We just had a wonderful extended four-day weekend in the UK. What a great opportunity to rest, recover and restore before turning to work.
Over the weekend, through conversations, I was reminded that so many of us struggle to disengage from our jobs. I was hearing from people things like, “He never switches off” or “I had to work Friday and Monday to get ahead.”
Truth is, none of us ever get through all of our work, and that’s ok. The two routines that help me create a psychological barrier to switching off are:
📝 Creating a prioritised to-do list towards the end of my work day.
This helps me finish work knowing, I haven’t forgotten what needs to be done, when and what is most important. So I know I can pick it up the next working day and carry on from where I left off.
🚪 Choose a specific anchor action to close the mental door behind you at work.
My ritual is shutting down my Mac. Once I do this, I know I am done with it and won’t power it up until I need to work again. This one ritual mentally allows me to close one door at work, and open another at home where I can be present with my family. It has been scientifically proven that even simple rituals can be extremely effective.
Rest, recovery and rituals are important, I encourage you to develop some if you don’t already have them.
It may feel impossible to switch off, but you can at least slow down.