Hitting the Wall - the push and pull of work/life balance

According to this Youtube on average workers hit the wall at 2.22pm every day.

If you were an Olympic athlete, your trainer would simply explain - What is glycogen depletion?  "Depletion workouts are weightlifting sessions that are geared toward exhausting the body's muscle glycogen supply. Muscle glycogen is the storage form of carbohydrates in the body, and this is what powers you throughout your workouts." 

In simpler terms, it's the point at which workers either suffer from their post lunch sugar slump or simply have attention zone out from sitting viewing a screen for an extended period of time.

But the impact can have a significant effect on performance, results AND the quality of decisions being made. But how often do organisations actually measure the impact.  Rarely!  Yet this could be one of the fundamental issues when it comes to improving processes.  We simply don't focus on the stuff which is often blisteringly obvious.

After all - the post lunch slump isn't new news.  How to solve it - how to avoid it in the first place, might allude some.  But the fact it happens, isn't a surprise.

And actually - the fact it has a negative effect isn't that surprising either - research shows that sentencing by Parole Boards is more likely to result in a spell in Prison, if your hearing is set for lunchtime!

The really interesting thought though - what action can be taken to address this issue.  Sure - don't work during that period of the day.  Eat cake.  Take a break.  All very practical action which can have a level of impact.  But what if your organisation is simply too busy.  What if someone forgets to schedule with a mid-day gap.  What if business pressures dictates the need to keep going?

This push and pull between employee well-being and business need is the topic of much discussion.  Financial and Professional Service organisations will often been seen introducing services which are framed as support to their workforce (in-company services - dental, medical health and even beauty treatments) yet the more mis-trusting of us might view these as ways to discourage individuals from taking a break or considering the best formula for their working day.  But isn't this simply creating an environment for presenteeism?

I'd encourage individuals to take responsibility to encourage change in their organisations.  Siemens Global has formed a Well-Being 'task-force' - a group of individuals from throughout the firm who consider strategies and techniques to improve the working lives of their teams.  But measuring the impact can sometimes be just a step too far, when even measuring absenteeism can be a stretch.

 But even small steps can begin to create the environment where each individual can find their ideal approach to avoid - hitting the wall.  Why not use the data from your own wearable technology to illustrate the impact on your performance!

Then - take a walk, have a cuppa or simply change your state.  Sometimes it's as simple as that...