The Art of Pacing
What Pace Can We Sustain?
Nothing equates endurance like the sport of running. When I was training for a half marathon I was struck by how much more quickly I’d fizzle out on a run if I started too quickly, or didn’t stretch before I ran. Too fast out of the gate I would get my heart rate too high and need to slow down for a bit. Eventually over time I would build up my speed and endurance, and I could run 13 miles without too much pain.
As we evaluate our work and what it means to go a sustainable pace, a few things come to mind. It’s not just how much we are doing, it’s WHAT we are doing that matters.
Patrick Lencioni, in is studies on the Working Genius, looks at 6 abilities that are each part of the “getting things done” process. He asserts that we have two of these 6 tasks that are our sweet spot—we get joy and life out of doing these tasks and have a special ability to offer those to the team. We have two that are “competencies”, things we can do for a time, and often do well; but it’s tough to maintain and eventually that will drain us. Then there are working frustrations, things we don’t do naturally well that are certain to drain us. If your job happens to spend a good chunk of time in the competencies or frustrations…you are not just likely to burn out…you are nearly certain.
“For too long we’ve thought about burnout as it relates to the amount of work on our plate. We believe the real cause of burnout is working in your working frustration instead of the work that bring you joy and energy.” (Lencioni, Working Genius Podcast #14)
Active Rest
In training, you will often notice a few days on the calendar that have lower impact workout recommendations such as walking, stretching, or yoga. Instead of “passive recovery” , this low impact movement allows your muscles to recover. We of course also need a full rest day, but we often forget to factor in what it looks like to add this cross-training.
In a work context, you might be suffering from exhaustion from working on tasks that drain you…could you find a way to “cross-train”? Instead of focusing on just cutting things out, could you transition to doing something you know brings you joy for a few minutes? One things I know that brings me life is creating new things…content, images, programs, or systems. If I am about to go nuts from several stressful work moments, I can step away and work on something in my skillset that brings me joy. It could be as simple as searching for new event playlists, to brainstorming a whole new event with a co-worker, to designing the layout of a new Google Sheet that’ll help me track my work (I know someone else out there finds that fun!).
When we are running at a pace we can sustain, and doing tasks that bring us joy we will be far less likely to burnout, and we will be able to offer our gifts to our team in a way that truly helps them!
