Our current culture teaches us to prioritise work and pursue our ambitions passionately. Sometimes, this can come at the expense of our own personal health- ‘Hustle Hustle Hustle’ is a great motto in theory, but in practice, can be a little impractical and very unsafe.
Unplugging from work is an incredibly important step toward maintain a healthy personal and professional life balance, and it keeps you at your most productive when you’re actually in office and meant to be working. So how exactly do you avoid late night emails from colleagues who just need a few minutes (that turn into a few hours) of your time? We’ve got solutions:
Create a post-work routine
Whether it be tucking into a good book or watching an episode of a show you’ve been enjoying, allow yourself to decompress for a block of time immediately after getting back home. Creating a post-office routine doesn’t have to be unproductive: it could be a good time to exercise, or listen to a podcast while making yourself dinner. Whatever you choose to do, staying away from your dreaded inbox for at least an hour will set you in good stead for the rest of your evening.
Set career goals, and personal ones too
As important and vital as ambition is, so is a personal life, so it can be well worth charting out some personal goals for you to achieve alongside your career aspirations. This can make planning time after work easier, and also put things in perspective if you realise you’re lagging in one set of goals or the other: maybe you’ve always wanted to learn a language, or want to take up drawing: whatever be the case, make sure to make time for your own personal growth.
Be clear about what is expected of you
Having a discussion with your manager as early as possible about the kind of time commitments you can mutually agree to keeping is an important aspect of unplugging from work. Many companies will have a SLA (Service Level Agreement) that you sign to ensure you both can be held to this- as long you have a clear understanding of the kind of commitment that your manager can expect from you, problems don’t have to arise.
Plan your time in the office efficiently
We’re all guilty of spending a little too much time on Twitter when we should actually be completing a project due in for the next week. As good as temporary procrastination may feel, it is one of the things that keep us from being able to unplug once we’re back home, so planning around this and doing so properly can really help ensure you keep work and relaxation in the office at home respectively, where they both belong.
Don’t give in to burnout
The temptation to overextend yourself at work, especially if you have a set plan for how you want your career progression to look like, is pretty easy to give in to. Allowing yourself some me-time will ensure you avoid the trap of burning out, after which productivity of any kind becomes tough to achieve. The better rested you are, the more efficient you can be.
