Have your efforts to boss up ever gone sideways? That’s what happened to a friend. He was determined to be the boss of his in-box, but the training was a bust.
He rolled his eyes and told me, “The instructor’s rules felt like a straitjacket. I was only supposed to answer email between 2-4 PM. But my personal rule is to get back to my biggest client as quickly as possible. If I have the information she needs, I don’t make her wait until the clock strikes 2!”
His experience shows what can happen when the best intentions and inflexible frameworks collide. However, you still need to find your personal productivity style. So, puzzle me this: Could you quickly name what does work well for you? That’s the question The Verge asked their employees. One thing is certain: Post-pandemic, the old rules are out the window.
The poll results at The Verge had an intriguing takeaway: Everyone had stopped waiting for life to go back to normal. Instead, the staff was taking stock and adjusting.
The shifts came in all shapes and sizes: One person found joy in a daily walk. Someone else convinced their spouse to turn their rarely-used dining room into a full-time office. The common thread was that extreme makeovers were out, and meaningful changes were in.
After years of working around the clock, Victoria Song had a breakthrough. You may relate to her story:
“Working from home meant I was rolling out of bed 10 minutes before I had to log on, scrambling to get reading between assignments, and squeezing in workouts at the oddest hours. I found myself still in my PJs at 1PM and eating breakfast at 4PM. At one point, I realized I was working from 8AM to 7PM most days with nearly no breaks simply because I could sit at my desk and find my whole world inside my laptop.
I did this for two whole years, even though no one asked it of me. When I finally looked up, I saw that while I did well at work, my personal life and physical well-being had pretty much disintegrated.
I started setting specific time blocks during weekdays. My first “block” of work goes from 8:30 to 10:30 AM. Lunch is eaten at 1:30 PM. I have to log off by 6:30 PM every day, even if I’m not done with a certain task. I have little alarms that go off throughout the day on my Apple Watch, so whatever rabbit holes I do fall down, at least they’re not too deep.”
In the August series, Self-Care, One Step at a Time, we’re talking about small changes that can have a big impact. Hybrid work has upended everything, including rules set by employers about ways of working. You may not run the whole office, but now you’re the boss of how you run your day.
So, how will you decide what’s a keeper and what gets the boot? Use the case study as inspiration, where you treat yourself the way you would manage others. There’s no magic to achieving the soft skill of productivity. Just fine-tune habits for the current you through How tactics like making compassionate, agile choices.
When 2019 calls with rigid rules and ridiculous expectations, swipe left! Start reimagining your day by journaling or brainstorming any or all of these wellness prompts.
Life is too long to hold on to rules, habits, and beliefs that have run their course. So, wave goodbye to feeling constrained or overwhelmed. Instead, break the old rules and take a step toward days with greater clarity, creativity, and feeling like you’re in the flow.