At work, the unbearable lightness of “doing”

In 1982, a period of growth, confidence and opulence, Milan Kundera published The Unbearable Lightness of Being, a novel exploring the existential and romantic fluctuations of its characters. At that time, you could devote full afternoons to it on the terrace, stirring your coffee with a languid spoon, cigarette in hand. A time of being that allowed the child we hide within us, with more or less talent, to frolic. And also to express themselves, through reckless decisions, uncontrolled outbursts, rants that were not yet relayed on the networks. People were doing “bullshit”, a word that had fallen into disuse due to lack of practice. And they weren’t any worse off.

Far be it from me to celebrate the inconstancy sociologically attributed to our baby boomer ancestors. Simply, in this pre-return, the need to return to the balance between being – who we are fundamentally – and doing – what we devote most of our days to: work. Balance quickly jeopardized when the start of the school year sees us set off again in agitation, a busy variant of the activity.

Faced with human and digital solicitations, crushed by the pressure and its inhuman rhythm, we establish a first parade: block our breathing. This physiological reflex due to stress and its favorite hormones – adrenaline and cortisol – plunges us into a priori optimal efficiency. Nothing to be, everything to do it, even if it means taking a big breath of fresh air once the urgent mission is over. Solution harmful in the long term, because these mini-apneas wear out and exhaust.

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Whatever, doing it finds other ways, the multiplication of tasks for example. I read an email while making a decision and convincing someone on the phone. Missed. Neuroscience and observation have proven that the brain cannot qualitatively carry out three actions at the same time. And even two, when, neither mechanical nor habitual, they require concentration. The result is mental confusion, errors, operational jamming, overheating… We do and we undo, feverishness specific to many work contexts.

Psychology and spirituality have offered other solutions, starting with meditation and the “slow”. Slow down, you just had to think about it! Except that the slow takes with difficulty in the professional West. It doesn’t convince a corporate audience driven by deadlines and avalanches of emails. An audience addicted to their adrenaline. Slow motion puts him to sleep and demotivates him, like meditation, which he quickly stops practicing due to boredom. The being balks, because doing that, doing it slowly, seems to him soft and constrained. The being loves intensity, alignment or Carl Rogers-style congruence.

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Imagine: an integrated individual, living the harmony between his thoughts, his emotions and his actions for a full commitment, a conscious presence without apprehension of the future, without regret of the past. A bit like when we start a siesta, a game of beach volleyball or an aperitif. A time to do, dense and joyful. A vacation that allows being and doing to come together… So why not transpose it to everyday life, in the Anglo-Saxon “Commit or Quit” way? We commit or we leave. This doing is dense, deep, sustainable. Normal, he made room for his favorite inspiration: the being. Nice comeback!

Florence Lautrédou is a coach, psychoanalyst, writer.