Continuous improvement – is it depressing or amazing?
/A nice little place to do some continuous improvement.
At work and in life, I try to get better and be better. I blame two things: learning to read and working in an operations department for 10 years where the philosophy of ‘continuous improvement is everyone’s job’ prevailed. According to ASQ, the global voice of quality, continuous improvement is ‘an ongoing effort to improve products, services or processes.’ Doesn’t that sound great? It means the article I write 4 months from now should be at least incrementally better than this one (sorry folks!), my kitchen cupboards are only going to get more organized and my clients will be better served because of the improved quality that I’m continuously pursuing.
But how could that be depressing?
Because I get tired that’s why. It takes a lot of energy to always get better and when I’m not pursuing improved quality, I burn energy feeling slightly guilty about it. I enjoy extreme relaxing and I love continuous improvement and sometimes I can’t reconcile these two concepts. This leads to confusion and temporary despair. Continuous improvement is depressing if you only focus on never stopping, never taking a break and – the worst! – never being finished. The good news is this: you can continuously improve your life and still take the time to watch 9 hours of True Blood in a row if you simply adjust your outlook. Lazy lump? No! I’m resting up for my next continuous improvement sprint. Watch out, stack of invoices!
If you love continuous improvement but also sometimes hate it, you’ll want to get back to the sunny side of life pretty quickly, especially if you’re prone to perfectionism or never quite feeling satisfied.
Five quick tips for avoiding continuous improvement despair:
Remind yourself that you can take a break from always getting better.
Rest on your laurels every once in a while – what the heck?
Remember that you actually love figuring out how to do things better, faster, cheaper.
Read some fiction – not everything on your bedside table needs to be crafted by productivity experts.
Make a chart and track your improvements – creating your own line graph of awesomeness is incredibly satisfying.
It’s normal to get discouraged about something that seems to be a never-ending task. Take it easy, apply these tips as required and get out there and do something better. Living a life of continuous improvement isn’t depressing, it’s amazing. Never getting better and never striving - now that’s depressing!
I'm Andrea Bassett, an executive ghostwriter and content marketing writer in Toronto and I’ve spent the last decade serving executives.
I write thought leadership content marketing for executives and/or their content marketing teams. My specializations are corporate wellness, benefits, employee assistance programs, leadership & coaching, encryption & cybersecurity and strength training for seniors.
To talk about a content marketing project, call me at 647-502-3187 or send a note to andrea@redsailwriters.com.
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