Work / life balance

Seek to achieve a work-life balance on a weekly or monthly level, rather than on a daily level.

Find your restorative niches within a work setting. Which environments allow you to regain your energy?

Set strict rules about your phone and email use. A few ideas:

• If you’re not in a position to reply, don’t check!

• In the evenings, no email one hour before bed.

Take care of yourself. Get enough sleep, exercise, eat well, maintain your closest friendships, and pay attention to your mental health.

Set ‘balance habits’, like:

• Reminders to reach out to a friend or family member every day.

• Reminders to read or learn something every day, no matter how small.

• Keeping a daily gratitude journal, to help celebrate the good things.

Take proper breaks. A two week break can often feel more than twice as restorative as a one-week break.

Consider ‘mini-retirements’ throughout your working life, rather than deferring your big plans to some unspecified future date. You’re not guaranteed to get there. And even if you do, you may not be in the best position to enjoy it, or even know what to do with it, if you haven’t properly experimented with the different options available.

Further reading

‘How to be more successful in any job’, 80,000 Hours

‘Your hidden personality’, Adam Grant

‘When work takes over your life’, Adam Grant