Sit, Sip, and Exist: How to Be Still and Unplug

Be still. Unplug. These are ideas that seem so simple, and yet, are perplexingly difficult to master. Just the other morning, I sat down in my cozy nook with a cup of fresh coffee, snuggled into my seat, with determination to sit, sip, and exist. That’s it.

Sit, sip, and exist.

I made it through probably two sips of my delicious brew before thoughts began to leap into my mind at a rapid pace: “Did you reply to that email? Did you finish your to-do list? Did you remember to switch the laundry? Gee, it’s been a while since you checked on your Farmville farm…, how are the crops doing? Maybe you should reach out to that person you haven’t talked to in a while. Should I rearrange that surface, or is it okay as it is? Has my phone finished charging yet? Is that pillow crooked….”

You get the idea. I found it nearly impossible to sit, sip, and exist without wanting to multitask the heck out of each moment. I remember thinking “Gee, Rachel! You should at least be able to sit still for the duration of one cup of coffee. Come on…”

The toxic need to constantly multitask, to constantly be plugged in and productive, is a pivotal issue in American society and how it has programmed us to be: constantly “on” and ready to jump into action. Our amygdalas are always on the verge of fight or flight because that’s what it takes to be successful in this working world. We feel guilty if we take a moment to rest, to stop, to sit, sip, and merely exist. We feel like “slackers” if we don’t check our work emails all through lunch.

When did our value as workers, as individuals, become tied to our level of constant motion and time spent working? Why is our value on work hours, instead of work quality? Shouldn’t our focus be to maintain health, happiness, and well-being? Can’t we have permission to sit, sip, and exist?

Perhaps, the answer lies in the history of work. Let’s explore the history of the American work-week

Throughout the 19th century, work was the entirety of a person’s existence. Most Americans operated on the work mentality of “first light, to dark.” This was likely due to the nature of the work that was needed in that time (think agricultural workers, the necessity of more production for survival, with the lack of production leading to a loss in resources). Other relevant historical components that led to this need are neatly presented on this website. Supposedly, the average week of work for an American during the 1800s was about 60 hours.

It’s also worth mentioning, that while people were working these drastically long hours, they also died at a much younger age. I mean, to work your way to an early grave? Is any job worth that? That’s mostly a joke, but also, a correlation worthy of noting.

Moving into the years surrounding World War I, work hours reduced, yielding what is now the widely-implemented 8-hour work-day, or 40-hour work-week. Work hours have continued to reduce in the U.S. as time has gone by, but we are still greatly behind the trend of Europe and some other countries, which have decreased more rapidly. (Oh, how I long for the day that America embraces implementation of a work day siesta!)

How do hours worked affect productivity?

Throughout history, long work hours were normal because they needed to be. We know that in today’s society, in America, salaried workers may work more or less than the average 40-hours, depending on their job, with no shift in pay. So, this begs the question: is a 40-hour workweek still necessary for productivity?

The answer (as supported by numerous studies) is a resounding, NO. It is likely time for the 40-hour work-week to adapt, or die.

It has been confirmed time and time again, through numerous studies around the world, that workers are more productive, happier, healthier, and more successful, in a shorter work-week. The U.S. operates within the toxic approach to work in which workers are often judged on the amount of time that they work, instead of how much they actually accomplish. This has led to a horrible glorification of workers burning themselves out, “burning the midnight oil” and working themselves ragged, simply to impress their superiors or to climb up. The consequence is the loss of quality of life, lost family time, and loss of mental and physical health. The day after a late work night, they consume copious amounts of caffeine, just to compensate. How many of us have heard a coworker brag or have bragged ourselves about how little sleep we got working on A, B, or C?

Why are we rewarding a lack of boundaries? Shouldn’t we measure an employee’s success based on what quality of work is accomplished? Why does it matter how long it takes to get the job done if it is done well?

“At the heart of the discussion of workplace burnout and schedule flexibility is technology. The same electronic tools that have made working from home easier than ever have also made it harder for employees to fully unplug from their jobs when they aren’t in the office.”

NPR, reporting on 4-Day Workweek

In our technological world, where the “worldwide web” is at all of our fingertips, it is immensely challenging to disconnect. It is difficult to find permission for the time to sit, sip, and exist. Perhaps, more of this time could be found if more people were permitted to work on their own timeline. We know that certain people are better at managing their time than others. In the same token, we know that some employees are independently-motivated, while others require extra support from their superiors.

America seems to be stuck on mandating a 40-hour work-week. It is commonplace for employees to be hovered over by micromanagers who don’t trust their employees to do their jobs. America is totally missing this chance for growth. It is missing the opportunity to grant its workers improved quality of life, work-life balance, and improved mental health.

We know from numerous studies, that offering employees the chance to work remotely will only lead to positive outcomes for workers and the company. Remote workers yield higher productivity, more hours worked overall, and are happier, healthier, more balanced, and less likely to feel burned out by their job. This leads to higher levels of employee retention, higher rates of company-loyalty, and better things for employers and employees, overall.

The onset of COVID-19 has yielded an awesome silver lining to many forward-thinking companies, by forcing the realization that “hey, my employees actually do a great job even when they’re not physically in the same building.” Covid’s unexpected forced remote work experiment for many companies has led many to embrace remote work as a new normal, giving their workers freedom, and instilling trust. Even before the crisis, a study completed by workplaceanalytics.com confirmed that

“Before the crisis, surveys repeated showed 80% of employees want to work from home at least some of the time. Over a third would take a pay cut in exchange for the option.”

Kate Lister, Global Workplace Analytics

This is huge! 80% of employees were willing to take less pay for the option of working from home. How crazy is that, considering how many people are severely underpaid as it is? (Heck, I’m over here trying to sell secondhand clothes to make some extra cash. Check it out in my store, at Travel Therapy Thrift). As a further testament to the employer benefit, studies have shown that employees across the board, in various fields, work MORE, and are MORE productive, when working remotely.

The research supporting remote work has existed for decades, and continues to grow drastically, so why are American organizations so slow to take action on adapting to a remote work climate?

It’s possible that some workplaces are a bit too dependent on tradition. Tradition, as melodically sung-about in Fiddler on the Roof, is undoubtedly a foundation for many organizations. Tradition can be good, nostalgic, and healthy, but what happens when tradition becomes toxic? What happens when tradition slows progress, limits potential, and stubbornly sticks in its own, familiar way? Inevitably, when it comes to the workplace, toxic tradition leads to a loss of good employees.

This article by Forbes suggests that many employers’ unwillingness to permit remote work for their employees comes down to their lack of ability to manage remotely. One possible reason for an employer’s single-minded approach to remote work could be the following:

“They assess contribution by knowing you get in early and leave late. Because of their lack of skill, they choose not to offer or allow remote work, or even flexible schedules.”

Elaine Varelas, managing partner at Keystone Partners

This goes back to our earlier discussion of the inadequate measurement of employee success, where the focus is on time spent working, versus quality of work completed.

How can we be still, and unplug?

If we are ever to grasp work-life balance that permits time to sit, sip, and exist, we have to instill boundaries. I highly recommend the book and workbook Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No and Take Control of Your Life. This is a book that my therapist recommended to me (therapy is for everyone!) and it has been monumental in helping me to draw some lines where they were desperately needed.

Boundaries are funny. Boundaries give you improved balance and quality of life, and also have a tendency to really piss people off who were previously taking advantage of you.

I have quite enjoyed the healthy distancing from toxic people in my life who no longer get to assert their will into my days. “Ain’t nobody got time for your toxicity, and you know who you are.” Just sit, sip, exist, and wave as you cast those toxic people out of your space.

Still, we are left with the challenge of quieting that insistent call to multitasking. How do we get our thoughts to chill out? Perhaps it will help to know that our brains are physically incapable of multitasking. We know from multiple studies, that:

“Multitasking reduces your efficiency and performance because your brain can only focus on one thing at a time. When you try to do two things at once, your brain lacks the capacity to perform both tasks successfully.”

Travis Bradberry, Forbes

How wild, that our society demands that we constantly work towards a gazillion different things at once, and our brains will actually LOSE quality input on each task when we try to do more than one.

Our society rewards business, burnout, and overwork when such things literally go against our physiology!

Our brains are not designed to do more than one thing at a time. So, the next time you feel that pressure to go, go, go, give yourself a break, remind yourself of your brain’s capability, and don’t even try to multitask! God designed us this way for a reason. He asks us to “be still.” For my fellow God-loving readers out there, are you really going to follow the way of this “fallen world” and not take a break when taking a break is expressly what God commands of us? I don’t think so.

It is time for us to shrug off the stupid, societal expectations of multitasking burnout. Let’s choose to remove the ridiculous pressure from ourselves to work around the clock just for the sake of antiquated time expectations. We need to stop measuring our success by how exhausted we are, and instead find success in being rested, balanced, and well. We must choose to find space in which to complete our work on a timeline that works for us, to do the work with high quality, and to rest when it is finished. Without guilt, and without fight or fight calling us to action.

It is necessary that we learn how to Be Still, Unplug, Sit, Sip, and Just Exist.

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