Retail Can Be Relentless. How to Tell if You're Overworking.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels

Not all signs of overworking are straightforward and easy to spot. 

One year after I had accepted a new job, my gums started bleeding seemingly out of nowhere. I trekked into the dentist's office. After the exam, they asked me, "Are you under a lot of stress right now?"

Oh, um, perhaps. I told the hygienists about the new job. 

They told me to reduce my stress levels and that my gums should stop bleeding. They were right. 

---

Oh, Stress

This sort of thing has shown up often in my life. 

In college, I'd get migraines during finals week. My migraines typically affected my vision - I'd get a fuzzy TV vibe in my line of sight, making it hard to read. The words before me would slowly disappear behind grainy black and white flickering. 

Imagine reading through your final and the words on the page disappearing like you were at Hogwarts. 

I managed to push through and get decent grades. After I graduated college, I rarely got another migraine. If I did, it was one hundred percent stress related.

---

I’m an Idiot

Now, it's my back and left leg. A few months ago, I injured my back because I was lifting things I shouldn't, like an idiot. Not only that, I was doing it repeatedly - like a massive idiot. 

For the past three months, I've been limping through my day, unable to exercise or even sit in a chair. I've been making weekly trips to get acupuncture and massage. Although the pain is getting better, the muscle cramps are excruciating. 

(I did go to a sports medicine doctor. He told me that there was nothing majorly wrong; my muscles can't relax, so they're cramping.)

Yesterday, the massage therapist pointed out that I have difficulty relaxing on the table. Right. Of course, I do because I have shit to do, not lie here. 

However, her kind comment got me thinking. Although I haven't been able to do much physically for the past three months, I have worked myself silly. 

I was pushing to get my book done, but once it was published, I never stopped. I never took a day off. 

My laptop went everywhere with me: in bed, in the kitchen, to the coffee shop. If I wasn't on my computer, I was on my phone. I was scrolling through LinkedIn until late at night, reacting to comments or DMs.

It was getting out of hand. I realized that if I wanted to really get out of this excruciating pain, I would need to stop doing everything and stick to a schedule. 

No more scrolling on my phone after 7 pm and no more reaching for it first thing in the morning. I can pick it up at 9 am. DMs and emails can wait. I need to treat this like a job I can leave and actually leave it when the clock hits 5:00. 

---

Take five minutes to audit your daily habits. Is there anywhere you're expending energy you don't need to? Can you alter those habits?

I thought I was all good because I had stopped all the physical activity, but it was more than that. I wasn't giving my brain a chance to rest. I was pushing it to the brink, and my body was screaming at me to stop. 

It's hard not to beat myself up about my work ethic. All I can do is recognize it and structure my day to harness it for good.

I'm still dealing with a lot of pain, but my new mindset can only be nourishing. 

---

MAILBOX

Sometimes I get DMs from store leaders, which takes me back to my back room. I'm going to bullet-point this message because it was involved.

• Our store budgets were planned down this year, and we all felt like we could breathe. 

• Now stores are struggling to make that budget, and our company has shifted the narrative to WE MUST COMP. 

• We have very little in stock, the buys aren't deep enough, and customers don't want to wait for the store to place an order they can make online. 

• The company has funneled our inventory to online fulfillment centers versus the stores and then wonders why our conversion is down to LY. 

• They have us reinventing action plans every other week instead of staying the course and developing consistent behaviors. 

• I legitimately feel like I'm spending all my time filling out some nonsensical tracker or going behind executive leadership's back and telling my team, "We are going to do it this way instead because I know what will work for my business."

• I struggle to stay inspired and motivated when nothing is good enough or celebrated. We made a budget earlier this year, and no one noticed. 

• We comped two weeks ago, and all my DM said, "Tell the team I woo-hoo'd" on a call. 

• WTF? (okay, I added this part).

Do you see how well this leader understands their business? 

This is not uncommon. Store leaders understand the tiny details better than anyone, and they see through the corporate shenanigans and stupid forms. 

They end up throwing out directions and doing some things a better way because there is no other way to lead through this and stay sane. 

Here is my response:

"Continue to run your building how you see fit. Celebrate the success in the store with the team there. That's what kept me motivated for so long. I had to do it myself. I realized that I couldn't count on my bosses for much incentive, praise, or celebration. We did it at the store level for the team members and to keep ourselves inspired."

This sucks, but realize that you still have the power to create a motivating, inspiring workplace even if the people at corporate don't see it because they're chasing all the wrong things. 

---

LEVEL UP

How you can be a better leader today.

I'm going to reiterate two things here from the newsletter this week.

1. Take five minutes to audit your daily habits. Is there anywhere you're expending energy you don't need to? Protect your time away from work to ensure your stress levels don't escalate. (You want to avoid ending up like me).

2. Celebrate the success in the store with the team. Yes, it's stupid that your bosses don't get it. They think a WOO-HOO on a conference call is motivating. It's not. Create your own motivating environment because your bosses, sure as shit, aren't going to do it for you. 

   ---

Get Your Guide

My book, The Retail Leader's Field Guide, is now available in paperback. 🤓
AND it is #1 on Amazon under New Releases in Leadership Training.

This is the how-to handbook you wish your company had given you.

I spill all my best practices for running productive, cohesive teams. 

Get it Now. 

---

Thanks you for being here. If you dig my writing, please share this email. 

Click the 🖤 so more people can discover this on Substack.

You're the absolute best.