Some of the signs of working too hard are:
- Frequent frustration and anger
- Bad decisions
- Procrastination
- Defensiveness and excuses
- Frequent illness, physical aches and pains
- Results don't come fast enough
- Family upsets
- Not having any fun
- Focusing on tasks to be accomplished and not people involved
- Trying to control everyone and everything
- Not communicating well with authority and managing up
- Not balancing the need for detail with strategic priorities
- Working in isolation and refusing to ask for help
- Not understanding what needs to be prioritized to meet other expectations
- Creating unnecessary work
- Not working from strengths
For example, when employing a delegation strategy, some of the action steps would be: getting comfortable with the idea of needing help; learning to specifically communicate requests, desired outcome, feedback and acknowledgement; learning to focus on end result and not getting involved in day to day "nitty gritty."
Improving productivity through working smarter requires a commitment to make personal changes when faced with the frustrations of working too hard. Coaching is a way that people can be encouraged to learn new ways of approaching their jobs. Apart from working with a professional coach, managers can act as coaches, employees can be encouraged to coach each other, and people can be taught to self-coach. What is most important is making the commitment to making it easier - determining a strategy - then taking consistent action toward making it happen.