Why Work in Bursts and How to Refuse Perpetual Rush Jobs Employees can work at half capacity for weeks, then show hyper-productivity before an urgent deadline. Then the group slows down again. It's not always laziness or poor discipline, says Igor Ryzhkov, an expert in the development of management teams and a former manager in the structures of Gazprom and Russian Railways. In his opinion, the habit of working from emergency to emergency is also related to cultural characteristics: in Russia it is customary to encourage work achievements, rather than preventing problems and stable work. But if crisis periods follow each other, it is already an emergency situation that leads to reduced motivation and burnout. How to distinguish between a healthy load and a toxic one? The team must have clear completion criteria, agreement on extra effort and recovery time. If deadlines are constantly running out and there is no respite, the system works against the employees. To even out the pace of work, Ryzhkov advises: determine in advance the deadlines for solving problems and the rules for escalation; input algorithms for repetitive tasks; break down large projects into short phases with intermediate results; regularly discuss progress, risks and obstacles; Take into account the workload of the employees and save time for edits and unexpected circumstances. Continuous productivity doesn't mean working at top speed every day. It is important for the team to understand when to speed up and when to perform tasks calmly and recover.