[ad_1]
- Anmol Irfan has to work with people from different time zones as a freelance journalist living in Pakistan.
- He found himself working long hours late to arrange contacts in the US and UK.
- These are the techniques she uses to regain her work-life balance.
Just last week I was hoping to meet the deadline and ended up worrying and constantly checking my email until 1am because a source I was supposed to interview hadn’t responded when he said he would.
While it was 1am here in Pakistan, it was 4pm in New York – a perfectly reasonable time for someone to respond. It wasn’t the first time I’d worked into the wee hours of the morning. I spent most of my last Ramadan—a monthlong fast that is part of Islamic religious practice—conducting interviews with sources at 2 a.m.
I kept telling myself that this was all OK for a freelancer working flexible hours from home. But at some point “flexibility” somehow became “all the time”.
Eventually, the anxiety of waiting for an email, running between family dinners and job interviews, or checking my email before I’ve brushed my teeth got the better of me.
Instead of defining my own boundaries, I would let the job – which was often unpredictable and usually in a completely different time zone – begin to define my life.
Fortunately, what happened last week is now more the exception than the rule. Over the past two months, I’ve been much more thoughtful about the boundaries I set between my work hours and my personal life.
I’m usually dealing with a four to eight hour time difference with clients all over the world, so I can’t just turn off my laptop at 5pm
But I had to determine when I was working and when I wasn’t.
To help do that, I reached out to Marissa Goldberg, the founder of Remote Work Prep, a remote work consulting firm.
She told me that “everyone should have a clear start and end to their work day. If you’re immediately checking work notifications as soon as you wake up, or leaving the end of your workday until you’re done, you’re doing it wrong.”
For me, it started with attaching myself to my physical planner—a ring binder with monthly and daily calendars, as well as a budgeting and notes section—to help me break away from screens.
Now I try to spend Saturdays planning for the week ahead, setting bigger goals for each weekday that follows. Then I review them every morning.
I start by noting exactly what I have planned for certain times and what I can fit around those events.
Last week I had a source that could only talk to me at 8pm. The old me would have worked all day and then through the interview – but this time I finished my other scheduled job, took a break around 4pm and then I went back to my laptop for the interview.
When I check off my list for the day, I no longer sit aimlessly scrolling on my laptop because I feel like I need to be productive.
Working from home leaves you nowhere to go after work, so you can mark the end of the day just by stopping in the middle of a task or assignment
So I’ve become very friendly with my phone’s Do Not Disturb feature, which eliminates after-hours notifications from everyone except the few people I’ve added as exceptions.
In order to be on the road, I usually try to keep my work hours between 10am and 6pm. but this may vary due to time-sensitive deadlines. So on days when a strict schedule isn’t possible, I set a goal for a certain number of work hours and then switch off when that’s over.
I usually only allow notifications from family and friends and will only check my other notifications once before bed in case there are urgent emails.
Goldberg suggested I create an “intentional transition,” which she compared to a “personalized commute,” between my work and personal life.
“This could be anything from walking around the neighborhood, cleaning with your favorite podcast, or taking a bath,” she told me.
I always work in the same place, so for me the above means that when I leave it, I try to separate myself. I also often schedule activities outside of work, which might include cooking a meal, reading a book, or drawing—anything that helps me disconnect from my screen after being on my laptop all day.
Sometimes I still struggle to stop working, especially when I’m engrossed in a particular article
It’s easy to think I’d get less tired because I feel so passionate about some of the topics I report on.
But I need to get better at resting as part of my regular routine, not when my body is already exhausted from lack of rest, Goldberg said.
“Don’t add breaks only when you’re exhausted. Breaks are most effective at preventing burnout if you take them regularly and before you feel you need them,” she said.
There are still times when I work too much, like last week. But for the past two months, I’ve really been following Goldberg’s advice.
Now my work days are scheduled to give me a break for lunch. I have enough time to practice my newfound love of aerial fitness three times a week. I have read more books in the last two months than in the previous six. I stop as soon as my to-do list is done and purposely take a break in between when I know I have work scheduled for after 6pm.
I also jot down ideas or notes in my planner after the work day, if I have any, instead of opening my laptop again.
If I do, I know I’ll fall back into a work cycle.
[ad_2]
Source link