“But I Just Want to Sleep”—Tips for Surviving the Holiday Break
I’ve noticed recently that nobody says they are busy anymore—everyone says things are crazy. As in, “Hey, how’s it going?” “Whew, it’s crazy.” Recently, someone even said to me “Man, things are deadly.”
Whether things are crazy, or busy, or crazy busy, the holiday break is almost here, which is not soon enough. The best thing about holiday break, especially as it approaches, is the sheer amount of work you know you will get done. Indeed, if you are able to get done even a fraction of what you think you will, you will be well ahead of the game. The challenge for many of us, of course, is that by the time we get to the break, all we really want to do is sleep, or watch TV, or anything but all the work we know we should be doing.
So, as the break approaches, let me suggest that one of the most productive things you can do is set everything down, rest, and recover. And, if doing nothing just seems impossible, let me suggest that you learn the fine art of multi-slacking.
First, one of the best justifications I know for rest and recovery. Business expert Seth Godin writes that one of the characteristics of the knowledge economy is that working longer does NOT equal more production. The idea that number of hours worked = productivity is a core concept in a manufacturing economy. If you are in the business of making things, then the longer you work, the more things you’ll make, and therefore the more productive you will be.
The knowledge economy is different. It requires us not to produce quantities of things but to make judgments—judgments about opportunities, judgments about research questions, judgments about how to interpret data, judgments about the ideas we generate. If you pay attention, you’ll notice that generating ideas is not the really hard part. Judging those ideas, choosing the ones to pursue, and determining the best course of action is what gets hard. The danger with trying to use the manufacturing paradigm for making judgments is that working longer does not equal more or better judgments. In fact, the more you overload yourself, the worse you get. That’s right, in a real way, the more you work, the less you actually accomplish.
To those of you smelling (or welcoming) a sophisticated rationalization for not getting your work done, that’s not what I am saying at all. I am saying that you should understand the nature of what you are producing and work accordingly. When it comes to generating ideas and making judgments, an essential part of that work is rest and recovery. Without rest and recovery, you will not only not get things done, what you do get done will suffer, and over time your overall ability will suffer.
Of course, you are in graduate school because you are motivated and focused, so simply putting things down and doing nothing is not a real possibility. The beauty of multi-slacking is that it is different from doing nothing. It may consist of being a couch potato, or sleeping for an entire day, or watching every episode of Grey’s Anatomy on your Tivo in one sitting, but it’s more than that. It is all those activities PLUS a theoretical justification for why all that keeps you productive (see the preceding three paragraphs).
Like its close relative multi-tasking, multi-slacking involves doing more than one thing at the same time. The difference is that when you multi-slack, you are doing at least two things that are enjoyable, relaxing, mindless, etc., at the same time. That way, you are still feeding the overachiever within you that is never satisfied with just doing one thing at a time. An excellent example of multi-slacking is going to happy hour. At the same time you are talking with friends, enjoying a beverage, eating comfort food, and saving money. The possibilities for what you can link together are limited only by your ingenuity. Sleep is important enough that it counts double, so technically you can sleep and still be multi-slacking. And, if you do any activity with loved-ones, that also counts double.
A quick word about the one force that can ruin all the benefits of multi-slacking—guilt. Guilt results from failed expectations. Thus, the answer to guilt is to manage expectations, especially the ones you have for yourself. When you are packing all the articles, data sets, and books that you are going to need for all the work you are going to do at home, ask yourself the following: “Honestly, am I really going to do all this work when I’m home?” If the answer is “no,” then do not take it with you. Not only will it be heavy to carry, it will be even heavier psychologically, and it will potentially undo all the benefits of multi-slacking while you are home (leaving town is an excellent way to multi-slack).
Besides, when you decide to take a break from all your multi-slacking or when you get back into town, your dissertation or job searching will still be there waiting. The difference is that you’ll be rested and ready to get to back work on them.
Have a great, restful break.
