What does 'enough' look like, for you?

Does your working day never feel truly done?

Have a to-do list that is never-ending? Do you always trying to do just one more thing (and then another) before you let yourself finish for the day??

Or are you putting off an important project you want to do until the decks are cleared, and all the little things are finished out of the way?

You’re not alone. Indeed, we all wear our busyness like a badge of honour. Many of us are so busy doing that we’ve forgotten how to just?be, how to enjoy the moment rather than constantly striving to do more, achieve more.?

To fix this, there’s something important you need to know.?The solution isn’t to work harder, manage your time better, use AI, set up more efficient systems.?

Productivity hacks can be useful.?

But here’s the problem with doing more: no matter how much you increase your capacity, there will always be more you?could?do. Which soon leads to more you feel you?should?do.?

To create space, you need to decide what ‘enough’ looks like, for you.?In his book 4000 Weeks, Oliver Burkeman suggests we all need to define enough for ourselves, if we are to reclaim our time.

• Enough work for one day.
• Enough items ticked off your list (because there will?always?be more).
• Enough progress on your most important tasks and projects.
• Enough to feel that you can stop, relax and replenish. Properly. Without guilt, or multi-tasking on your phone while half-watching TV.

Once it was clear when you were done for the day.

When I was a kid in the 1970s, my grandmother lived opposite a factory. I used to love watching it through the window.?

A klaxon went off at mid-day, and you’d see all the workers pour outside for lunch, laughing and chatting. 12.55pm, it would sound again and they’d all file back. Then at 4.30pm it would sound a final time and everyone would leave. Their time was their own until the morning summons at 7.30am.?

Not all jobs were so regimented, but most employees knew when their day began and ended. You’d clock out, leave your workplace and come home

For most of human history, we foraged, hunted and farmed, and the lines were even clearer: our work was controlled by the seasons, the weather, by nightfall and the limits of our own strength and stamina.?

Now those boundaries have blurred.

• Most of us work indoors, with lighting and heating making it possible to work any season, any time.?
• With knowledge work, it’s much harder to recognise when we’ve reached our limit than it is with more physical work.?
• Many of us work from home. (Which, if you’re not careful, can easily start to feel like you’re living at the office.)
• You no longer open your post just once a day. The alerts, messages and emails come constantly. In fact, the faster you respond, the faster new ones arrive. That much-coveted in-box zero rarely lasts long.
• Most of us have phones which allow contact at all times, on multiple channels. So we carry our work with us, in our pocket. Many of us even take it to bed!
• These same devices are also distraction machines. The never-ending scroll of social media has itself become another task that is – by design – impossible to complete.

We’re all on-call 24/7.

And that’s just the day-job. If you really want to be successful, surely you have a side-hustle or a personal project too?? You’re writing a novel (or some code), launching a business, exploring a new creative direction,?renovating a home.?

Not to mention raising a family, looking after elders and pets, staying in shape, having a beautiful home, living up to impossibly high standards in almost every aspect of our lives.?

Then we wonder why we’re stressed, exhausted, burnt out.

This madness has to stop. Here’s how.

We have to set boundaries. With our boss and our colleagues. But also with ourselves.?We all need to define what “enough” looks like. And know when to stop and rest.?

We’ll never, ever get to the point when everything is done. (Not until we die, anyway.) But we all get to decide when we’ve done enough for today.

Here are some ideas to help bring some sanity back to our world of endless work.?

1. Set work hours.

Keep it as loose and flexible as you need, but set boundaries about out-of-hours contact. Train your clients/co-workers not to expect an immediate reply.?

Even within working hours, try to put aside time for the deep/creative work that really matters, and don’t check alerts and messages in that time.?

If you’ve previously been instantly available to them any time, some clients or managers might find this difficult. Give them a number to call if it’s an emergency. (It rarely is.)?

And assure them that you’re doing this so that you can give your full attention to the work they’re actually?paying?you to do, rather than distractions, meetings and busywork.?

2. Block out relaxation time.

Treat this as if it’s an appointment with someone important. (Which it is – that person is you!)?

We all need guilt-free time to unwind, and do whatever we want. Make a rule that you?cannot?work in this time – even if you want to.?

For many of us, leisure means guiltily watching a TV show, scrolling?or playing a digital game we don’t really enjoy, while promising ourselves we really will get back to work in a minute. This isn’t relaxation. It’s procrastination. And it feels.. horrible.?

3. Make sleep sacred.

This should be obvious, but don’t take work into bed with you. Buy an alarm clock, and leave your phone in another room.?

Always finish work at least two hours before bedtime, even on busy days. We all need time to unwind, so we can get the sleep we need.

4. Develop a juicy, interesting life away from work.?

Create compelling reasons to stop work, or to put your phone away for a while.?

• Spend time with family and friends.?
• Pursue fitness goals. Or just play sport for fun!
• Find absorbing hobbies and activities.?
• Don’t just save your social life for the weekends.?
• And always have something to look forward to: travel, trips, events, fun.

5. Work from home?

Develop a shut-down routine. A point when you close the door to your home studio or?office, or pack up your work things until the morning so you feel like you’re home again.?

I first read about this in Cal Newport’s book?Deep Work,?and I’ve done it for years. It really helps calm my busy brain and wind down for the day.?

I put on my relaxing end-of-the-day playlist, do some stretches, and take some deep breaths. I quickly clear my desk of clutter and paperwork, and note down three things I want to get done the following day.?

Then I switch off my computer and go out for a short, brisk walk, consciously letting go of the day’s challenges and planning my evening before going back home to my family.

6. Work outside home?

Leave your workplace at a reasonable hour when possible. If you’re a manager, set a good example on this: leave on time, and try not to create an environment where everyone is afraid to be the first to leave. Your team will be happier, healthier. And so will you!

7. Set constraints.

Before you start any new project, define what ‘done’ will look like. And note down how you’ll resist that. My perfectionism and tendency to over-complicate everything always kick in at some point, so it helps to have a clear picture of what I’m aiming for. (More on?efficient project management?here.)

8. Set time limits too.??

None of us would set out on a run without knowing if we were doing a marathon or a sprint, so we could pace ourselves. Yet we often start work without setting any time limit. This soon leads to distraction and procrastination.?

When time is more limited, you’re much more likely to do the important tasks that will move a project forward, rather than getting lost in busywork and distractions.?

Sit down to study or work for six hours, and I can guarantee you’ll be looking at social media, news feeds, or your distraction of choice within an hour or two. It’s much easier to focus if you put a timer on for 30-60 minutes then allow yourself a break or even the option to stop for the day.

9. Stop measuring yourself by your best days.?

You’re not going to get the same amount done to the same standard, every day. There are too many variables: mood, energy, sleep, your two-year-old’s morning tantrum; a sudden emergency or a co-worker who needs help.?

We all have days when we’re on fire, when anything seems possible. Cherish those days, because they don’t come often. Consistency is much more important than flashes of?brilliance.

10. Set a minimum.

What’s the least you can do, and still feel you’ve made some progress? Aim for that. Anything else is a bonus.?

If you have a day job, perhaps you also try to work for 30-60 minutes on your own business/personal projects every evening. Or you go to a coffee shop for two hours every Saturday morning to work on your novel.?

11. Keep it sustainable.?

Of course you’ll have urgent deadlines, times when you want to get a big project over the line so you go all-in and work long hours. But take time to recover afterwards, and to pay attention to the rest of your life.?

Your children will still know who you are if you work overtime for a month. But if months turn into years, one day you’ll be seeing a young adult off to uni and realise that they’ve somehow become a stranger.?

Productivity is not the point, here.

This is about reclaiming our time, our lives, and remembering that there’s more to life than work.?

But once you start creating space and knowing what enough looks like, you might find you get more of your most important tasks done, and that you are more productive on the stuff that really matters.?

With work as with everything else, less is often more.

Sheryl Garratt is a writer, and a coach helping creative professionals get the success they want, making work they truly love. Get The Creative Companion, my bi-weekly email packed with articles, links and resources for creative professionals. (Or those who want to be.) It's free!