Burning Down Burnout
Feeling overwhelmed by work commitments? In his book, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, Cal Newport describes the term "deep work" as the act of concentrating solely and intensely on a given task, idea, or project. Practitioners of deep work often isolate themselves from the world of communications technology and focus only on the project at hand, providing them with a significantly higher productivity rate. However, many content creation companies prioritize more superficial norms for productivity in their creators: collaboration, communication, and social media presence.
Open office spaces are the newest trend in opening the gateway toward full-team collaboration. These spaces limit (quite literally) the barriers between co-workers to maintain a sense of cohesiveness among team members. Jack Dorsey, the owner of Square, even requires his team to share long tables to promote what he calls "serendipity." Another recent fad: instant messaging for the workplace. Apps such as Slack and Hall allow team members to stay connected and engaged with each other during work periods. Once considered unprofessional, instant messaging has transformed into an integral feature of workplace connectivity. Constant connectivity is assumed to improve customer response times and creator efficiency. In addition, many content production companies request their creators maintain an active social media presence.
What do these have in common? They detrimentally limit the capacity for deep work. If deep work is more productive, why are these trends also productive? Short answer: they aren't. Deep work is an underappreciated, and exquisitely rare, skill. These trends certainly offer more chances for collaboration, but they do so at the cost of constant disruption. Any amount of distraction can drastically delay the amount of time necessary to finish a task. Furthermore, requiring an active social media influence often forces creators away from more productive tasks.
Productivity is, however, an immeasurable value, which Newport termed "metric black hole." Since productivity isn't easily measured, the impact of workplace disruptions also can't be easily calculated. Leslie Perlow investigated the claim that connectivity is a necessity for any fast-paced business by conducting experiments with a team at the Boston Consulting Group. Each team member was required to take one day off without any technology connectivity. The consultants were hesitant, but the study showed they found more satisfaction from their work, higher communication amongst their team, and an improved product to clients. Thus, Perlow's results proved disconnection and isolation resulted in increased productivity and reduced workplace burnout.