Load Balance Your Life?
By: Brian Howell, MDT Project Manager
“Load Balancing,” which is often used in the tech industry, is the process of distributing tasks across multiple resources in order to avoid overloading one particular path. It helps avoid congestion and usually enhances overall performance. This brief article talks about how being overloaded is not necessarily the cause of stress in our lives, and how loading life with the right goals may be more important than the number of things we take on.
Think back to the number of times you have heard or even said this phrase: “There just aren’t enough hours in the day to get things done.” I know I hear it all the time, especially in the conversion world where there are so many due dates and milestones. I recently came across an interesting concept that changed my perspective on the subject and got me thinking about how, in the right circumstances, more is more!
Stress and Mental Health
In the 1946 book, Man’s Search for Meaning, psychiatrist Viktor Frankl outlines the dangerous misconception that humans need to free their minds and obtain a “tensionless state” or equilibrium in order to maintain a healthy mental hygiene. His theory is that instead, what people actually need is the ability to freely choose a worthwhile objective and actively strive for the accomplishment of it. Frankl’s belief is that getting rid of tension is not the essential human need. Fulfillment of meaningful goals is. He states, “If architects want to strengthen a decrepit arch, they increase the load which is laid upon it, for thereby the parts are joined more firmly together.”
Taking on More
In essence, if you relate your overall psyche to that of an arch, adding a more meaningful load to what you are already taking on can help make you feel more accomplished and whole. This truth is completely counterintuitive to our nature. Most of us simply strive for less to do! In reality, sometimes the weight of our tasks holds us together. Have you ever talked to someone who retired from a hectic job only to find himself or herself stir crazy for lack of anything to do?
The ideas shared by Viktor Frankl greatly influenced me. His words make it clear that the quantity of stress and tasks are not the root cause of tension and anxiety. Instead, it is the lack of “freely chosen,” meaningful efforts. Moving forward, when you are feeling overwhelmed, I would encourage you to search for a more relevant reason behind your daily activity. Remember and recognize that the feeling of accomplishment you get from finishing something you started for reasons all your own is much greater than the feeling of emptiness you would have if you managed to create an environment where you did not have anything to do.
Final Thoughts
During a recent conversion trip, one of my clients said something to me that really stuck. Paraphrasing, he said, “I like to work harder when things are going well. That way, I am better prepared when things aren’t going well.” I truly appreciated that perspective and recognize now that I was talking with someone who has figured out how to load his life with effective goals. He takes on more work that is meaningful to help keep his mental arch held securely together.
Reading Material
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl