"Let me know" is a rubric for our readers' stories. Every week we launch a survey and are waiting for your comments. The most interesting of them fall into articles and collections.
Last week we received a question in the mail: "How to take a break from work so as not to feel like a boiled vegetable?" We organized a discussion among our readers and highlighted some good tips that will help restore work‑life balance. Use it!
I try to make sure that I have certain hours and days of rest. Otherwise, everything turns into one continuous work with elements of inaction and worry about it.
In practice, this means that I don't mix things up. If I have lunch, I go to eat, and do not continue to sit in the laptop. If I have a day off, something extremely important must happen so that I can get to work.
I plan my vacation as a task that needs to be completed. I try to approach this prophylactically — to relax before I get tired.
At this point, it is important to disconnect from work with your head. After all, if I'm resting, but I'm sitting in the office with my thoughts, everything goes to waste. To do this, you can answer yourself the questions: "Do I need this? Not very. Is it profitable for me to continue doing this? No."
For me, the option of 5/2 — 5 working days, 2 days off turned out to be cool. It's easier for me to stay a little longer on weekdays than to move the case to Saturday or Sunday.
It is not always possible to follow the rules, force majeure happens. At such moments, I understand what this is fraught with, and I try to redistribute things. For example, I refuse in favor of rest or sleep from some minor household tasks ‑ not washing floors or not cooking dinner. I try to make my life easier during this period.
I came to all this after burning out one day. Now I love my job too much to allow myself to be left without it stupidly because I overloaded myself.
About a year ago, I realized that my life was going somewhere wrong. The decision came by itself. Rest had to be introduced into life as a routine. That's what it takes.
1. The right way to start your morning. I have rituals that set me up in the right way and give me energy. At this time, I plan the schedule for the day. This gives an understanding of how many hours I spend on each task and when I should start resting. Yes, you need to plan a vacation!
In addition, thanks to a clear plan, during the day I do not waste my resources on thinking: "What should I cook for dinner? How do I manage to do all the household chores and find time for meditation?"
I can focus on the work and finish it faster.
2. Arrange your life so as to devote a minimum of time to it. Properly organize storage, make blanks for your favorite dishes and freeze them for the future, divide responsibilities between households, taking off part of the load.
3. Properly organize sleep. I try to go to bed and get up at the same time, no matter what. And also, at least an hour before bedtime, I put away all the gadgets. The SleepTown app allows me not to hang on my phone until morning — it locks the screen at the set time. It helps me to relax and have a good rest.
I've been following these rules for about a year now, and I've never regretted it! "Side effect" — there was a clear understanding of where and what time is spent. I began to take more care of myself and my loved ones, less distracted by anything in the process of work.
Yes, there are days when it is impossible to perform their rituals, but we are living people! It is ok.
I consider myself a workaholic. I work more than 60 hours a week. Riding a motorcycle helps to relax and reboot perfectly. This hobby does not forgive mistakes and makes you concentrate on the road. Literally a couple of minutes behind the wheel, and everything superfluous goes out of my head!
And weekend trips 500 km from home are generally a great way to recharge in order to go to work on Monday with renewed vigor.
It seems to me that even if you try to differentiate between work and rest, thoughts about burning reports and deadlines can still seep into normal life.
When I feel that I am immersed in thinking about work while watching a movie, walking or reading a book, I try to catch this moment and do mindfulness practice.
What it means: I shift my attention from these thoughts and focus on the sensations in the body.
This is a powerful exercise that helps to distract from anxious thoughts, feel "here and now" and relax. After all, relaxation is the basis of rest.
If you work 8 hours without breaks, it will take much longer to recover. It seems to me that a quality rest does not mean "resuscitation of the dead" at the end of the working day, but a powerful recharge, so that after it you would like to do some other things and generally live.
So now I have set an iron rule for myself: to rest at least 5-10 minutes every hour. At this time, I can go for a walk around the office, make myself a coffee, do eye exercises or a little meditation.
I don't like to be annoying, but I would like to tell everyone: just try to live in such a schedule for at least a week! You will see that at the end of the working day you do not feel as broken as before.
An important rule: sticking to the phone is not included at this time. Scrolling through news and memes is not a rest, but the same physical activity for the brain, which is unlikely to relax you.
