Micro management fuels the “revenge to stay up late”

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I’m sure you’ve engaged in a bit of 報復性熬夜. I know I have. It’s a Chinese term that translates to "revenge to stay up late”. People 報復性熬夜 when they can’t control their daytime lives and delay going to sleep to relish some freedom before bed.

Parents with young kids jump to mind. When the little ones finally crash, mom and dad have some time to catchup on news, scroll through social media or unwind with some Netflix.

But work is often the most potent fuel for our “revenge to stay up late”. People easily spend 10 hours a day processing emails and staring at Zoom or Teams. The wood has been stacked.

All that’s needed is a dose of micro management to start the fire. It has the power to incinerate the last bit of freedom your team members have.

Blink... and you have a team of daytime zombies who live their real lives at night. Their contribution to the team will be a shadow of what it could have been.

I’ve been there. It’s a sad and suffocating excuse for a work life that I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy. So why would I do that to my own team?

They are each creative and intelligent in their own way. The best thing I can do is offer support and get out of their way. I still fall into the micromanagement trap too often. But I’ll keep trying.