No matter how hard we try to disconnect from our office space, traces of the Corporate life still linger once we log out of our workstations. Here are five things you can do to disconnect from the office and leave the work where it should be—at your desk at the workplace:
Turn Off The Smartphone
Turn off the Blackberry, point blank. When office hours are closed, then you should be too, UNLESS your job requires you to be on call 24/7. If you are an Executive, you should have a phone for personal and a phone for work, and the work phone shouldn’t be used after hours unless in an emergency. Turning off the smartphone and disconnecting from the emails and texts and other work stuff will allow you time to unwind without being stressed out. You deserve that!
Do Not Reply To Emails
Unless there is a catastrophic emergency that requires your attention, do not reply to emails once you’ve left the office. It can wait until you get back. When you respond to emails after work hours, it sets up a pattern in which others will see you are responding off the clock and they will continue sending you messages because you respond. No response until the next day? That is what your company will come to expect.
Keep Office Friendships Separate From Real Life Friendships
We’ve all got that friend of colleague that is our ace in the office and in real life. But oftentimes, these relationships overlap and you will find yourself discussing work when the two of you should be enjoying Happy Hour laughing about the trip the both of you took last year. Having friends at work makes it hard to transition to un-work.
Leave The Briefcase In The Car Or Coat Area
Taking in your briefcase and putting it in your living space can be cause for disaster. Why? Because you will be tempted to look over the latest edit of the proposal or begin working on your expense report. Don’t do it! Unless you have work that must be completed for a deadline the next day, leave your briefcase in an area that isn’t easily accessible.
Plan Your Life Like You Plan Your Work Schedule
You have a Blackberry full of meetings and appointments for your job! Do the same thing for your personal life. Scheduling time with your loved ones and friends will make it easier to stay busy with your personal life, and you won’t have time to think about your work life. And it will also give you an outlet to let go and enjoy yourself.
Do you have any additional tips you’d like to share or any additional advice to give on unplugging from work?
I literally just incorporated a combination of #1 & #2 last week. I removed the work email addresses from my phone so that I would not be tempted to look at them. I do have friends from work that are outside friends as well, but when we are at HH, best believe the last thing on our minds is work – except for "how many drinks will it take for us to forget about this crazy week?" LOL!
@WashingTina already checled me about the friends from work thing. This is how I do as to not let work interfere with my un-work life. It works for me and others. But I also understand that having friends at work can be something that can be done without the lines being crossed. As an HR professional, having friends in the office was/is a no-no. Everyone always wanted the inside scoop, and didn't understand when just because they were my friend, I could not give out the info.