The immediacy of our work environments has had numerous positive and negative implications on how we perform.
One phenomenon is the sense of urgency that has permeated everything we do in the workplace. The addiction to ubiquitous screens endlessly screaming for our attention has only worsened our consciousness.
It has led to a delusion of self-importance – a false sense that the organisation simply will not function in our absence.
Our response has been to stay constantly connected and always on-call at work…to the detriment of our family life.
Conversely, the urgency of our role at home and its importance to our families is often understated. Apart from the occasional screaming baby, no constant beeps or flashing lights tell us how much we are needed.
The 12-year-old son or daughter is not reminding you that you’ve worked late every night for two weeks in a row; that you’ve travelled most weekends for the last month; or that when you are home, you’re almost always on your phone and disengaged from the people around you.
The stark reality is that, despite the urgency delusion, you are replaceable at work but irreplaceable at home.
Unexpected illness or injury, economy-driven lay-offs, or just rapidly changing environments may all result in you being away from work – and somehow, the organisation continues to exist…without you!
However, no one else can fill your shoes as a father, mother, sister, brother, son, or daughter at home. The frightening truth is that unglamorous as it may seem, you are, in fact, irreplaceable at home.
Days, weeks, months and years silently ensue until a defining milestone reminds us of how misdirected our energies have been from the urgency delusion of the workplace.
