I Hate It Here

the secret drain

Hebba Youssef · OCT 13

Hiiii, 

We’re just two weeks into Q4… how are we doing? 

I’m in highhhh spirits. Things haven’t gone sideways and I'm feeling oddly optimistic. Check back in with me in a few weeks and we’ll see what tune I'm singing then. 

Until then, AIN’T NO HOLDING ME DOWN. 

There’s also a lot of things that are filling up my cup right now. 

Like: 

👻 A spooky themed HR Therapy. I mean what’s more terrifying than this current job market? Candidates and employers are feeling the pressure of navigating these times. Join me and a crew of incredible folks for The Haunted House of Hiring as we dig into what’s going on and so much more! 

🎃 HR Horror Stories is back… submit your spookiest, more outrageous HR horror story you got! Past submissions include a haunted office, inappropriate behaviors and creepy coworkers. And rest assured, you’ll get to read and hear these stories yourself. 


Today I'm diving into something that is def impacting you and all your employees as well: the context shifting drain.

CULTURE

The hidden energy drain Copy anchor linkCopied

Let me describe a typical Monday for me. Buckle up. 

I wake up, have breakfast if I remember, chug a coffee and open my computer. The day officially begins but rest assured I’ve already been thinking about my meeting schedule and many deliverables that are probably due. I have an urgent Slack sitting unread from an employee who needs clarification on something, I handle it. Crisis averted. I do final edits on this newsletter and wonder if I made enough jokes. Oh well, I schedule it to be sent out in the afternoon. Then I pop onto our weekly all hands. There I present on any important HR announcements and crack jokes in the chat. Then I leave that meeting to finish up another piece of content. With 5 minutes to spare I run to grab water before I head to a leadership meeting. There I share any relevant updates and collaborate on a few issues. I remember I have a deliverable to review and it's timely so I have to do it now post meeting. I finish that just in time for the 1:1 with my direct report. I give her the rundown on important things and share context for decisions and then we dig into hiring and where we stand on a few roles. A few Slacks have piled up so I address them quickly and move on to my final meeting of the day. A meeting with a new client who is excited to partner with the I Hate it Here brand on content. Finally the end of the day is here and I make the game time decision if i’m going to head to a workout class or collapse on the couch to binge watch my latest reality tv obsession. 

🎥 END SCENE

From an upcoming project titled “The Life of an HR Professional” 

I know, I know. I have the unique role of being a CPO and a content creator, so maybe my day is a bit more extreme, but how often do you run from meeting to meeting only to handle an urgent email or Slack message in between? Maybe you're shifting from talking to employees to managers to leadership to going deep into the HRIS for some much needed data.  

Maybe you're born with it, maybe it’s context shifting. 💅🏽

A quick definition! Context shifting is when you shift attention from different tasks, projects or apps. 

Spoiler alert: context shifting actually has an impact on your brain!!

Don’t believe me? They’ve proven that context shifting is cognitively taxing and increases your brain’s production of cortisol. Yes, cortisol the stress hormone. The algo must know I work at startups in HR because I keep getting served videos about having high cortisol. 

Not so fun fact: High cortisol can actually slow you down and make it harder to focus. 

So wait… all that shifting and toggling isn’t my superpower? It’s not making me better at my job to go from meeting to coaching convo to reviewing policies to creating content to leadership meeting? And is it why, by the end of the day, I feel mentally exhausted? Like I’ve run brain marathons?? (Is that a thing?)

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but YUP. 

Constantly context shifting actually:

❌ Kills productivity 

❌ Impedes cognitive function 

❌ Diminishes attention 

❌ Depletes energy (hence its feature in this quarter!)

❌ Diminishes attention 

❌ Confuses priorities 

❌ Creates mental fatigue 

And here’s the thing… work is somewhat designed to have constant context shifting be the default. 

Not only are our digital tools built to interrupt us and disrupt our focus, but the overindexing on responsiveness has created this pressure cooker of always being on and available. 

A study in 2018 found that most workers can’t go longer than 6 minutes without checking email or team comms (Slack/Teams). And that was in 2018!!! If I had to put money on it, I'd say in 2026 that number might be smaller… What do you think?

The bottom line is that context shifting absolutely falls into the “energy drain” category of this quarter. 

And you may be thinking… this is just how work gets done!! What can even be done?!

Well, the way work has historically gotten done is not the way work needs to be done in the future…

What HR can do:Copy anchor linkCopied

The context shifting energy drain isn’t an individual problem, it’s a system problem. 

There are some real changes HR can make to improve the system work is done in so employees can go from constant context shifting ➡️ flow state of work. 

Here are three things to try to alleviate the context shifting burden across your org:

⚖️ Audit 

✏️ Train

💡 Redesign 

⚖️ Audit: Here’s a fun (and slightly terrifying) game to play, it’s called “How Many Systems?” (trademark pending). The rules are simple: count how many different tools, platforms, or logins your team needs to complete a single workflow. The “winner” is the one that requires the fewest systems to get the job done. 

The “loser” is the workflow you should immediately improve. If it takes your employees 5 systems to do anything you’ve got an opportunity on your hands! 

A baseline: if a workflow has a number that is higher than three, it’s def costing your team more energy than you think.

Make a list, check it twice and then decide which workflows are naughty or nice. 

✏️ Train: Managers could be a key culprit in perpetuating an environment of constant context shifting. Like that one manager that makes EVERYTHING urgent. You know them and you probably have one. Training your managers on things like:

  • Urgency 
  • Prioritization (no one does this well IMO) 
  • Clarity 

Will help reduce the context shifting burden. When employees have clarity and priorities, they can block time appropriately and make space to get in the flow state. 

💡 Redesign: What if we all treated our calendars better? Let me tell ya, the 4th quarter is an excellent time to do a calendar audit. Why? Because it can help you understand where time is spent. If your average employee is spending 4 - 6 hours a day in meetings, when are they finding time to do deep work? They’re not, they’re trying to squeeze it in between meetings. And that context shifting is draining their productivity and actual ability to get sh*t done. 

Three things to try:

  • Focus blocks: either in 2-hour increments or entire half days. We created an entire no meeting day on Wednesdays! We protect that time so folks can do their deep work without interruptions. 
  • Async work norms: Meetings DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT, have to be the default. In fact, I think every org would be better off if their employees learned the power of written communication instead of defaulting to meetings. People learn and digest info differently so having a work culture that has strong written comms can help so many orgs be more effective & inclusive. 
  • Work batching: You can help teach your employees how to batch their work and move through their tasks more efficiently. Yes, sometimes our employees need to be taught how to do work!! Helping employees understand that they can set calendar blocks and batch out their work like email, approvals, check-ins can help put them in a frame of mind to accomplish their work. Batching helps reduce cognitive load, helps people stay in the same “mental mode” longer, and makes deep work actually possible. You can model it by how we schedule our own days,  fewer scattered meetings, more theme-based focus time.

📣 Context shifting doesn’t have to be the mega energy drain it currently is. 

There’s so much HR can do to help leaders and managers understand the impact of this energy drain. 

And if an executive is telling you “this doesn’t really matter” um, it does. 

Context switching is quietly draining your employees’ productivity and efficiency. If you want an organization where work actually gets done, not one where it takes 50 messages to finish a single task,  it’s time to pay attention.

What’s next:Copy anchor linkCopied

We’re in the energy drain section of the quarter meaning every topic covered for the first few weeks will be something I consider a “drain.”

And up next… toxic employees. 

We all have them and what can actually be done about them??

Well stay tuned for that next week!

(HUMAN) RESOURCES

WORK-LIFE BALANCE

  • 📚What I’m reading: Mate by Ali Hazlewood. Be for real, you KNOW I’ll preorder anything Ali Hazlewood writes. I even backed a Kickstarter she started w/ 8 authors for short stories. I’m manifesting meeting her someday. I would cry to get to interview her on her writing process, how she comes up with ideas and manages to churn out such quality work. Hell that would make a killer pod episode… brb finding a way to pitch this to her. :) 
  • 📺What I’m watching: Crowd Control on Dropout. I love crowd work so why wouldn’t I love an entire show where that is the concept?? Honestly the shows on Dropout are incredible. If you’re not watching you’re missing out! Between Game Changer, Make Some Noise and Crowd Control I’m sat. Can’t wait to watch more of their shows. 
  • ☕What I’m obsessing over: IT’S FALL DRINK TIME. But this season (much like seasons of the past) we’re making our drinks at home or exclusively supporting local coffee shops. So hit me with your best recipes. I love all the fall flavors like gingerbread, apple crisp and of course pumpkin spice. And just wait till we get into the peppermint season. I’m a flavors gal what can I say???

SONG OF THE WEEK

🎧 What U See (Is What U Get), Britney Spears Copy anchor linkCopied

2000s was PEAK pop imo. We got Britney, Christina, ‘NSYNC, and BSB to name a few. 

And they were all dropping banger track after banger track. Honestly my teenage self didn’t full appreciate the depth of this music. YES I SAID DEPTH. 

Especially this track. Not her most popular song off this album and kind of hard to compete with Lucky and Oops I Did It Again which were hits. 

I consider this song to be the sister song to “What It’s Like to Be Me” from her 2001 album. Just listen to them back to back and try to think otherwise!

That's all for this week! I hope you enjoyed this, please let me know what you think and what other topics you'd love for me to cover. I'm allll ears.

Reminder: Take care of yourself and know that I support you. 

By Hebba Youssef

I Hate It Here

A safe space for jaded, overworked and emotionally burned out HR/People Operations professionals who need a little inspiration to tackle the newest dumpster fire of the week.