Research: When Excessive Effort Makes You Worse at Your Job

0:28This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. Back Support is made with a blend of melatonin and L-theanine for both kiddos and grown-ups. So when your mind won't switch off, you've got something that can help. Erasing thoughts and restless nights won't stand a chance. Find Oli Sleep Solutions for the whole family at Oli.com. That's O-L-L-Y dot com. Imagine this. It's a regular day at work, but instead of just going through your usual tasks, you pause to ask yourself, how can I do this better? Maybe you create a checklist, clean up a process, or tweak how you can do something. You're not just doing your work, you're trying to improve it, which may feel very productive on the spot.

1:09But later in the day, your focus slips, you're slower to respond. Even simple decisions may feel harder. In a recent Harvard Business Review article with my co-authors Caroline Strauss and Doris Fay, we explore this experience. More precisely, we explore when task proactivity, the act of trying to improve your work, wears down your mental energy. We studied hundreds of workers and found that on days people were more proactive even just improving small tasks, their cognitive performance declined by the end of the day. That was still true after accounting for other factors such as workload and multitasking.

1:47Routines help your brain work more efficiently. They do not eliminate effort, but they reduce it by making tasks feel more automatic, freeing up mental resources. But when you stop to improve something, when you step out of routine to rethink, fix, or redesign, you're asking your brain to do more. That kind of thinking is what drives progress at work, but it's also mentally taxing. This doesn't mean you should stop trying to improve your work. It means you need to protect your energy when you do. Step away from your screen, go for a walk, or take just a few moments to just breathe. Give your brain real recovery time.

2:24If you're improving a process, avoid stacking it with tough meetings or deadlines. Building flexibility in your schedule to accommodate the mental fatigue of improving your tasks. Experimenting with new ways of doing your work may come with errors, and that's part of the learning and fine-tuning process. Allow time to test new ideas without the pressure of getting everything right immediately. Proactivity matters. Managing its costs matters too. You can read about the full article on Harvard Business Review. Have no fear. Chosen Foods is here to defend your favorite foods from the forces of seedy oils and sketchy ingredients.

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