DEVELOPMENT
mother and leader, but I suffered internally and
lacked the tools to manage the situation.
Why refining your
working habits is
key to achieving
happiness
Breaking bad work habits is a skill says
Yu Dan Shi. Learning the tools to interrupt
negative routines will help you get
healthier, and stay successful for longer.
THE EXPERT
Sydney-based Yu Dan
Shi is a sought-after
coach, mentor and
speaker. After hitting
rock bottom in 2008
while working as an
executive for a Fortune
100 company, she was
compelled to search
for more meaningful
ways to work and live.
Today, Yu Dan helps
other professionals
and executives live an
inspired life. She is also
the author of the new
book, Come Alive – Live
a Life with More Meaning
and Joy.
Research from Australian National University
shows that working longer than 39 hours a week
puts your health at risk if you also spend more than
28 hours a week in caring or domestic work.
These people will more likely experience
mental illness and symptoms of distress such as
feeling nervous, anxious or down. Given many
EAs work more than 40 hours a week, what this
tells us is working more is not the answer; we
need to work smarter.
Healthy working habits are skills to be learned
Work-life balance is not a new topic. However,
what we seldom explore is the fact it’s not easy
for people to achieve work-life balance—unless
they have been taught how. We are creatures of
habit. We can’t change the way we work or live
overnight. It’s a skill.
The reality is the majority of the workforce has
never been taught how to work in a healthier way
or how to perform at an optimal level. Most of us
have only ever been taught how to work harder.
I was so burnt out in 2008 that it took an
emergency operation to force me to look at things
differently. My doctor explicitly told me that my
life-threatening illness was the result of stress. To
the outside world, I was a positive, strong, resilient
62 Chief of Staff | Issue 3 2019
Understanding human performance
There is a limit to how much and how hard we
can work. Like a fuel tank, our energy needs to be
topped up. When people work long hours, there
is not enough time for rest and renewal. In reality,
the faster we know how to recover and renew,
the faster and more consistently we reach optimal
performance. Elite sports people have mastered
this approach.
Over the past 10 years, sleep has become
the secret weapon of more and more Olympic
competitors.
Once we understand slowing down creates
better performance, I have found people are
much more willing to improve how they work
and live. Here are some of my favourite daily
habits. I have found them simple yet they make
a huge difference to our energy, well-being, and
happiness.
Four daily habits that would make you
happier
w Learn to rest. Have you ever felt that two hours
of good work is better than 20 hours of poor work?
It’s likely that you were rested to do the work. If
you feel less motivated to do something, it might
be an indication that your energy is running
low. Instead of blaming yourself for lacking
perseverance, take a break.
w Be in nature. Research shows that being in
nature refreshes us and increases our cognitive
performance. It can be as simple as including a
daily walk in your routine. I have often suggested
my clients have meetings outside their office,
whether in an open café or turn a sitting meeting
into a walking meeting.
w Stop reacting. Many people jump into the
reacting mode from the moment they get up.
If most of our hours are spent reacting, we are
likely to feel exhausted and out of control. I have
often suggested my clients begin their day with
the things they want to achieve first, instead of
simply reacting.
w Do something fun. Research has shown that
having fun reduces stress, keeps us energetic,
and increases more job satisfaction. When I play
with my dog Silly at the park, I always walk home
feeling much more energetic and happier. On the
surface, some activities seem non-productive,
when in fact, they provide vital recovery time.
We all want to succeed, but we don’t have to
sacrifice our well-being in the process. Once
people learn to work and live in a more optimal
way they sustain success for much longer. S
www.yudanshi.com