start the process: