What’s driving you?

With more than half of UK workers saying work is becoming more intense - Frank Newberry looks at why we might actually be colluding with the problem and what we could do to ease the pressure - for the benefit of our mental health.

Some years ago, when I first started helping people with their time management issues, I learned two things: first that stress is sometimes self-inflicted - it is something we do to ourselves, and second, a lot of people firmly believe that tight deadlines and pressure at work 'bring the best out of me; I get more energy and I get more work done as the deadline drew nearer."

When, in reality, a lot of these workers were being forced to prioritise some tasks over others and, with stress increasing and adrenalin pumping, it naturally felt to them that they were getting more done. Most were in fact dropping less urgent tasks in favour of urgent ones.

Adrenalin can be addictive after a while, and many found that they would slow down if a tight deadline was not in place to drive them harder.

Half of UK workers say work is becoming more intense

Now a recent poll suggests that half of UK workers say work is becoming more 'intense', with staff shortages and advances in technology to blame.

Experts warn that while trouble recruiting is part of the issue, managers, work cultures and changes in the industry - all contribute to an increase in intensity in the work-place.

Sixty one per cent of workers said they feel exhausted

More than half (55 per cent) of UK workers feel that work is getting more intense and demanding - with technology and staff shortages cited as reasons for this increased intensity. The polling found that 61 per cent of workers said they feel exhausted at the end of most working days.

The figures suggest the situation has got worse compared to a similar 2021 survey. The latest data highlights that:

• More than a third (36 per cent) of workers are spending more time outside of contracted hours reading and catching up with correspondence
• 40 per cent say they are now required to do more work in the same amount of time
• Four in 10 (38 per cent) say they feel more stressed at work

There is also a gender divide to work intensification; women are more likely to say they feel exhausted at the end of most working days (67 per cent compared to 56 per cent of men).

My first job in management was to study and report on methods used at work and compare them to alternative methods. I quickly discovered that people were colluding with poor work methods and were happy to resist more time efficient work methods. Why? Because they had always worked that way and were good at the old inefficient methods of work.

I could not understand this resistance - we eventually had to impose new methods - which is not the best way of managing change at work.

Taibi Kahler's Five Drivers

Some time after completing this work assignment, I discovered Taibi Kahler's Five Drivers. If I had known about them beforehand it would have made my work life easier. Taibi Kahler's Five Drivers helped me to understand what drives people, what motivates people and what stresses people.

What are the Five Drivers?

1. Be Perfect - You are only OK if you get everything right
2. Please Others - You are only OK if you please other people
3. Be Strong - You are only OK if you hide your feelings and wants from people
4. Try Hard - You are only OK if you keep trying hard to do things
5. Hurry Up - You are only OK if you do everything right now

• They are unconscious internal pressures that make us do things in certain ways, e.g. with speed, with strength, to please people, to a perfect standard etc.
• These drivers tend to satisfy our inner needs, and we have been carrying them in our thoughts since childhood when we were first told (by parents, teachers, authority figures et al) that it was good to be quick, good to be strong, bad to be slow, bad to be weak etc.
• The drivers are good for raising a person's self-awareness - particularly about what stresses and pressures us in our lives.

Take the Drivers Questionnaire!

At this point, I would like to encourage you to take the Drivers Questionnaire. You can do this by going online and typing the words 'Kahler Drivers Questionnaire' into a search engine.

There are a number of websites offering free versions. Some websites give the basics and others go into greater detail. One website even says that the questionnaire is not a personality test but an aid to increasing self-awareness.

Which ones are your drivers? Good luck with the online questionnaire! I hope the results help you to reduce the intensity, pressure and stress that you might be inflicting on yourself at this time of change in the work-lives of people in the world.

If you have any questions about communication, management or problem solving please get in touch with Frank at: franknewberry.com

© 2023 Frank Newberry.