Protect your non-work time

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Protect your non-work time

Leadership tip of the week #111

adapted from HBR

As more people are adapting to working from home, we are all learning to adapt:  jobs used to have very clear lines between when you’re “on” and when you’re “off.” But when you working from home — it’s important to protect your non-work time.

  • If you feel like work is taking over most of your waking hours, start by clearly defining what “after hours” means for you.
  • Take into account the number of hours you’re expected to work each week, as well as personal commitments like taking your kids, family and some me-time
  • When do you need to start and stop to put in the appropriate amount of work time?
  • Then, develop mental clarity about what needs to get done and when you will do it.
  • Keep track of your tasks and plan them out.
  • Make sure you block off time for an end-of-workday wrap-up, where you review and make sure you did everything you needed to do for the day.
  • Lastly, communicate with your colleagues about how (or if) you want to be contacted during your off hours.

Really guard your time. If you don’t, you won’t get the mental break that everyone needs

Author: Andrew Mann

Managing Partner at NorthBailey. Having had senior marketing & insight roles at Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Coop and M&S, I'm now using my experience & network to solve strategic marketing problems for NorthBailey clients

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