It never seems to stop: Customers, colleagues, family and friends are all
demanding a share of your time and attention, and you just can't get everything
done. It's enough to wear you out, and it often does.
"There's an epidemic of exhaustion in the workplace," says Dr. Judith Orloff,
assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Los
Angeles, and author of Positive Energy. "People go to work, they're tired,
they're depressed and they're dragged out." If that sounds familiar, Orloff says
there's a way to turn things around. You can manage your work flow, reduce your
stress and eliminate fatigue by focusing on positive energy.
"When you're stressed, you lose your temper, it's harder to be nice and it's
harder to really support others in your environment and create a team that's
supportive," she says. "The business owner has to learn how to emit positive
energy and feel it in herself so she can inspire the same in others. If you
don't embody it, there's no way you'll be able to transmit it to others."
Orloff's advice goes beyond making to-do lists and prioritizing tasks. She
offers these "prescriptions" to improve your work flow:
- Do a three-minute mini-meditation before you go to work. "Calm
yourself down so you come from a very positive place before you start work,"
she says. "Just spend three minutes [meditating] so you begin your day from
a place of centeredness and well-being."
- Be in the now. "Focus yourself in the here and now, instead of
having your mind in the future," Orloff says. "If you're projecting all your
fears and concerns into the future, you can't be effective in the moment.
Focus on what's right in front of you, and do a good job, instead of being
afraid of what might happen."
- Protect yourself from "energy vampires." Orloff explains, "These
are the people who will suck your energy dry if you let them." She says the
way to know you're dealing with energy vampires is if you feel drained after
a conversation with them. When you must interact with an energy vampire,
don't be an enabler. Don't allow him or her to control the situation;
instead, set your own boundaries, limit the time you spend with him or her,
stay neutral and keep yourself centered, and create a mental shield to
protect yourself from that person's negativity. Above all, don't try to fix
his or her problems.
- Think positive, and use affirmations to replace negative thoughts.
"There are a million fears when you're in business, but you can't let those
fears rule you," says Orloff. "Affirm that you're going to have a wonderful
day and it's going to be extremely productive. Say that to yourself, and
also communicate it to your employees. Focus on the positive and on what's
working, and encourage your employees to do the same."
- Tap into a power larger than yourself. "Spirituality has been shown to
improve health and well-being, [strengthen] the immune system, speed up
recovery from illness," Orloff says. "When you have all that going for you,
bring it into the workplace--it can only benefit you. Make contact with a
spiritual energy; you can call it God, or spirit or love--whatever. Feel it
helping you. You don't have to push every bit of the way."
All of the time-management techniques in the world won't help if there's
negativity in your environment. "When you're going with positive energy, it
fuels you, it allows you to move more smoothly," says Orloff. "When you know
what you have to do and you do it, you're like a finely tuned machine. The
benefits of managing your work flow through increasing positive energy are that
you'll have more clarity, you'll be calmer and you'll have more patience. Come
from a positive place, and you'll be surprised at how much gets done."