Know when to switch off

You’re not a long-life battery – you will run down eventually.

Continually being in work mode can have horrible consequences on your productivity and quality of life. If you spend every waking moment thinking about work, taking phone calls, checking emails and messages, it will inevitably take its toll on you.

In 2019, the Myer-Briggs Company surveyed over 1,000 people and found that those who had more difficulty switching off from work exhibited higher levels of job stress, lack of work–life balance and inability to focus on one task at a time. Out of all the respondents who admitted to being unable to stop working:

? 28 per cent said they’re unable to mentally switch off

? 26 per cent admitted that work interferes with their family and personal life

? 20 per cent reported being mentally exhausted.

Switching off means letting go and recovering your sense of balance and calmness. It means using time to focus on non-work stuff, emptying your mind of work pressures and getting a good night’s sleep so that you wake up energized, relaxed and ready to face the day. The alternative is a slow but inevitable decline in energy, motivation, positivity and productivity leading to eventual burnout.

Putting this advice into action:

Don’t take work home

As hard as it might seem, you need to find a balance between performing your job well and taking time out to re-charge. This might require some changes to your working style. If you commute to and from an office, decide how you are going to use your travelling time. Could you commit to using your commute to switch off from work completely? Or could you compromise and work on the commute but commit to never doing office work at home?

If you regularly work from home, you need to set boundaries between your working and non-working space and time. If possible, have a workspace in your home that you can physically step away from, ideally with a door that you can close. Always leave your laptop, work phone and papers in your dedicated work area. Try to mentally leave your work head there as well when you step away.

Whatever you do, try to establish a regular pattern of work and downtime each day.

Create ‘switching off’ ground rules

If you really need to work outside of office hours, you might keep one weekend day work-free and allocate a couple of work hours on the other. Maybe you could instigate a 60-minute rule on weekday evenings for clearing important emails.

Whatever you do, avoid working on your laptop or phone just before falling asleep or as soon as you wake up. You just won’t perform at your best at those times. Oh, and holidays? Don’t even think about it.

NOTE: the above article is an excerpt from my recently published book titled 100 Things Productive People: Little Lessons in Getting Things Do .

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