Compassion Fatigue Solutions

Does that appeal or appall you?

My new favourite business maverick is Tim Ferriss, (review below of his NY times best selling book the Four Hour Work Week). In his latest blog post, he interviews the authors of a soon to be published book that studies the benefits of the ROWE (results only work environment):

Quote from Tim's blog: "How did a Fortune 100 company increase productivity at headquarters 41% while decreasing voluntary turnover (corporate speak for quitting) as much as 90%? I’ve been fascinated by this unusual experiment since reading about it in 2005. The best part? It began with a 24-year old new hire named Cali Ressler, not a top-down decision from the CEO. Cali is now co-author of a new book with ROWE co-developer Jody Thompson, which details how it all happened — and how others can replicate (or at least emulate) its success"

[And here's a quote from Cali Ressler in the Ferriss interview]: "In a ROWE, each person is free to do whatever they want, whenever they want, as long as the work gets done. Currently, there are two authentic ROWEs—Fortune 100 retailer Best Buy Co, Inc. and J. A. Counter & Associates, a small brokerage firm in New Richmond, WI. At both organizations, the old rules that govern a traditional work environment—core hours, “face time,” pointless meetings, etc.—have been replaced by one rule: focus only on results."

To read this fascinating two part article, visit www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/

Clearly, those of us who do direct client work can't ascribe to this model (for client days at least) but it's worth thinking about for other elements of the work that we do.

I am reminded of being in high school at exam writing time. It's June, the room is swelteringly hot, the trees are swishing in the wind outside, I can see and smell the freshly cut grass, the flowers on the lawn, maybe even a nearby swimming pool splash and I am done writing the exam. Done as in I've revised every word, turned it back to front and upside down, and if I spend any more time on it, I will actually change my answers to the wrong ones just to beat boredom. Problem is, you see, only 40 minutes have passed and we are obliged to stay in the exam room for a set period of time (usually something excruciatingly long like 3 hours) and of course one is not allowed to bring in any extra material of any kind. I wish I had known about mindfulness meditation at the time, I would have because a true yogi by now! Anyhow, I almost always ended up spending two hours staring off into space and just being bored to tears, waiting for the time to end. Tick, tick, tick.

Have you ever had a clerical job like that, where, no matter whether or not you were done with your work, you had to sit at your desk until 5pm no matter what? I once actually fell asleep at my desk and only woke up because the phone rang and I was the receptionist. I had been asked to update all our client records (which my boss thought would keep me out of his hair for the summer) and it was actually a two day job. Then, was I ever bored for the rest of the summer. Of course this was before the internet, I would have likely been just fine with the web, maybe become a huge stock trader at age 16...I also used to read novels on my lap throughout high school and some very tedious university courses.

Ok, so I probably suffer from some sort of attentional deficit hyperactivity whatever you want to call it. But the reality is that people like me are made absolutely miserable by set schedules that have no rhyme or reason. Staying at work until 4:59:59 only makes sense when it makes sense.

See what you think of Ferriss' post and write to me (if anyone reads these, it's not exactly turned into a big public forum you guys, but that's ok too). I don't write comments on anyone else's blogs either.

I subscribe to Cheryl Richardson’s weekly Life Makeover newsletter (www.cherylrichardson.com) and found her latest post very touching.
I was given permission to reprint it here:


Topic of the Week - Lessons of Loss

Yesterday Michael and I attended the memorial service of a good friend's
dad who died suddenly while helping a neighbor with a project at his home.
The service was moving and sad and inspiring all at the same time. Of
course his family and his loved ones are reeling from their unexpected
loss. As I wrote about last week, there's nothing more painful than
losing someone you love.

As difficult as a memorial service or funeral may be, there's always the
gift of being reminded of what really matters -- the connection we share
with one another. During the service I was struck by a few things.
First, there were sides of this man that some of us knew nothing about.
He was a generous soul who volunteered his time in prisons and at drug
rehab centers, he helped build homes for Habitat for Humanity, and he was
always ready to lend a hand to anyone in need. As I listened to his son
(and our friend), Jonathan, talk about his father's legacy, I thought
about my own dad. A week earlier, my parents had visited, and as I spent
time talking with my dad about the early years of his life, I was amazed
to discover things about him I never knew. I thought to myself, "There's
a deep well of experience and wisdom inside this man and I want to know
more." Imagine what you may not know about the loved ones in your life.

Jonathan's dad gave his grandchildren the greatest gift any grandparent
could give -- the gift of his time. At one point during the service,
several grandchildren got up to read pieces they had written about their
grandpa. It was heartbreaking and telling. While a couple of children
shared memories of receiving a favorite toy or being taken for an ice
cream, what mattered most was the amount of quality time their grandpa
shared with them. He took them for walks in the woods, sang songs with
them while driving in the car, and took them to the beach to search for
treasures along the shore. Not one child said that he or she would miss
the ice cream or toys. They wanted more time with him. I left thinking
about who I'd want more time with if they were suddenly gone.

I didn't know our friend Jonathan's father very well, but by the end of
the memorial service I wished I had. And that's the point. Saying
goodbye to someone is the wrong time to wish you'd spent more time with
them. "Right now" is all we have to share with one another. As much as I
hate the sorrow that comes with saying goodbye, I feel grateful for the
gift -- the reminder to spend quality time with those who matter most.

I share this gift with you today...


~*~ Take Action Challenge ~*~

Stop for a moment and think about who you'd regret not spending time with
if he or she were suddenly gone. Then, pick up the phone and set a date
to talk, to visit, or to spend some good quality time together.


Life Makeover for the Year 2008(sm) is written and produced by
Cheryl Richardson.© Copyright 1999-2008 Cheryl Richardson, P.O.
Box 13, Newburyport, MA 01950, www.cherylrichardson.com. All
rights reserved. Used with permission.

An extensive web search on the topic of WL balance has made me very proud of our Canadian resources. No need to massage US statistics for your next presentation, there is tons of Canadian data on the topic of overwork, work-related stress, WL balance and the lot.

The web search also shows that the UK and Australia were onto this topic way before us (way ahead - a whole decade ahead of us) which is interesting.

So, if you'd like to delve further in this topic, here are some good links that I have found:

Canadian Mental Health Association:
http://www.cmha.ca/bins/index.asp

Mental Health Works: Training and Resources on Mental Health Issues in the Workplace: http://www.mentalhealthworks.ca/

Centre for Families, Work and Well-Being – Guelph University
http://www.worklifecanada.ca/

Human Resources and Social Development Canada’s Work/Life Balance in Canadian Workplaces – A collection of resources about work/life balance from a variety of perspectives.

http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/lp/spila/wlb/01home.shtml

The Public Health Agency of Canada – PHAC has studied the issue of work/life balance and submitted it’s findings in the 2001 report.
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/

Free Workbook: Antidepressant Skills at Work:
Dealing with Mood Problems in the Workplace. By the Center for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction, B.C.
http://www.carmha.ca/antidepressant-skills/work/workbook/index.cfm

“Antidepressant Skills at Work is intended for: Working people with low mood, who may be at risk for developing depression. Working people who have developed a mild or major depression. Individuals who have been off work for a period of time, and are reentering the workplace. Partners, family members, friends or workplace colleagues who want to help an individual suffering from low mood or depression. Employers, supervisors or managers concerned about the well-being of their staff.”

Of course, if you are too busy to look all that up, you can read the following book instead:

Patrick Fanning: 50 best ways to simplify your life

and while you're at it, go visit this blog I have just come across:

Zen Habits: A nice blog on simplifying your life. Tons of great ideas on improving your life/work balance and destressing. The author is a free lance writer who lives in Guam (yes, far far away) has 6 young children of his own! So either he has tons of credibility of his wife is an overworked saint who tolerates him.

http://zenhabits.net

For more information or just to view their gorgeous flyer:
www.kflapublichealth.ca
1-800-267-7875 ext 112 or workplacewellness@kflapublichealth.ca

My son turns 8 today (which means that 8 years go I was doing something far less pleasant than eating an avocado/feta and green salad with balsamic vinegar for lunch which is what I just did.) So this morning when he woke up, with his crazy shaggy beach boy blonde hair standing up in all directions, we snuggled on the couch and looked at photos of his first few weeks on this earth. Moments like that are sweet and precious, and I hope that you too take time to savour little things in your daily life.

Another one: the magnolias are in full bloom here in Kingston. I had a chance to admire a huge "tulip tree" as my friend calls them, during my morning run.

And finally: making a little sand creation and learning to take time to chill out and enjoy the moment. I was so struck during our holiday last week by the fact that even my 10 year old daughter had to "decompress" before being able to just enjoy our time there. On day one she was relentlessly commanding us all to "let's go here, let's go there, ok now what next, I can't wait for this and that" until I said to her "you know, the whole point of being here is to just relax and not have an agenda. Our biggest plan each day is going to be figuring out what kind of ice cream we want ok?" and eventually, by day 3, she too was able to adopt a more relaxed attitude. Although I think some of this is in her personality, I think it also has to do with the pace of daily life during a normal school week (and she's not even attending one fifth of what all her friends seem to be doing - when did it become a good idea to enroll kids in two sports, music lessons AND swimming lessons? Anyhow, I've already blogged on that way back when but it still boggles my mind.)

I think Tim Ferriss (author of the 4 hour work week discussed below) said it so well in his book. He refers to the "occasional, keep it short or get fired vacations" that many of us take, and the either hectic weekends or numbed out weekends where many of us collapse in a heap in front of the tv before starting all over again.

I am working on a life/work balance workshop that will be offered in a couple of weeks to a group in London Ontario, so I have had the opportunity to reflect on the concept of the ideal schedule (even more than I normally do, and that topic is rather an obsession of mine. I know that for some, this topic of discussion can elicit defensiveness, anger, a "must be nice to be able to go on a trip for a week" or whatever other reaction it may generate. The answer is yes, it's wonderful and we should all aim to figure out ways to balance our life in a way that allows for more of that. But I for one have learned that when I feel irritated by someone else's neat self care strategy, I am usually not truly feeling irritation, I am feeling yearning. So for example right now as I am finishing this post, we are now Sunday, it is 23 degrees and sunny outside and I have been grumpily working all morning on various presentations I have to finish. I almost never work on Sundays so this is exceptional. So, I'm going to post this and @#$%! the work, I'm going to buy some rosemary and lavender to plant in my garden. Hope you do something equally nice with your Sunday.

Françoise

I'm on vacation this week so this will be a brief entry to share a few thoughts about a book I picked up to read on hols.

It is called "The 4 hour work week" by Tim Ferriss and is on the NY Times #1 non fiction best seller's list. I have to say I am a bit conflicted about the book but I read it from cover to cover and went to his blog several times so he's clearly doing something right. The conflict is that I find this book at once fascinating and a bit unsettling. Ferriss will clearly do well in life as he's a very high energy rule breaker who loves to debunk the way things work and explore how far you can push yourself (physically, intellectually and societally, how to push the limits of all sorts of rules) but I am not sure his ideas will work for everyone. This book is really destined for those of you who have an entrepreneurial spirit and want to strike it on your own or those of you who want to explore ways of working part time.

What I particularly enjoyed were his observations of the current entrepreneurial "rat race." Ferriss' take home message is the following: in the search for MORE (more money to buy more stuff, the corporate rat race, working 70 hours a week, being trapped in the cycle of work/overtime/more work/collapse for the weekend/start again), many of us have forgotten how to live simply and focus our energy on our health and quality of our life experiences.

See his blog entry of September 4th 2007:

New Research and a Dirty Truth: Read This Before Chasing the Dollar by Tim Ferriss


"74.64% of Americans would rather get Fridays off vs. a 20% raise”

He writes: “Basically, even permanent increases in income have little effect on perceived happiness, as we compare ourselves to those above us, no matter how much progress we make. Material goods give us a short-lived happiness sugar high, and we seem committed to making ourselves miserable. [...]

“Just remember: it is entirely possible — in fact, common — to be a success in business and a failure in life”

End quote (view the article in its entirety at www.fourhourworkweek.com)

I loved that last sentence. Do you know someone who is a success in business and a failure in life?