Practices

Say it, out loud if you can manage it: I am done for the day. A decision, rather than a slow guilty drift away from the desk.

The hours after a proper clocking off feel different from the same hours drifted into, even when nothing else about them changes. It does mean facing…

When you are already behind, rest feels like the one thing you cannot afford. That feeling is usually what keeps you behind.

Running from one near disaster to the next burns exactly the abilities you need in order to dig out: planning, holding a thought long enough to use…

Half watching a programme while half answering emails is the worst of both. The work takes twice as long and the evening gives you nothing back.

Pick one and let it be the whole thing. If it is work, work, and you will usually finish earlier than you expected. If it is rest, shut the laptop,…

Rest is not the prize waiting at the end of the work. It is part of what makes the work possible, and it does not have to be earned first.

Self control runs down over a day the way a battery does, and the thing that fills it back up is properly stopping. What that looks like is yours to…

There are two jobs here, not one. Free up the time, and then be able to sit in it without feeling like a fraud.

Working more efficiently buys hours back, and that is the easier half. The harder half is the belief that rest is only for people who have finished…