Have a wind-down routine before you finish work

Make notes about what it is you do and how you think it can help you and your family/friendship circle.

Transitions are key for me to maintain
boundaries.

If we never ‘finish’ work can we ever truly switch off? It’s harder than ever to
create boundaries between our roles and when our research suggests that
there is a pressure to be forever ‘on’, it’s easy to see why overwhelm and
anxiety is so much on the rise.

I work for myself and run my own small businesses so with that comes
pressures that are different (though certainly not more important) to those in
management, employment and who have a job.

I also enjoy my work, so switching off for the day is hard for me. My best
ideas can pop up in an evening and I need some way of capturing ideas,
communications and so forth.

I think this comes down to personal responsibility and the awareness of
boundaries between both home and work life. How do you know you’re
winding down from a busy day at work? For me, I tend to avoid meetings past
4pm. I ensure all emails are followed up with and messages sent. Perhaps
more importantly, I create a to do list each and every day so I can try to avoid
the ‘I should have made that phone call’ guilt pang late on in the evening.
I clear my desk, plan my route and journey home and pick a good podcast,
book or album to listen to on the way home.

If we don’t create boundaries how can anything ever be complete? When is
enough enough? I know first hand that it’s always possible to do more. But
how is this helping us to manage our home roles and our sense of self if all we
do is give up our time to work?