026. What's your home time?
Every issue of Moment comes with a question designed to gently nudge you towards working well: making your mental health part of your self-employed business plan.
026. What's your home time?
It's 4:30pm - is it time to wrap up?
With more people working remotely, independently and in their own workspaces, the collective sense of 'home time' will start to erode, and will be based more upon 'when the day is done' or when energy levels start to decline, rather than seeing others pack up and go home.
This means we'll need new ways of signalling the end of our own days, or being more aware of our energy levels, so that we can make sure we're not just working until we run out of energy, that we're fresh for the next day, and others know we're not open to communication.
Adam Grant suggests we should be closing down our working days earlier, finishing at 3pm - although not everyone works standard hours, and not everyone wants (or is able) to start at the classic 9am, the idea of hours based upon your needs, energy levels and designing for when you do your best work is important.
Spend some time this week paying attention to when your energy levels tell you the day is over, in comparison to when you're finishing work - is there a difference? Does that mean you need to rethink or redesign your working hours?
It might not be an easy change to make, but taking some time to observe what those changes could be is a good first step.
Leave a comment below to share your reflections,
or visit Leapers to discuss the question further.
Things we read this week:
Why having a ‘work family’ is hustle culture at its worst - FastCo
The HUSTLE Report - The Mix
3 ways to turn Anxiety into a Formula for success - Inc.com
The problem with “Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions” - HBR
People are secretly doing multiple salaried jobs whilst wfh - The Independent
Three types of mental downtime your brain needs - Medium
What are you reading? Share in the comments.
Leapers has been supporting the mental health of the self-employed for almost four years, and we’ve done it without any funding, just kind support from our members - people like you. Help support our work by making a one-off or regular donation, every penny helps us help more people.