Separate work and home
Discussion
Being a bit of a workaholic, absolutely loving my job and the company I work for, and working in a 24/7 industry, managing a team that work 24/7 I found the below helped me find a better balance:
1) Set yourself start and end times and try to keep to them as much as possible. There will always be more work to do, and you'll find some of the work you have can wait till tomorrow. Just learn how to prioritize items, say no (or negotiate) to unreasonable requests. If you don't have enough hours in the day then question the value of all the work filling your day, and find ways to work smarter. And if you do have to work later one evening, try to leave a little earlier at another time.
2) Step away from your desk for breaks and at lunch. Go for a walk, meet up with friends, have lunch out, etc. Don't sit at your desk flicking between your inbox and Pistonheads!
3) Have separate work and personal digital lives. Separate email addresses, and mobile phones if you have to. Nothing worse than going to email/text a mate at the weekend about meeting up later, to see a huge work request has come in for the following week. You'll invariably spend the weekend thinking about it.
4) Have separate work and personal wardrobes. As soon as I can I take off my work clothes. They're a mental reminder of the day job.
5) Fill your life with reasons not to be owned by work. For instance we got a couple of dogs. Hard work, but hugely rewarding. They force us to leave work at reasonable hours, and they stop us from thinking about work when keeping them from eating everything in sight.
Hope some of those help, depending on your situation.
1) Set yourself start and end times and try to keep to them as much as possible. There will always be more work to do, and you'll find some of the work you have can wait till tomorrow. Just learn how to prioritize items, say no (or negotiate) to unreasonable requests. If you don't have enough hours in the day then question the value of all the work filling your day, and find ways to work smarter. And if you do have to work later one evening, try to leave a little earlier at another time.
2) Step away from your desk for breaks and at lunch. Go for a walk, meet up with friends, have lunch out, etc. Don't sit at your desk flicking between your inbox and Pistonheads!
3) Have separate work and personal digital lives. Separate email addresses, and mobile phones if you have to. Nothing worse than going to email/text a mate at the weekend about meeting up later, to see a huge work request has come in for the following week. You'll invariably spend the weekend thinking about it.
4) Have separate work and personal wardrobes. As soon as I can I take off my work clothes. They're a mental reminder of the day job.
5) Fill your life with reasons not to be owned by work. For instance we got a couple of dogs. Hard work, but hugely rewarding. They force us to leave work at reasonable hours, and they stop us from thinking about work when keeping them from eating everything in sight.
Hope some of those help, depending on your situation.
aaron_2000 said:
Got a question for people that are obviously much more experienced than me, how do you keep work and your life separate? What I mean is how do you keep your work from becoming your life, instead of just 7-8 hours a day of it?
Do you mean mentally/emotionally or physically?If the former, you've got to just think that once you're out of the office you will not think about work.
If the latter, and for instance, you're getting calls or making calls related to work outside of "office hours" then you need to decide at what time cut off is and you will not take calls from your boss and/or customers and colleagues.
Basically, define the boundaries and enforce them.
Hoofy said:
aaron_2000 said:
Got a question for people that are obviously much more experienced than me, how do you keep work and your life separate? What I mean is how do you keep your work from becoming your life, instead of just 7-8 hours a day of it?
Do you mean mentally/emotionally or physically?If the former, you've got to just think that once you're out of the office you will not think about work.
If the latter, and for instance, you're getting calls or making calls related to work outside of "office hours" then you need to decide at what time cut off is and you will not take calls from your boss and/or customers and colleagues.
Basically, define the boundaries and enforce them.
WinstonWolf said:
Hoofy said:
aaron_2000 said:
Got a question for people that are obviously much more experienced than me, how do you keep work and your life separate? What I mean is how do you keep your work from becoming your life, instead of just 7-8 hours a day of it?
Do you mean mentally/emotionally or physically?If the former, you've got to just think that once you're out of the office you will not think about work.
If the latter, and for instance, you're getting calls or making calls related to work outside of "office hours" then you need to decide at what time cut off is and you will not take calls from your boss and/or customers and colleagues.
Basically, define the boundaries and enforce them.
Thanks for the advice, looking to buy a project cars and started trading a few cars so I guess that's something to throw myself into. I never enjoyed my work really (IT) but I'm good at it and as I become more specialised in the future it will hopefully provide a comfortable life for me.
A slightly odd suggestion but have some sort of a commute.
I find having a 30 min plus commute helps with getting ready for my day and unwinding afterwards. When I do work locally and have a 5 minute journey I’m much more likely to check emails etc when I get home as I’m still in ‘work’ mode.
I find having a 30 min plus commute helps with getting ready for my day and unwinding afterwards. When I do work locally and have a 5 minute journey I’m much more likely to check emails etc when I get home as I’m still in ‘work’ mode.
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