Too Much Networking Can Hurt Your Business

Too Much Networking Can Hurt Your Business

Dr. Linda Hancock

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Hancock has written a regular weekly column entitled “All Psyched Up” for newspapers in two Canadian provinces for more than a dozen years. Over the years, her readers and clients have said that they have benefited from her common-sense solutions, wisdom, and sense of humour. Dr. Linda Hancock, the author of “Life is An Adventure…every step of the way” and “Open for Business Success” is a Registered Psychologist who has a private practice in Medicine Hat. She can be reached at 403-529-6877 or through email office@drlindahancock.com

Published

February 27 2011

It seems that we are always being challenged to network and become involved in a number of organizations. Relationships are promoted as both business and professional assets.

Popular author Florence Littauer claims "Strengths carried to extreme become weaknesses.

There have been times in my life when I was so involved in charity and committee work that it was actually very difficult to get my own work done. The disadvantages to this activity might not be obvious at first but may have strong consequences:

1. Time commitments - Often unpaid work involves huge projects for fundraising or membership commitments. Over the years, I have had periods of time where I would invest dozens of hours a week in order to accomplish an organizational goal.

2. Fatigue - When you are "burning the candle at both ends" you can become extremely fatigued and this will interfere with all aspects of your life. When we are tired, we usually let things bother us more easily and are not able to reach potential in the same manner that we might when we are rested.

3. Focus problem - Your mind can easily be tied up in activities and tasks that have firm deadlines. If you are receiving telephone calls or text messages while you are supposed to be doing your regular work, you will not have the same loyalty to the job.

4. Social events - When you are trying to build, maintain or expand your network, you might find that your calendar is filled with a number of event that steal from your family or personal time. Instead of being able to focus on a quiet weekend of rest, you might instead realize that you have two days that are packed full of activities, As a result, you night not have the self-care opportunities that everyone needs and, at the same time, your family may feel really neglected,

Be very careful about how messages can be misunderstood or applied in a way that threatens life as you know or would like it to be. There needs to be time for everything and too much networking can interrupt the balance that most people have as a goal.

The easiest way to protect yourself is to make a firm commitment about how many organizations you might want to be involved in and the maximum number of nights per week that you will limit for going out to events.