It’s Friday night and I’m looking forward to a restful weekend.
This week has been both very good and mentally taxing, and I’m really looking forward to unplugging from work for as much time as possible over the next 2 days.
At work, every 4 months we take a few days and do some intense planning around priorities for the coming months. Normally, we do this in person. This time around, due to the COVID-19 situation, there was the added element that our meetings were handled over Google Meet and video conference fatigue is a real thing.
The meetings were really productive and helpful, and I really love the group of folks I get to work with. They’re dedicated, smart, and ambitious. But I’m also just pretty mentally tired from two days of long meetings held over video where we really pushed each other to deliver the best possible plan for the coming months.
Weekends are Sacred
I do not prescribe to the school of thought that would think it some sort of moral failure that I take the next two days and do my best to never think of work. I’m pretty firmly convinced that I’m more productive and effective when I try to limit myself to getting my work done according to a reasonable schedule.
I’m not always able to fully unplug over the weekend. Despite my wish to fully unplug, this weekend I’ll have to spend at least a couple of hours getting caught up in Slack and my email inbox; I’m woefully behind after two days of all-day meetings. However, I’ll take care of that in one single block of time and otherwise do my best to stay off of Slack, out of my inbox, and not think about work.
Productive Rhythms
I care deeply about the work I do. I work hard, and take pride in my job. Finding the right rhythm to keep my mind sharp and my motivation humming requires that I invest time in resting and recharging my mind.
One rhythm that helps me maintain maximum productivity at work is to spend my weekends doing as little work as possible.
Featured image by Sincerely Media on Unsplash