Workplace Multiplier by Tola Akinsulire

June 3, 2025

Welcome to the Workplace Multiplier newsletter. Published Monday to Friday, equipping you to achieve your professional goals faster and without burnout or overwhelm by leveraging The Triple Win Method.

Be Careful - Your Body is Keeping Score

Howdy ,

In the past few months, I have been under a bit more stress than usual.

There are signs that I noticed, but I just had to power through the season.

Let me share some of the signs.

1 - My sleep patterns have been disrupted. I have the gift of sleep (aka sleep when I want to) but I haven't been sleeping as much as I should.

2 - I have put on a bit of weight. No, it's not a "Jake and the Fat Man" mode, but I notice it well enough.

3 - I have not been consistent with my renewal activities. My biggest ones are afternoon and evening walks. After lunch, I go on a 30-minute walk. In the evenings, I occasionally get up to 1 hour. All these have been sporadic in the past weeks.

4 - I have a lot of crying babies. These are personal projects that I am working on and I miss my internally set deadlines. I am producing but not releasing into the wild.

The interesting thing is that during this period, I have still been delivering results.

Yes, the excess stress did not hold me back from being effective and result-focused.

But I know myself better than the results I deliver. I know myself enough to know I am under more stress than usual.

How do you know that you are under stress?

How do you know you are bringing work stress home?

The answers lie in paying attention to the subtle signals your body and mind send you—signals that are easy to dismiss when you're "powering through."

I decided to give you a whole list of some key indicators to watch for:

Physical Signs:

- Changes in sleep patterns (difficulty falling asleep, waking up tired, or sleeping less than usual)

- Appetite changes—eating more comfort foods or losing your appetite entirely

- Unexplained weight gain or loss

- Frequent headaches, muscle tension, or feeling physically drained

- Getting sick more often as your immune system weakens

Behavioral Changes:

- Abandoning activities that usually bring you joy or renewal

- Becoming inconsistent with healthy habits you've maintained for years

- Procrastinating on personal projects while staying productive at work

- Increased irritability with family members or friends

- Isolating yourself from social connections

Mental and Emotional Signals:

- Finding it harder to "switch off" from work mode

- Constantly thinking about work problems, even during personal time

- Feeling overwhelmed by tasks that would normally feel manageable

- Having less patience for everyday inconveniences

- Feeling like you're just "going through the motions"

The Productivity Paradox:

Here's what's particularly insidious about work stress—you can still be delivering excellent results while your personal well-being deteriorates. This is exactly what happened to me. I was hitting my professional targets, but my body was keeping score in other ways.

This productivity paradox can be dangerous because it gives us permission to ignore the warning signs. "I'm still performing well," we tell ourselves, "so everything must be fine."

But your worth isn't measured by your ability to function under stress—it's measured by your ability to sustain excellence while maintaining your well-being.

Taking Action:

If you recognize these signs in yourself, here's what I've learned:

Acknowledge without judgment. Stress isn't a character flaw—it's information. Return to your non-negotiables. For me, this means getting back to my walks, even if shorter than usual.

Set boundaries around your "crying babies." Not every internal deadline needs to be met immediately. Some projects can wait. Remember your why. We work to live a full life, not to sacrifice our well-being for productivity.

The goal isn't to eliminate stress entirely—that's impossible in any meaningful career. The goal is to recognize when stress is serving you versus when it's depleting you and to make conscious choices about how you respond.

The Real Cost of Ignoring Stress:

But what happens when we don't listen to these signals?

A friend of mine told me about a lady who lived next to them in the US. She was physically active, and they thought she was looking good for her age.

Well, during a meet-up with my friend's wife, the lady asked my friend's wife to guess her age. She said, "Somewhere in your seventies." The lady responded, "In my fifties". Then she told her story. "I loved running and kept pushing my body. The constant running stress aged my body. Don't pick running," She said.

Bottom line. Know when to stop pushing or the stress will burn you out.

Your future self will thank you for paying attention to these signals now, rather than waiting for burnout to force the conversation.

What signs tell you that stress is crossing the line from motivating to overwhelming? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Keep winning at work and in life.

Tola Akinsulire

Your Strategic Workplace Mentor

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