#045 The most productive (and stressful) way to get things done

I have no job.

How will I pay the mortgage? The nursery fees? The food bill?

Surgical training is a strange beast. You spend 8 years blissfully - and sometimes not so blissfully, jumping through hoops. With each landing, you are promoted to the next phase of training – "Specialist Trainee" 1. 2. 3. 4 and so on.

At the start of my training, I would skip to the I.D. Department and ask for my hospital badge to be updated with my new status. Towards the end, I would grab a felt tip marker and change the number myself. Then before you know it, 8 years are up.

It's now standard for neurosurgical trainees to undertake a Fellowship for one year after completing training. Here you focus on one specific area of neurosurgery that you wish to specialise in.

Being an expert hoop-jumper, I created my own Fellowship hoop, took a long run-up and jumped in. As I was coming to land, all of a sudden and all at once, it dawned that the future was not clear. It was decidedly opaque.

My plan A to continue working as a Consultant where I trained had at first appeared stable. But it was now clear my plans were built on a foundation of sand. And so the pressure was on.

I needed a job to pay the bills and look after my family.

So began one of the most productive and stressful periods of my career. Over the next 3 months I: flew around the country; met with Chief-Executives; underwent rigorous coaching; memorised CQC and board meeting reports and rehearsed interview answers.

And it worked.

Was this pleasant? No. Was it productive? Yes.

This is why.

External Pressure

Any cat or dog owner knows that if your furry friend gets sick you take them to the vet ASAP. Often your companion requires a short course of medicine to get over what ails them.

Every day you diligently sneak a small tablet or capsule into Rover's breakfast. Even when Rover has returned to his sprightly self, you make sure he finishes off the course to make sure he doesn't get sick again.

But when you get sick, you put off calling your GP. If you do decide to make the call and get a course of antibiotics, it's not uncommon for you to miss a dose. As soon as you feel better, you might slack off and not finish the course.

Why the difference? Do you not care as much for yourself as your pet?

Hopefully, you do, if not more. The difference is it's very easy for us to break promises to ourselves. We can make up "valid" excuses for not doing the things we know we should do. Because you are the same person who asks for forgiveness and forgives, you don't realise you're breaking a promise or duty to yourself.

This is a common trait in people-pleasers – I should know, I'm a recovering one.

You don't want to let someone - or in the case of your pet - something down. So you bend over backwards and exercise discipline to do the things you know you should be doing.

The Point of No Return

If you want to take the island, burn the boats. This is what commander Tariq bin Ziyad did in 711 AD when invading the Iberian Peninsula. Before Tariq, Chinese military general Han Xin in 204 BCE strategised that you must fight a battle with your back facing a river.

Today the concept survives in the less violent pursuit of aviation and is known as the point of no return. Here attempting to return to your origin is futile, due to lack of fuel or dangerous weather.

When there is no other option but to succeed - or survive - it is incredible what the human body and mind can endure. This explains how Joe Simpson was able to traverse a pitch-back crevasse - and then a glacier ice field - on broken legs, as immortalised in the film Touching the Void.

Once you cross the point of no return - wilfully or otherwise - you can summon energy and drive you did not know you existed.

Parkinson's Law

In 1955 naval historian Northcote Parkinson stated, "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion."

You've experienced this before. I know I have. Cramming for the exam at the last minute, despite having months to prepare. Leaving the essay until the night before it's due. Writing your newsletter until Saturday night even though you had a whole week to do it (not that I am doing this right now).

If you have a month to write an essay it will take a month. If you have a day it will take a day.

When the clock is ticking - no matter for how long - the work gets done.

The combination of external pressure, having no other option and Parkison's Law all came to an uncoordinated head when I faced unemployment.

I couldn't let my family down. I had no other employment prospects. And once I got an interview, I had a looming deadline. I had to be ready.

Circumstances threw me into this position. I would not have chosen it. It was one of the most stressful times of my career and life. But I remember intensely the drive I woke up with each morning, the determination I had to give it my all, and in the end, the profoundly positive self-talk I developed welling up from a deep lake of self-belief.

You can combine these 3 concepts if you are struggling with any goal. But I warn it is a sword that cuts both ways. On one side it harnesses 3 fundamental aspects of our psychology that force us to take action.

On the other side, it cuts away at our peace of mind. Perhaps the two are intertwined and all action is a result of unrest.

I would suggest using each of these concepts in a step-wise fashion. Set an audacious deadline and put something on the line. I'm not saying to sign a contract with a publisher forfeiting your house if you don't submit your first draft on time.

I'm saying give yourself a time frame to get your project done, then half it. Publicly announce you'll have the work done and put your reputation on the line. Take away all other options for success and go all in on one option.

If you find yourself combing all 3 principles do it infrequently and with your eyes open to the potential cost.

Would I choose to go through this again? No.

Was it worth it?

Well, you're reading this post, aren't you.

P.S.

If you want to work with me to progress your career, I have one remaining space in my coaching programme.

If you have any questions, comment below or contact me on X or LinkedIn. Happy to help where I can.