The workplace is diverse
One of the main reasons why many people experience fatigue in the workplace is that a significant percentage of work is perceived as meaningless, does not create value, does not bring any substantial output, and instead becomes a waste of time and energy. In this case, the implementation of the first principle becomes the key to liberation.
I was deeply impressed by the experience I just had, when I was buying yogurt at a drink shop, a waiter tried to ask me to scan the QR code to join the member group. I rejected the offer because my phone had limited memory and was reluctant to receive extra ads and memes. The waiter said that even if I quit immediately after joining, they would still be counted as an indicator for the year-end summary. This made me realize that many of the regulations and goals in the work are often set by superiors, and there is a lack of practical experience and understanding of the situation on the ground.
This phenomenon is prevalent in all walks of life, that is, the people in charge lack practical experience, do not know much about the situation on the front, and set a series of regulations or goals at will, resulting in low-level employees having to be busy meeting these "rules" when they are implemented, rather than focusing on the actual business. A lot of energy is diverted to meet so-called regulations and goals, and the team ends up feeling tired and nihilistic as a result.
Recently, when I read "Musk's Biography", Musk often mentioned the importance of implementing first principles. The first principle means that only the laws of physics and the principles derived from the laws of physics are respected in the way the work is carried out, and other provisions can only be regarded as recommendations. Musk emphasized in his work that "the first step in the job should be to question the task requirements you are given", because many of the requirements contain stupid and wrong elements and need to be eliminated.
At the Tesla factory, for example, Musk found that the progress of one link was limited by an unnecessary regulation, namely the number of plastic caps on the battery contacts. Upon inquiry, he found that this rule was of no practical significance and immediately abolished it, which proved to have no impact on production efficiency. This shows the practical application of the first principle, that is, to move forward on the basis of facts and physical laws, rather than blindly following the rules.
In fact, many of the rules are not the brainstorming of a group of industry elites, but are made by the subjective assumptions of a few people with little practical experience in the office. These regulations are often ineffective and impractical, but frontline personnel need to catch up, resulting in wasted time and energy.
I understand that top-down support is needed for first principles to be implemented in my work. It is not enough to just pay lip service to the frontline personnel to emphasize this concept, the key is that the superiors need to understand and respect the actual situation on the front line, and not arbitrarily set unrealistic goals and regulations.
In reality, the problem of boring work and fatigue is not unique. The implementation of the first principle, that is, the implementation of the work based on actual facts and physical laws, is an effective way to solve this problem. To achieve this principle, managers need to have practical experience and understand the situation on the front line to ensure the rationality of goals and regulations.
Life experience has also shown that the implementation of first principles requires a multifaceted approach. In a beverage shop, it is not only necessary to improve the quality of the product, but also to reduce meaningless sales activities, so that customers really choose because of the taste. It also shows that the key is not in unnecessary regulations and targets, but in the quality of actual outputs and services.
Therefore, the key to solving the fatigue caused by unmeaningful work in the workplace is to recognize the importance of first principles, from management to front-line personnel. Managers need to be more aware of the actual situation and set reasonable goals and regulations, while front-line personnel should also pay more attention to the actual output and quality of service when performing work.
This kind of reform can not only improve work efficiency and reduce fatigue, but also make everyone feel the actual achievement and value in their work. Only in this way can fatigue in the workplace be fundamentally resolved.