TORaise your hand if you’ve never had them respond to an email or WhatsApp message by writing: “Sorry if I’m only replying now”. We know the answer: we all know it.
We live in the era of connection and “asap” culture if we are not immediately reactive and effective we have the sensation of not being alive and present.
What if the opposite were true? If well-being also passed through a corporate culture where bosses don’t send emails at four in the morning? What if there was rather a need for a human well-being revolution that involved everyone, from managers to freelancers (among those most penalized by hyperconnection)?
He explains it well Alessio Carciofi, digital detox expert, author, Lecturer & Senior Advisor in ESG & Corporate Wellbeing, who just wrote the book WellBeing, the human and digital future of well-being (Publisher Il Sole 24 Ore).
Mental fatigue is one of the topics closest to his heart. For a simple reason: the world has changed, but we haven’t changed. Not yet, at least. Artichokes went through a burn out to figure this out. And he always talks about it in his conferences. Over time he realized that the problem was never “switching off”
Digital wellbeing to combat mental fatigue
«We live in a world where mental fatigue has become part of everyday life, where there is never enough time and stress is constantly increasing. Finding a form of well-being is a universal challenge that involves everyone – managers, human resources managers, employees, even self-employed workers – both in the private and working dimensions» says Carciofi.
«Often, after my interventions and after the initial disorientation, I am asked: “Where can I find out more?”. Today we suffer from FOMO (fear of missing out) and our fear of missing something leads us to want to know, to want to delve into things in depth, so people often ask themselves “How can I do?” and this question is inevitably linked to another: “I can do it?”. The answer is yes, we can do it, it’s just that no one teaches us the rules of the game».
If Alessio Carciofi offers a decalogue with 21 tips for living with serenity and combating mental fatigue, the three myths to immediately dispel according to him are the Multitasking hoax and that of Wellbeing washing. So time management.
Time flees and deceives, sang Lorenzo de Medici. In reality, the problem is not so much the lack of time, the expert underlines, but its management. Where it is no longer clear what is urgent or not, indeed where everything seems urgent and the concept of a break seems like something non-productive.
So much so that, in the end, for example, «yoga (including corporate yoga) is organized at 7.30pm, that is, at the end of the day. The result, underlines Carciofi, is the “snowball” effect.
The good habits of GenZ
Gen Z – born between 1997 and 2012, the so-called Zoomers – is fortunately already aligned with the changes, prefers part-time to full-time and the salary prospect is not the dominant factor in career choices.
In fact, young people put themselves, their well-being, passions and values first, they want to live their lives as protagonists, they choose who they want to be and which battles to fight, they are often more attentive to social issues, such as equality and ‘inclusion, or environmental sustainability and are not afraid to stand up for the actions and values they believe in, to take to the streets and make their voices heard.
They certainly don’t fall into the trap of mental fatigue.
This new way of understanding work cannot be ignored by companies. According to a study by Oxford Economics, by 2030 in Australia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States, the number of Generation Z workers is expected to more than triple: they will reach 87 million people, and will represent 30% of total employment.
Carciofi proposes to “stop saying no”, to recognize one’s fragilities and learn not to make everything revolve around work. «When companies call me they often tell me they don’t know where to start».
And to return to the initial question about “sorry if I’m only answering now”, Carciofi offers an ineffable formula. We need to answer: “Here I am with you”.
The NAP coaching alternative
«It’s difficult to go where you want if you don’t know where you’re starting from» adds Franco Franchi, expert coach of NAP ((Neuro-Agility Profile), a branch of neuroscience that serves to develop talent, improve the corporate climate, promote a responsible mentality and, ultimately, increase self-esteem, trust and motivation.
«Improve performance. If you’re not convinced that this statement is true, just think about your satellite navigator. If he doesn’t have your starting position, how can he show you the route to take to reach your destination? This applies in every field, whether personal or professional. To obtain excellent and long-lasting performance, we need to know where we start from.
In essence, a method is needed, a tool that allows us to “gauge the ship”, know where we are to establish the direction, where we want to get to and above all why we want it;
establish which objective(s) we must achieve to obtain the desired result” continues Franchi.
«There are many ways to do this. For example, we can use the “climber technique”, we therefore start from the peak to be conquered and then with a view from above – that is, a broader one – we follow the route backwards, establishing all the intermediate stages and the resources necessary to reach the top of the mountain.
Second, the “direction” is established, that is, you align yourself with your role(s) taking into account your talents and unique peculiarities.
Third, the objective(s) are defined, through a measurable method and constant follow-up to achieve the desired results”.
The NAP, or Neuro-Agility Profile, is an assessment made up of 173 questions and exercises that have their roots in cognitive and learning neuroscience.
Even if human beings canonically use the entire brain, there are some areas that drive the others and are genetically dominant: these influence our behavioral responses, how we learn, how we think, how we manage interactions with the outside world, how we deal with stress, and so on.
From here comes the concept of agility, or the ability to move quickly and easily.
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