Why Neglecting Yourself Doesn't Lead To Your Best Work

Most people who hear the term “hard worker” or “great worker,” they automatically think that they have to be an “all-out” worker who is always working, always making the sacrifice of other things in order to be working to get that recognition.  Truth be told, hard workers or great workers are those that know how to balance work with other aspects of their life.  Those that only think and do work and neglect other aspects of their lives will often product lower-quality work and be more likely to burn out because of their all-out dedication to work.

When you do nothing but work, other aspects of your life suffer.  If you skip meals just to get more work in, you cut out key nutrients that can make you healthier, stronger, and more focused, including on your work.  If you cut out many nutrients, you could make yourself more susceptible to disease, including colds, which can help to hamper your effectiveness and focus on completing your projects.

The same holds true when you cut out one or a few hours of sleep in order to get more work in; you feel run-down and are more susceptible to disease and illness.  In addition, you aren’t as mentally focused on what you are doing, including on your work.  This will usually lead to poorer-quality work.  

If you neglect to spend time with your family and/or friends to put in more work, you will feel the impacts emotionally and socially.  Chances are high you will be thinking about them as you are working, taking away your focus and increasing the chances you’ll do poorer-quality work as a result.  In addition, they may become resentful because you are always choosing to work instead of spending time with them, which can cause you more stress and strain, which will further divert your focus and concentration when you need it most.

As you can see, ignoring other aspects of your life just to put more work in will NOT lead to you producing better-quality work; on the contrary, it will likely lead to poorer-quality work.  You cannot ignore your own human needs – physical, mental, emotional, social – in an effort to produce more quality work; sooner or later, it will catch up with you and cause you to produce poorer-quality work.  Achieving the right balance between work and other aspects of your life will enable you to produce the best-quality work you can on a consistent basis to where you will be known as a “hard worker” or “great worker.”