Why I Work 7 Days A Week... (Productivity and Burnout)
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- Опубліковано 14 чер 2024
- Are you caught in the cycle of overworking? Wondering if there's a way to organize your workload for a better life balance? Join me in this insightful video where I share my personal strategies for managing work demands effectively.
Learn more from Dr. K in his Guide to Mental Health: bit.ly/45NirwY
Not sure which module to start on? Take our quiz: bit.ly/47dGzKj
In this discussion, I'll delve into practical approaches and techniques that have helped me navigate my own workload. Discover how optimizing my schedule across seven days a week has surprisingly reduced burnout and revitalized my energy levels.
Work with a Healthy Gamer Coach certified on Dr. K's curriculum: bit.ly/3Q318lG
Find us on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and more here: wlo.link/@healthygamer
▼ Timestamps ▼
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00:00 - Preview
00:21 - Introduction
01:52 - What does 'work' mean?
05:59 - Not all work is the same
09:32 - Mental Composting
12:58 - Enjoying the work you hate the most
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DISCLAIMER
Healthy Gamer is an online community and resource platform for gamers and their families. It does not provide medical services or professional counseling, and it is not a substitute for professional medical care. Our coaches are peer supporters, not professionally trained experts, and they cannot provide medical service. If you or a loved one are experiencing an emergency, please call your nation's emergency telephone number.
All guests of Healthy Gamer are informed of the public, non-medical nature of the content and have expressly agreed to share their story.
#healthygamergg #productivity #worklife
I think there is a big difference in self-directed work opposed to directed work.
Yeah this sort of advice doesn't apply to most workers. Most workers are laborers. We're not tired because of small paperwork that needs to be done stacking up. We're tired because we work to survive. We're underpaid, overworked, and underappreciated. We're tired because we produce our year's salary in a few weeks. We're tired because we don't get enough vacation/sick days. We're tired because we can't afford to take a vacation, even if we had the time off.
@@WarsWorth I tell you what I'm tired of, people who just put up with this abuse and exploitation and do nothing about it. Workers in these positions need to start banding together and demanding better pay and working conditions. These companies cant operate without you, make them realize that.
@@anab0lic these companies will die in the long term if we band together and demand better pay and working conditions. But we will die in the short term.
The only way out for us is to upskill and save ourselves from this shithole. Unfortunately, there is no answer sheet on how to do that because the only answer in the answer sheet is to not screw up in school through all the levels and get your papers.
@@anab0lic Most people are too busy worrying about surviving to be thinking about "sticking it to the man".
@@anab0lic just gotta handle the union busters and rent at the same time
I mainly get burned out by:
"do this first task"
"oh, and this"
"hold, stop what you are doing, this next task I have for you is really important"
"do it after you have done yet another task which it so urgent"
"why haven't you finished your first task yet?"
If I can chose which work to do when... I feel much better, too. But not everyone can do that.
You are me
My current job has had this problem since the dawn of time. Its a fucking pain in the ass. I was so exhaust in my early years, but after I learned how to navigate the bullshit and set limits I wasn't as stressed out.
I learned it from colleagues that have been there for decades. Usually I tell my superiors what my game plan is, what I'll finish before addressing their needs, and what gets pushed back to due to their urgency. If they don't like, I usually respond "hey, it is what it is".
@@montegyro to which they respond - u're on a pip not, be very afraid.
@@prettyshortshorts times like that is usually from shit rolling downhill. Intimidation masking desperation. Good chance their boss is doing the same shit to them. Just don't eat it. Send it back, respectfully. And if ya get canned for doing what's right, the world is not over yet.
@@montegyro i know, this is definitely shit rolling downhill. A third department head about to leave in my time (working in the same place for about 7 years)
OMG I'm so glad to hear this! I am a therapist and I work six days a week, because I take less clients per day, because I get exhausted and And emotionally wiped out helping clients process trauma and manage trauma symptoms. This is what works for me, I am an HSP and I know my limits. But I get so much grief and backlash from friends, colleagues, family, boss, who think my unconventional work flow is not healthy
I work in a completely different field from you, but can relate to that sentiment
I actually have no problem working 6 days a week, as I do, but 8 hours a day is too long. I'd love it if I could work 6.5 hours a day 6 days a week versus 40 hours a week 5 days a week, it's just way too draining for a single day.
Having that said, I'm still working 50 hours a week because I have a second job LOL.
Wow, having that said
You don't deserve any of the backlash you get
I think there's nothing unhealthy about working an "unconventional" schedule
8 hours a day is "normal" but I think THAT is unhealthy and unconventional.
@@caixiuying8901 u peeps are impressive really, keeping things together like that.
they don't mean it's unhealthy for you, they mean it's inconvenient for them. Subconsciously they don't want to admit that because it makes the argument more nuanced than they like.
There's meat on the argument that doing things outside the norm is "bad", but usually they're trying to avoid saying that the bad part is you're not doing it the way that is easier for them.
The other annoying one is, next they'll say your way is just lazy and everyone would love to do that but we all have to pay the price of inconvenience. But when given the option, would they prefer to do it your way? Nope.
If not, it's preference, not laziness. But of course if they're not given the option they can just lie and say they would.
Easiest example everyone knows has real basis in biology now, is what hours people work. Some people have body clocks that thrive in the morning and that is the social norm. But people who thrive later are just constantly doing morning people a big favor by sticking to 8am work schedules. And as it becomes known and "lazy late people" are destigmatized by science, that norm starts to shift. No one wants to hear that something they used to get for free might cost something.
That doesn't mean there's always an easy or "fair" solution.
The world can be unfair. Think of wheelchairs. Even with lots of work to make things accessible it's impossible to make the world equal for people in wheel chairs.
Same goes for many things. Like if you have a really unusual behavior, or say an awkwardly mishapen Trump-body, so you have a hard time finding suits that don't look like a trash bag. It's unfortunately just not realistic to ask that they make more suits in your "shape". You end up having to wear ill fitting suits a lot. (this is the 'royal you' btw, not suggesting anyone else has such a hideous form).
Anyway, hope your schedule works out.
I still find it hilarious that the system set by henry ford, a factory owner, about 120 years ago is seen as the only right system to work. For some reason people just looks around that the fact that we work 40h per week monday to friday, means that it is how things should be.
This is fascinating. I often hear and feel that "2 day weekends are simply not enough rest", which, when they are your ONLY days you give yourself permission to rest, they aren't. However, this 7 day work week kind of unlocks the idea that you CAN rest 7 days a week BECAUSE you are also applying conscientious effort towards work or goals. The 2 days of rest into Monday "catch up" is setting up for failure, but only a couple hours of effort in those same 2 days makes both the days feel better, AND the work week feel less stressful. Truly a win-win.
"A little bit goes a long way"
I would rather work 6h, 7 days a week, than 8h 5 days a week, if im honest with myself, the last 2h of everyday I’m barely productive anyway because I’m so tired, I’d rather get home during daylight and do something
Honestly, once I've changed careers to sth that I actually enjoy doing (web development), it feels like a waste to not to work on Saturday XD. I do make myself have Sunday off to let my mind "reset" but it's not like I do nothing either. I end up socialising and exploring current art and design trends as well as what's going on in the wider society, what people want out of tech, which actually are creative fuel for that main thing lol.
I think people who can moderate and schedule well can succeed with a 5-2 or 4-3 rotation.
No thanks, 7 days of work would be torture for me. Hell 5 is already too much.
This only really applies if you have a series of tasks to check off. Burnout comes from the endless treading of water, of it not mattering how much you get done, management will always find more for you to do. Burnout comes from finishing a task only to be told that actually that task is no longer needed and you now have to start over on something that is just dissimilar enough that nothing you just did is recyclable. Burnout comes from weak leadership, uncaring management, and from people who have achieved a position that allows a healthy work life balance lecturing down on you as if they’ve discovered this wonderful silver bullet that is only applicable to people in their similar situation
This video wouldn't apply to jobs with responsibilities akin to floor level factory/warehouse jobs, or toxic work cultures. Thats an entirely different discussion.
@@montegyro exactly. It only really applies to the life Dr K has, which is very much not the norm for the HG community
This is the truest thing I know and an accurate description of several jobs I've had (not all of them)
try having a sales job...
The video definitely applies more to people with the type of job dr k has, but he also has videos that are suited to what you're describing
The only gripe i have with this is that the kind of job you have impacts this tactic a lot. If someone works retail, you can't do this. If you work a standard 9-5 and you need to do your work within those times, you can't do this. My point being, the only time you can really do this is if you're lucky enough to have work that does not have strict restrictions on time and days you work, and has that breakup between different kinds of tasks. You, Dr. K, are in a very privileged position to be able to create the kind of work week you wish to have, and adopt to your needs. Many people lack that position. The video lacks that sensitivity, which can feel quite sad to those people who can not break up their days like you.
That said, i highly appreciate your input and this is definitely still very valuable. I have experienced the idea that not all work is equal, and that different times and different tasks tend to feel better or worse depending on the combination. I am greatful for having a position at my work that is a bit more freeing to let me reorganize my tasks, although i am not enough so to be able to change on what days i do what tasks.
For anyone reading that's not in a position to do that, i sympathize and i hope you can view this as a way to look at work or necessary things to do in life outside of work, as this information can still be helpful there.
Thank you Dr.K and the community. You are all awesome
i work 7 days a week at 2 dead end jobs as a dishwasher. what helps me is doing what im passionate about before going into work which is art. otherwise i burn out.
In teachers college we discussed procrastination. The idea of “moderate procrastination” came up that struck a cord with me - if you start engaging in a topic (an assignment in my case) and then let it go for a week or two, you’re going to be thinking about it and coming up with ideas even if you’re not actually working on it, so that when you DO sit down to create a product, much of the mental work is already done. Reminded me of your “mental composting”.
Ha! Thank you (now I know what my way of functioning is called :)).
Yes! And since starting is the hardest part a lot of the time, if you can remove it the rest of the task becomes less daunting
that is true! i remember a ted talk that is probably still up on youtube discussing how procrastinators were actually some of the most creative people, since they let their subconscious wrestle with the idea, and then returned to it after some time
I'd like to point out that this dosen't have to apply to work but hobbies and other things you just want to get done as well. I've been unknowingly doing this when it comes to designing my office as of late. I would take a little bit of time every day to look at my setup and go "Hmm if I buy this I can move this and free some space.. etc etc." without really committing to anything. Seeing ideas online in my downtime between work and when pay day came a week from then; I was prepared to get exactly what I needed and adjust my room how I wanted. I think this kind of thinking is applicable to many things in life not just work; because there are a endless amount of things we want to do so tackling them in the most relaxed effort way possible is a boon.
I would argue that this would *mainly* apply to hobbies and not so much work. It sounds like what he is describing only works in jobs or scenarios where there is a lot of self direction, which *most* jobs people have lack.
It also applies to school, particularly college. I got so burnt out spending 6 years getting my bachelor's and only getting a few days between semesters to switch gears & 2 weeks for Christmas which had its own major stress. Was burnt out by the 4 yr point & had to force myself to then switch to online only thanks to COVID & online had a much faster pace with even more work and I was always behind while working during burnout. I had to work on my schoolwork 14+ hours per day, 7 days a week, reading horribly written textbooks, researching & writing essays, discussion posts(small essays with research), replies (more small essays with research) every week (3 due dates per week), while not learning a thing & getting ticked because I knew not learning anything would debilitate me if I could ever get a job. It took me so much time too thanks to dyslexia, ADHD, & demanding parents wanting my time. I have no idea if I'll ever recover.
I edit videos for a living.
When the video is a priority, fantastic, I have all the support I need from a client, and the job gets done quicker.
When the video is not a priority from the client, the lack of communication drives me to use up more mental energy and resources to get the job done.
And I get exhausted.
I end up being massively burnt out (and even taken advantage of) when I'm expected to do things that don't fit within the scope of my job.
And when I explain that their expectations are unreasonable, and I need to get paid more or being given more resources, they (understandably) get upset.
Often what happens is that they'll find someone else who they feel is better qualified to do the work, but what usually happens is the pattern repeats itself.
The last two video editors in my position quit due to mental health issues. That's a pattern. That means there's a problem with the leadership, or the environment.
The more people give me, the more I feel excited to give them something in return.
Damn. Thanks for sharing your xp regarding editing work, really good to hear how important a (active) client relationship is.
Doing the work you are dreading on Sunday makes a lot of sense for ADHD too. Because it kind of gives you that "Last due date" vibe where you have a quiz tomorrow and you haven't studied at all, so you get the endorphin rush of needing to do it at the last minute.
I think that the effectiveness of this approach is heavily dependent on how self-directed you are in your work. I've had jobs where every single moment is rigidly accounted for. Doing boring clerical work on the weekend just meant that I would be expected to do even more work over the week. Thus, increasing the amount of clerical work I'd have to do to begin with. It would cycle like that until I'd just burn out.
Contrasting that with now, when I work for myself, I actually do a lot of these things. They work much better in this situation.
The video boils down to, if you do something you're interested in and passionate about you can keep going because it doesn't "feel" like "work". If you work at a job that really is just a compiled list of mundane tasks which also happen to be physically demanding, and you have no interest in it... you'll be burned out before you even get there.
It depends on your point of view. When you hate that job, please try to change to another one. Other option is just to learn to love what you are doing. You choose.
I've found meaning in work that isn't necessarily my absolute passion, but combines particular attributes, like job security, feeling valued, making ends meet, and being able to challenge myself. This allows my passions to remain just that without needing to introduce the stress of doing it for money, or for other people.
@@Jazzmaster1992 there are many ways to go around it, I feel all of them that have been shared here are valid, every context is different so the burnout problem will require a different solution per person, but generally these are great
Yeah this video from k missed the mark a bit. He used himself as an example and there are for sure some ways to reduce your overall stress with these techniques. Abd it is still a helpful video to organize things in your life differently for a result. But the average person doesn't have nearly as much flexibility. And the world NEEDS those rigid jobs. Not everyone can work from home on a production based activity. And coupled with that fact that corporations log your time instead of the work you do. If you structure things intelligently to take advantage of hyper production. (Meditation breaks, automated systems etc) and you hit your target in 2/3 the time and are happier. Your employer will just insist that you are capable of producing 35% more if you just had the motivation to full face and never let up. EVEN if you are more productive than others who don't employ these techniques.
Not really. Its more about structuring work. Even if you have a physical labor job and are told what to do that doesn't mean everything you have to do as a person is directed. You might not have some 'random hr email to take care of' but you might have bills, work around the house, or activities to set up with your kids. You might not have creative work for your job. But you might have other things you do like I have a strategy game I do planning for on the weekends.
His exact point in this video is you can be interested and passionate about something and still get burnt out. If he didn't schedule things like this he probably would have burn out. Similarly there are good and bad ways to organize your time if you have a job you don't like as mentioned above.
Sounds like great advice for people doing a certain typeo f work. But what about those working 9-5s where you can't just tell your boss "nah I'm not doing this admin crap now, I'll do it over the weekend because that helps me reduce burnout"?
the video scope is him explaining himself, not others
@@Ttangko_ with the intent of it potentially being useful advice for others
@@Hemlocker It is actually useful advice to me and i'm sure others of his viewers.
@@veggiedumplinn Didn't say it wasn't
This is some valuable insight, Dr. K., and I appreciate it. About two years ago, I made my lifelong passion of weather into a job and now work as a TV Meteorologist, and I’ve always been told that it’s only a matter of time before I’m burnt out like the rest of adult society. I have yet to ever burn out, and love my job more and more each day, and it’s been an immense source of anxiety to think about my impending loss of my biggest passion (at least, per the old wives tale). This puts my mind at ease, and clears a lot up.
" I’ve always been told that it’s only a matter of time before I’m burnt out like the rest of adult society."
That's a very weird thing to say, and I don't understand why people say that kind of thing.
"Oh, you enjoy your job? Well, you just wait, it's gonna suck eventually!"
Like... what's the point of saying such a thing?
@@cubescihist6737 bitterness. The resentment towards those who succeeded with keeping the passion.
I think the biggest thing for me is having free time to do what you want.... within reason... when you want; to me that is the most valuable thing. The term work is funny because most people have no chose but to work or else they'll be out on the streets if they don't. That is the issue there is no security beyond work itself ; if your not working society, at least in America doesn't afford you the benefit of security outside of work. So work if there is no security outside of it becomes a slave driver no matter how much you love it or how you conceptualize it.
Man, Dr K is a beast! I wish I had his stamina, intelligence and enthusiasm. I'm over here as an independent contractor trying to figure out how to work as little as possible and get paid the most. He's teaching, reading, researching, seeing patients, admin and parenting. Also this channel. I'm exhausted just thinking about it 🤣
I'm curious what your thoughts are when ALL your work is creative work, and the majority of the workload is simply hours spent being creative at a high level. For example a painter. Maybe they have a deadline and know it's going to take them 50 hours to complete - but then if they paint on the weekends, then their quality of work drops because that creative mana pool is now low, and you end up creating more work for yourself because you have to re-fix the mistakes you made at low mana. But the stress/burnout still happens because you have deadlines and demand to meet.
@@bubidubi3149 I see what you're saying, in that once you creatively understand what the goal is the actions to get there aren't creative. I will have to disagree with you there. While you're manually moving the brush around and painting you're making so many creative decisions, what angle does this stroke have to be at, what's the precise balancing colour I need to use, how do I keep this vision in my head so it comes out how I need it to, have I accurately portrayed and stuck to the perspective, is this going in the direction I need it to.
You have to be constantly re-evaluting and making creative decisions as you work. And that in itself is exhausting. Sure perhaps some artists get a vision of what they need and then they just get on with it, but I think if you really paid attention to what your brain has to process just to place each brush stroke correctly, there's a lot going on.
I would also add that I believe the more your skill develops the more you know how to tell what's right and wrong, the more concepts you know, actually the harder you have to work because you require that mastery of your skill for the better outcome. Scribbling a doodle can take no creative energy, but if you're employed to do art for a living then you need to be hitting a certain bar and output consistently, which is more difficult than beginner work.
@@bubidubi3149 one doesn't really just decide beforehand
If you are a painter for a living, there is no way you are spending 50 hours a week just painting. I'm a self-employed artist, and at least 50 percent of my work load is not creative in nature. A lot of it is dedicated to marketing, order fulfillment, business related stuff.
@@GhoulishBunnyStudios I can see that being a self employed painter may not be the most ideal example if it's true that the vast majority of their work isn't creative. But I think it's fair to say that there are some types of careers and jobs that are (Even if not 100% creative) far more creative than is typical. I would consider my job in that category, the vast majority of the work I do is artistic in nature, I was using a painter to illustrate my point. So my main concern is, if we can agree that you only have so much of a creative pool, and it is a limited resource, how do you mitgate burnout.
@@elysegymer9880 I honestly don't have an answer to that because this is the whole reason why I'm self-employed. So I can set my own schedule. I think there are certain types of people that do actually have that much creative stamina. They are usually pretty well suited for jobs like that. But many artists are actually not and probably shouldn't pursue that kind of work. That's just my opinion though.
I also think this applies much more to folks who have work they *are* passionate about, people who have found what their life's work (or even present moment's work) is and also found an environment they enjoy working in.
Title of the video didn't prepare me for the absolute pearls here. Perfect timing too! I've been struggling between my personality, being outgoing, relationship building, and friendly (plus a bit of an ADHD child), vs my work, IT, very focused, the team isn't very social etc. For YEARS I've lurked while Dr K and this community have fuelled a passion for psychology, philosophy, growth, keeping the mind/body/soul healthy, debate, open discussion, too much to list.
Just had to get my thanks out after all this time. Screw gold, this part of the internet is audio-visual platinum topped with magic mushrooms, shiny and thought provoking.
Thank you Dr K, and thank you everyone in the HG community.
Stay sexy ;)
A man went into work seven days straight. This is what happened to his soul.
I wanna be clear about this: if you have the ability to get paid for we hours go ahead and do it! If not your workload should be manageable during you work hours or you are facing too much work in general!
I agree with Dr. K because I've done this kind of thin before, but it's easy to drift from spreading out the work into burning yourself out. I would guess that it's much easier to invest in your job on the weekend when you own your own business.
It’s so weird that you are always so timely in your videos. I also want to admit that you are probably just more consistent than I am yet, I have been working on my consistency and I am still amazed. Love the channel and can’t wait to see what is to come
A lot of what of Dr.K describes here resonates in an audiobook I'm listening to called "Mind Management, not Time Management" by David Kadavy. It's geared especially for creative jobs. It talks about phases of creativity that does include working on certain tasks at certain times, letting ideas sit overnight, and not to just plow through everything all at once.
I haven't finished the whole thing but it lines up some with this video.
This is so wonderful! I thank you for sharing. I really want to be more productive but find myself going all or nothing instead of analyzing and breaking down certain tasks according to my energy levels.
Somehow I was very confused when watching this. Questions I had immediately was "wait, what's the deadline of these tasks? What if you don't know what the topic is going to be before they told you to write a lecture in 6 hours? What if you didn't have a choice to do a certain stupid task any other day than the day the boss told you to do it? How is it you have room to plan your work like this?" Then I realized; this video doesn't apply to people with a regular job.
Regular jobs have strict deadlines, and usually piss poor management. You couldn't do all the stuff Dr K. is talking about in a regular job. It seems that while Dr K. still works for people to a degree, he has a lot more control over his topics and deadlines, room to stretch, if you will. Not so in most other places. I think this would apply better for people doing independent work, or at least jobs that have a high level of autonomy, both of which are *very* privileged positions. I don't see this video helping most people.
This is helpful. I work full time but have been trying to be an independent artist and I cram everything on the weekend which makes me insane lately and burned out!
There’s been things I’ve read too that people tap out after like 4 hours of doing something and I honestly feel it too. I’m the most productive in the morning and then once lunch rolls around I lose motivation for a while and try to walk or whatever else. I might have a jolt of motivation before dinner but once it’s afternoon I tap out and am done. I always thought I was lazy or not doing enough turns out society just tricks us into thinking we must be working every single hour… this is helpful too as I’ve been talking to my therapist about balance and more feasible goals. Something I’d like to do before the year ends is to finally launch my new portfolio and shop store, so maybe I’ll work on it a little each day rather than the weekends, when I need rest and free time.
World is not fair.
Most people just cope.
I love your videos so much, it's like you're talking about my problems and also finding solutions to them. I never thought about the heterogenity of work in relation to organizing the work. And also what you said about the weekends. It all makes so much sense and I try to utilize it in my own life.
This is all very useful information, thanks HG!
I may be alone in this, but consider leaving the occasional pauses in, instead of editing them all out; my brain needs that time to process what's going on
Cheers!
You're not alone, people have been yelling at his new editor for months now about this
Great video and channel! I usually work full time and study on top of that, and I can agree so much about stuff like creative work, energy, and when to read, etc.
Working at fast food does not give you that option.
Mainly because its a job were you're suppose to deliver a service or role and be able to give it consistently and fast.
Some jobs like doing the dishes in the back is easy; no real rush and you can listen to music and podcasts because no one will see you either than the manager and your co-workers and it doesn't require you to listen to someone else, so what I like to do is just before work like the night of my day off, I would take all the music I like and put it in a collection list and have it on autoplay, then when I goto work and I get put back on dishes; I can simply just put on my headphones, my cleaning gear like gloves and apron and clean away while listening to my favorite music. Because of the simplicity of doing dishes: I can listen to music without impairing my ability to do the dishes.
However if you're a cashier, fry cook, or responsible for making sure the order a customer ordered is right and delivering it to them, you can't just listen to music. You can't hear orders, Customers will complain and then the manager will have to inform you that you can't wear headphones at work or play music, even if you're the only one playing it out loud, because nobody cares about your taste in music. With the flexible scheduling where the employee has control over their own schedule, you can either end up being so overstaffed that the managers just send some people home or understaffed where they have to either close half the store like only allowing drive thru orders to be taken or close entirely and in instances where the drive-thru is the only thing that's open; now we have even more complaints over their order taking so long to be made.
I don't have much faith in my workplace, Letalone for fast-food employment anymore since work is already draining in of itself and making food really fast seems not only like the most unproductive compared to what I could be doing, but also like an impossibility, considering the fact that the food I usually eat takes more than 15 minutes to make and i find that more enjoyable than whatever I do at work. we're understaffed, and that no one gets paid sick leave so they end up going to work and hiding their illness and bring down an illness onto nearly everyone that works there, and to top it all off: a person in line that is going hangry because he didn't get his order the moment he parked at the window where he would get his meal .
It's quite difficult to have your type of mindset if you drive forklift for living.
Thank you Dr K for making my misery Mondays into sorrow Saturday AND Sunday :))
Jokes aside. It's actually quite helpful
The concept of working a little everyday to take advantage of mental composting and your recharging creative battery is actually amazing - I'm going to take advantage of that more. Thanks Dr.K!
The more I think about what Dr. K said in this video, the more it just comes across as: You can be super productive and avoid burn out by!... Being successful and being your own boss...
Come on Dr. K. Make another video after making ends meet for your family while working a retail job during this bloody holiday season.
Go make a business and succeed lol
I don't think his advice is really for the kind of work you'd be doing if you're grinding out 12 hour shifts in retail/food service. If you're in a job that's flexible enough that you can essentially set when you work, then this vid could be helpful to consider. Not to mention it might not be literal job-work but it could also be applicable to school, or if you're for some reason you have a large span of time to work on creative work. I think it's also a given that if you were working more days a week then you'd also be working for less amount of time, although Dr. K didn't explicitly state this I don't think (other than alluding to how he's able to take breaks on the weekends).
While I deeply respect Dr. K, I've come to believe this is a blindspot for him. The way he talks about work usually seems to be tailored to white collar professionals.
I mean, professional work is what Dr. K knows... He can't present himself as an expert/give advice as one on topics that he's not knowledgeable enough to talk about. That's literally a professional code of ethics violation.
Also, there's not much you can do to adjust on your end if your job doesn't give you flexibility. A soul-crushing, exploitative job isn't something that will get better with therapy :(
@@DamianSzajnowski "Just make a business bro. Just succeed bro lol"
When do you spend time with your family? Are you able to be with them more during the week as well?
he talksed about it in more detail on stream the vod is prob still up
thats what I'm sort of worried about
Good to know. Since it’s not mentioned here in this video or in the description…past streams can be found on Twitch or through Discord right? I’ve been sending parents here lately that may not have the deep Dr. K lore and don’t stream content.
I know I should be working more, but I'm probably a nightmare to work with. I think having a routine is good for my mental health.
I’ve gained a lot of insight into the topics you discussed in this video over the past two years or so. I believe that introspection on the processes that result in feeling burnout and developing ways to healthily cope and combat them is so crucial. It has dramatically improved my quality of life.
Excellent video on a very important topic for the modern world!
This is good stuff. I used to be the guy who wanted to work 4 12-hr shifts in a row so I could have 3 days off. Now I find so much value in having something to do each morning that I've been thinking about just getting some work done each day. I find that having responsibility and structure can be very invigorating. With that said, it's been difficult to execute this recently...
Currently, I'm in grad school and am dealing with depression and anxiety. It's been difficult to find a sustainable pace because when I try to do focused work it almost always is not very focused. It feels like things that take others a few hours tends to take me days. This becomes an issue, as y'all can imagine, but it's a work in progress!
Why can't I subscribe to this channel twice? This guy just gets it
I love the piano example as a classical pianist who struggles with this very issue haha. I have even used the idea of a creative battery to try and explain the problem to others. By making piano my actual job, I have to regularly spend some of my battery on doing accompaniment work or gigs that might not really be that rewarding for me, but I need money. But then unfortunately I won’t have as much juice left as I’d like to have to work on my solo projects or plan more exciting (but usually underpaid) concerts that focus on my passions. I’m actually trying to solve this by doing completely different work and saving more of my creative juice as a result. I’m a couple years off being able to register as a psychologist and am looking forward to (if all goes to plan) having another way to do work (that happens to be very interesting to me as well). I also just think I’m probably someone who just doesn’t like to work a lot 😂 Still figuring it all out.
Heyyy a fellow classical pianist there too hello :) damn i work 6 days a week as an accompaniator in different places, and i hate it, im so exhausted, i have to study so many things outside of work hours and i literally just hate most of the shit i have to play
Man, studying was fun when u were like studying 2-3 solo pieces for a few months with ur teach, but working sucks ass what do i do
I spent 17 years on studying and i dont know how to do anything else 😭😭
Sorry i needed that out real bad
I love this, excellent advice and I'll put it into practice
I can relate with the 7-day work. I am a freelancer and created a small business on my own, creating and selling boutique audio products. As I am doing pretty much everything on my own, there are mundane tasks, which I do best on Saturdays/Sundays, when my mind is free from routine tasks and phone calls.
Great videos!
The amount fulfillment and satisfaction you get from the work (no matter what I kind of job it is) can determine how much time and work you’re willing to put into it. If someone enjoys doing the task required for a job and is compensated fairly for example it’s more likely that someone will want to excel at that job and put in more hours. The opposite often demotivates people and builds resentment towards what or who is making them feel dissatisfied or unfulfilled.
This is something I am going to apply. Thank you.
I just woke up to a bad morning due to something happening with work, it feels so bad and unfair but I have to adjust since I need it and also enjoy doing this job. Felt much better after watching this video, I'm now more optimistic that things will be fine and I'm just grateful for what I have right now.
A few points though:
1. you can do worst tasks early in the week or as soon as it appears. It's called "eating the frog". If you are employed on 40h contract you shouldn't need to work on your weekends. Just do it during your work time and don't let it occupy your mind by postponing it.
2. Using of subconscious is a good hack, but it is a two way street: if you DON'T want to remember something just cram it into one day and use the method for things you do want to affect you on more fundamental level.
this is insanely good advice thank you!
1:42
1:56 - why work is taxing and how it can be invirogating
3:07 - how Drk set up his work week to be productive& feel more energetic after it
3:17 - what does DrK mean by work
3:49 - not all work is the same = “I’m burned out from work” -> not all pieces of work that burns you out
4:11 - passion into job burnout example
4:50 - there are some tasks that are easier to do at particular times
5:30 - ex: work Dr.K can do at all time->teach
draining work->admin work/deal w insurance companies
6:00
6:07 - work Dr.K does in the weekend
9:27 - why Dr.K loves to work on the weekends
1) Ideas got consolidated during sleep
2) composting generate ideas (give mind time to mull over things)
12:12 - by working on the weekends, Dr.K can reduce a 6 hour work to 3 hour
12:58 - enjoy the work you hate the most
13:41 - go into next Monday already burned out -> imagine on Sunday night the most dreaded tasks are already taken care of
14:58
16:36 - tasks that burns us out, if we do some of it on the weekends, can be very mentally freeing -> what burns you out = worrying about that stuff
Hey gamers, I appreciate yall! This is exactly what I needed to hear today.
Been having to really step up lately in my adulthood and it's refreshing to see such an outlook on the ways in which life can ask so much of us and the ways in which we can fulfill ourselves in that calling.
Work well and flow easily! Stay focused and stay blessed!
Interesting indeed. I found myself thinking all throughout this video that there are some things that I really need to do, every day, or else I just will not do them. I like hearing someone else say that we process our thoughts and ideas in our sleep, been saying that for ages, and I actually rely on it for most everything. Good job, thanks for the video, I'll put some effort into putting some of the ideas in to practice
I like the mini edits Dr K!!! Way better than the choppy "youtuber" edits.
It really hammers in the point you're making😁👍💯
Same thing for me in the case of exercising. As little as a 10-15 mins walk is the bare minimum for me. When I don't move around I tend to feel more sluggish and tired. As to work, I have a 9-5 job M-F, after work I do my reading, I'm into trading and investing and bulk of the studying and testing strategies are done during the weekend. This is my routine since pandemic started, and never been burned out since then.
Work can make or break you depending on how you approach it. I've come to understand that having periods of my day devoted to hard focus is necessary to feel calm and happy when relaxing. If I don't have any work I'll task myself to learn something. I have also been utterly burnt out back in year 12 under the constant pressure to work faster. Very much glad to be out of home and able to study without (time) pressure, which is when I get all the benefits.
Helps when the work has actual meaning and outcomes behind it
Dr k, can you make a video about regulating emotions while pmsing?
Thank you very much!
MORE WORK RELATED VIDEOS please 😊😊
My job is under staffed so this is where my burnout comes from the most. I can’t really change that but actually seeing how much of my will it takes up on a time blocked carpenter helped put things into perspective
Most of this info is better for judging others than really figuring out oneself.
I think this advice speaks to a very spesific group of people who are self employed or in a more flexible position. For me, this way of thinking falls down at the first step because the most work that needs to be done does not always create value. And even then, the value-generating work needed to be feasible is escalateing to the point of impossibly.
My partner and I are coming to terms with the fact that after half a decade of grinding, hard work and forgoing many luxuries, we are effectively further away from even our most conservative goals. And it's because life involves family responsibility work, and medical emergency work, and social work, and trauma work, and unforseen accident work, and global pendemic work, and child care work. You could argue that there is value there, but it is not transferable.
Hell, I would kill to have time to do something creative, or to take time to learn things that could put me in a better position or to financially benefit from the things I'm passionate about. But that means I'm risking rent or I'm coming up short for my meds or I'm sacrificing meals.
Ive has to help my friends write paper. And I always tell them to send me the prompt ahead time so I can read through the material. Which gives me a couple week to process the information without really delving deep until I have gotten a brainstorm of what topics to talk about. Never understood why this method worked so well. But now I understand.
I enjoy a big chunk of my work, and naturally I seem to work more than average people. But people make me feel odd about it, for not hating my work or working at weekends. Having such a refreshing perspective, reinforcing that it's actually okay, is nice to hear. Also, good tactics to get the non-fun part of the job getting done.
The only time I was close to burnout, I was working 6 hours a day, but hates every single minute of it. I work 60 hours or more a week now, and I love my life, because work is interesting
That's totally something I've noticed myself. It's a lot better to try and have things to work on at all times for me as well. In terms of annoying tasks I aim to do most of the MBA work I get piled with on weekends lol.
As a self employed person with ADHD and overcommitment and many desires and passions and hobbies, i would like to only work 3 days a week if i can make by money wise with that, and take full advantage of the other 4 days a week for all the unpaid work that's fulfilling and stimulating my mind etc. To work 7 days a week sounds like torture to me unless it was only 2 hours every day and that was all I needed and all I did. Maybe yeah a 14 hour workweek would be great.
I haven't had a proper day off in over a year. I think if your work is congruent with your personality traits AND your basic health fundamentals are being attended to, you can avoid burnout. For me, my work is competitive, as am I, and my health routine is quite strict with respect to drug use, food intake, sleep routine, time with my pets, exercise, scheduled social events and, of course, work.
One thing I like about my job is that I can work almost whenever I want (tho I need to be reachable during some regular working hours). I too sometimes like to work on weekends. I don't do much work, but like starting a day with 1-3 hours of work does not really use much of my time and I may even get decent results in those hours, as I don't work out of necessity, but because I am in the correct mood. But this leads to another issue: We have way too much work. Most of us don't like our work and most of the hours is the kind of work that leaves us exhausted. And even when we like it, 8 hours is way too much. It is just an useless time waster. We should drastically reduce working hours. And no, we don't need to reduce pay. Just look at graphs that show how we are greatly more efficient than ever, but we are paid pretty much the same type of money than in the 80's, when the shift to efficiency happened. Workers deserve more. Investors and CEOs should stop leaching our results. Especially investors creeate absolutely nothing.
I study and work full time and it is rather chaotic. I do get frustrated with how little time I actually have to study and at the same time I find it super gratifying as opposed to just working. This is a super useful video, because it makes me think that I really would eventually get frustrated with myself and burn out because of not being satisfied with my studying.
To anyone complaining about this video not applying to them:
There's a reason why the video is titled "Why I Work 7 Days A Week" and not "Why You Should Try Working 7 Days A Week".
I would highly suggest watching his other video on burnout instead. That one is more widely applicable to most people.
Again, please stop cutting the dead space. The pauses are beneficial for learning. Yall listened to this feedback awhile ago but forgot about it? 😔
Does anyone else want to see a week-in-the-life video from him?
Good to think about. 🤔 Different tasks have different energy needs. Ultimately, the energy consumption : energy refund changes based on the sequencing of tasks. I cant always choose this timing but its good to utilize it when i can as theirs likely a more emotionally efficent way to order tasks vs a purely working from a time : efficiency perspective. The energy perspective allows for the fact of momentum / accel / deceleration.
You like your work. Most people don’t like theirs.
I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome after graduating law school. I did work my ass off in law school. But I also worked my ass off for the degree I did before my law degree: my math degree. And I never felt burnt out at all for that. I really enjoyed math. I did not enjoy law. I still work 7 days a week but yea, I don't do law anymore, I enjoy my job, and the more I work the less burnt out I feel.
Man.. that seems almost alien to me. I've had some things I thought I could enjoy doing but then it kinda stops being enjoyable too. Now I am not sure, will I ever find that? Or will I just forever burn out on random things I find an interest in.
@@PJ-oe6eu everyone's different but for me, I eventually find my rythm (after years of not enjoying it) and enjoy the thing again. So yeah, it's possible that with better mindset you'll enjoy it again, following dr k's advices in this vid might be a good start.
@@PJ-oe6eu Edit: all of the following being said, You do still have to be initially interested whatever it is, if it becomes a passion, even better.
Just spitballing here, but something that provides a feeling of success often in small form and occasionally in a larger form usually helps, a field with a depth of information to learn is key as well.
To take the math example, there is a lot of depth to Math a LOT to learn, if you love it you'd probably die before you ran out of new things to learn. each equation is a minor success and the larger solution would be the greater success. You are rewarded for each success and you dont run out of new things to take interest in, and importantly there is some amount of discovery/creation involved. Programming would be the same, engineering, manufacturing, 3d printing/modeling, carpentry, knitting, graphical design, photography, Electronic repair, networking, ect. ect. This applies to fields of study/work as well as hobbies. something with creation or discovery.
I get flack when I say shit like this, but this is why I dont believe video games are really a hobby, and if they are they're not a very good one. I find the successes to be empty and the depth of education is shallow. They're great entertainment dont get me wrong, but when you complete a game you're in the same exact position as when you started. Nothing was created, nothing meaningful learned, and no real success to be had. If you were to take video games and analyze their design or programming, that could be a good hobby, but otherwise, its the same as just watching movies.
I've got another thing to add to these unconventional ideas about work timings, I have a thing where sometimes on sunday night I do a bit of work before i go to bed, as it warms me up for monday morning.
I found monday morning quite stressful otherwise because you're coming out of rest mode and into work mode quite quickly, this way monday starts off with me hitting the ground running and it feels way smoother
Ironically, I felt really tired today and this energized me a little.
Note that At the end it should say "If you or a loved onE are experiencing"
Great video and very understandable. But where does that leave friends, family, children, partner, dating etc? Not many hours left like this
While I don't think this model would work well for physical labor, it certainly seems like a terrific idea for work that benefits from ideation. I'm in my 30s, and I really wish I knew that giving information time to ruminate will result in further ideas and superior retention of information when I graduated high school.
I think this method would also help with creative burnout. As someone who was stuck in a soul-sucking job in medical billing for four years, all of my creative energy was drained out of me. Throw in some other factors and I have experienced a complete creativity / motivation burnout. I'm finally working on creative hobbies again. It's been such a fight.
For physical labor there's only so much energy one has so spreading it out more might be better too
Helpful as a student with a busy schedule balancing classes and labs
Nice video!
This is not applicable to jobs that consist primarily of a single task repeated over and over, or jobs that are 100% physical labor.
I don’t consider fun hobbies work but after I learned abt the 4 burners theory, since I try to challenge myself I need to consider my passion now to be work, and I have to manage my work time.
There’s a quote from Persona Q “fate will lead the willing, and drag along the unwilling” liek you don’t get a choice to fully chase your dreams without having certain work that you are required to live, school of life talks abt this topic as well as like a concept of an old fashion horse carried wagon and a dog chained to said wagon, could choose to choke and pull away while still being carried along or choosing to walk and with small freedom choose how to walk despite still being taken fully by the wagon
When he said “ Optimizing the creative energy battery to use some of it everyday”… I don’t know why but it reminded me of how I maximize my Genshin resin / gacha game stamina to not cap… somehow I think I can get behind this.
This works but only if you can make your own schedule and dont work a 9-5
Man, I've been trying to figure out why I needed to spend some time to mull over things to actually figure out some creative stuff at work. It was actually Mental Composting.
Unfortunately, the caveat to this is the facade that people think you just did it all in a short amount of time but it actually took you the weekend.
Me working in Cyber Security: NOOOO DONT SKIP THE PHISHING TRAINING!!
Love the work you do Dr K, thank you :)
Hah! Listening to the video on my walk today, I thought it was a HR module about "Fishing training". I thought it was a bit odd, but assumed they had a team building fishing day coming up soon 😆
Everyday I'm hustlin' 🎶
How does this apply to slaving at Amazon, where the limited amount of tasks is the exact same for 50 hrs?
It doesnt. He was talking about work that mostly involves what you're passionate about.
@@Noelciaaa Great, thanks for affirming the hopelessness of the situation; just burn out until I'm nothing.
@@LINKAG3 No, I just meant this particular video isn't about this situation. For you it's better to do precisely what he is not doing - which is having a hobby you're passionate on the side.
Amazon work is really fun though
An easy analogy to this is, if you are running or sprinting, at some point, you are gonna need a break, then the distraction comes from taking a break, if instead, if you walk slow enough, you wont ever have to take a break, you can get shit done rather than cramming all the work in a specific time period but completely rest on other times.
Dude, Dr. K should know better about how people struggle and feel. It's easy to work seven days a week when you're creating something truly valuable, when you're rich and independent. Your work then becomes an endless source of joy, no matter how boring some tasks may seem. I'm working and/or studying on most days of the week and it's great because I love what a
I do, even if it's exhausting. Most jobs however, provide nothing but the means to keep yourself alive.
True
In school/university time I used to read 5 books simultaneously.
Read one, two, three chapters, ask questions to yourself, and look for answers in the world, For the next 4 days you'll load up other parts of your gorgeous neural networks. So the initial information can be processed unbothered by new information on the subject,.
But this chunk of knowledge will influence your study of 4 other books. Your subconsciousness will find and form connections between topics/subjects! That is the real superpower.
That's why in soviet style universities interconnected subjects are studied in the same semester. That way you learn faster and understand how the fuck math will help you be a good engineer. Because you use that level of math in Theoretical Mechanics, Material resistance, Physics, and the Basics of Scientific Methods. So you learn math methods just ones and get your chance to practice this new skill in 4 other subjects.
This guy is A GODLIKE being. Wtf
lilbro out here like
>just shift some of your 80 hour work week into the weekend its comfy
I incorporate hobbies into my work and enforce a mindset that what I'm doing at work will make me a better person for my next job until its my dream job. For example I work as a barrista because its my first job and at the end of the day I am tasked to mop and sweep the floor of the small shop I work in. I took that job willingly because I've associated mopping and sweeping with exercise. And just with proffessional life if I become strong enough to handle my job effortlessly, its time to look for a bigger fish to eat. At times this task gets more difficult when children are making more mess or an accident took place but over time I accepted that the responsibility to work is also a part of my responsibility to be a stronger person for the next step in my life. I don't plan to be in hospitality for the rest of my life, so why not turn it into a meaninful story arc.
Notice how I don't rely on praise from my boss or co workers, external motivation from the pay (my parents do this a lot), or even the time I don't have to wait for to work on my future career. The job is simply now a outlet to work on something I was already doing before I got my job. The "end of the day" is simply a continueation of my current routine. I go home, work on my Esports, wind down and go to bed. If there's no growth to be had at your workplace, then its the wrong workplace for you.
I wish dr k would cover short term burnout. Why do I feel the need to take breaks while studying? Why do I have diminishing returns when I come back from the break? What is actuwlly going on in my brain during these struggles?
I'm working 2 jobs. There is very little time to clean and cook. I probably have ADHD so remembering to do things is super hard. And my anxiety makes sitting down to create a schedule impossible. I need to start therapy but my hours look so bad idk if I'll even get to schedule without missing work, which would almost double the effective cost. But this helps a ton. Maybe I don't need to try and do everything after work. Maybe I can do some things before work. Do some things after work.
If I could schedule everything I have to do I think I would feel way less burnout. Gotta remember to make a schedule after work today at least. Make the most of my 4 hours of free time each day.