Day 8: Get your personal affairs in order
All right, we’ve covered the basics and some strategic points. Now we can start talking tactics. But before I direct you back to productivity in the workplace, I need you to sort out your personal affairs. I know I’m annoying but it will pay off in the end, trust me.
Think about what you need to sort out at home, in your personal life, so that you can better focus at work. Do you need to declutter your house, hire a cleaner, organise childcare or school pick up, plan your meals or buy groceries? Have you set up systems at home that will keep things ticking along while you are building your career?
Maybe it’s something bigger. Maybe you need to leave a bad relationship or care for a loved one that has fallen ill. You may need to take some time off or seek counselling to deal with those things.
Whatever your thing is, don’t underestimate the impact it has on your productivity at work.
Day 9: Don’t continuously rely on overtime to keep up
When you have a lot of responsibilities, it’s not easy to get everything done in a standard 8-hour day, every day. On top of your ‘regular work’, you are also spending a lot of time in meetings, putting out fires and communicating with staff. In fact, most managers are not paid overtime - it’s expected and (supposedly) ‘built into’ their contracts.
I don’t think that overtime is bad or unnecessary, especially if you are driven and trying to excel at work. I think we just need to be more intentional about it to make sure the extra hours are productive and justified, to strike a better balance between feeling successful and feeling healthy. Otherwise, the crazy hours (however you define them) start to lose meaning and we being to resent our work.
If you have an 8-hour day job, use this as your benchmark and try to get the bulk of your work done in this time. This way, if you notice that you are doing lots of overtime, this will be a sign that you need to revisit your commitments, work habits or the support available. Or maybe even your career choices if the overtime is significantly affecting your wellbeing.
Day 10: Make overtime more of a choice
Sticking mainly to an 8-hour workday doesn’t mean that you always have to race to get everything done within normal working hours and increase the pressure for yourself even more. What matters is that you are intentional about when you will allow work to take over personal time.
Some people prefer to take a few hours on the weekend to catch up or plan out the next week. It relaxes them knowing they can use Monday to Friday to work with their team and focus on urgent things, then clear their inbox or review something that requires concentration on the weekend. (Just be careful about spending your weekends on low-priority tasks that can be delegated or may not need to get done in the first place.)
For others, even thinking about working on the weekend stresses them out because they really need those two days to switch off from work completely. If that’s you, you can put in an extra 30 to 60 minutes each workday instead of a few hours on a Sunday. And you won’t resent the extra time as much because you’ll know you’ll be back on Monday refreshed and still reasonably on top of things.
In any case, understand the costs and benefits of working nights and weekends and choose when overtime makes sense for you and when it will be counterproductive. Taking control over your schedule to align with your energy levels and family needs will help you feel like less of a victim - you’ll know that you’re putting in the extra effort primarily when it supports your career and your sanity.
Day 11: Find an anchor activity
The past two days we’ve been talking about how to be more intentional about overtime to ensure we don’t burn out. However, sometimes when you’re in the middle of a busy season of your life, it’s hard to identify when things are going pear-shaped and when it’s time to slow down.
Having an ‘anchor’ activity has helped me better navigate such times. This is an activity that helps me understand when things are getting out of control. I know I’m doing well when I am finding the time to engage in this activity or that something is wrong when it’s absent.
Housework is my anchor activity. It’s my source of control, positivity, calm and balance.
There are routines I’ve developed and (mostly) stick to. When things are crazy, I know that I can quickly feel accomplished by completing my routines and this gives me the confidence to deal with other things.
I feel happy knowing that I’ve taken care of my family and my home. It’s also a form of physical activity. Both help me have a positive outlook.
When I’m on top of my laundry, my house is clean, I have a meal plan and a few meals in the freezer, I feel less stressed. I’m not wasting brain cells worrying about what we’ll eat after work or that I’ll have to spend the weekend dealing with piles of washing.
Essentially, I use being significantly behind on my housework as a sign of overwhelm or over-focussing on work. I know something is up…but I also know how to quickly fix it and restore some balance in my life.
Maybe housework is not your thing. Perhaps running, meditating, journaling or reading to your kids every night is your anchor activity.
Day 12: Be mindful about how you structure your work day
Consider doing your creative or difficult work in the morning when you are fresh, leaving the easy catch ups and admin work for the afternoon. This way, the important work will be done first and you won’t need to stay back to finish it.
The less important stuff planned for the afternoon can be easily moved to another day. There's no need to stay after hours just to clear non-urgent email or file random paperwork.
I know the above sounds like a no-brainer, but then why do we accept a meeting invite for a low priority 9 am catch up (to discuss someone else’s problem) when we know we should be writing or reviewing a complex report at that time instead?
To prevent this but still remain accessible, you could block out the first two hours of the day Monday through Thursday for key tasks, keeping Friday mornings open and more relaxed with the aim of clearing your big-ticket items by then.
Day 13: Schedule your important work first
Most of us know what really matters in our respective roles at work. It’s usually the things we’re measured on.
This is the stuff that you need to get into your diary first, to map out through what steps and when it will get done. When you do this, you’ll be less likely to allow low-value tasks to take over and cause overtime.
Your diary will also serve as a visual representation of the time that remains for other work, which will give you the confidence to manage your stakeholders’ expectations and prevent overcommitment.
But if you're new to your role and need a few quick tips on setting priorities and creating structure, I have some in this short blog post.
Day 14: Manage distractions
Don’t take your work home to work when you’re tired because you spent the day chatting, allowing others to constantly interrupt you or responding to various notifications on your computer. It’s fine to use some of your work week to bond with colleagues and action relaxing admin tasks, but not to the point that it’s creating significant overtime.
Figure out what your key tasks are for the week, plug them in to your diary, protect that time and focus to make sure they get done. First work, then play.
I know it’s not easy to tell your colleagues to come by later with their questions (especially for us people pleasers). Consider organising a regular catch up with your key contacts at the end of the day or on Fridays when things are more relaxed.
Day 15: Be more realistic about turnaround times
Be careful about regularly turning things around overnight or over the weekend for your stakeholders. Otherwise, people will deliver things to you at 5 pm or on a Friday afternoon and expect it all to be actioned by the time they’re back in the office.
Set some healthy boundaries by letting people know how much advance notice you need to get the work done at an acceptable pace.
The tips can also be viewed on LinkedIn.