Going into the holiday week… I’m curious how everyone is managing a work/life balance?

15 Comments

1. AnonymousNovember 23,2021 at 2:59PM UTC

   I make sure to put that I'm out of office in my calendar, as well as in Slack. I turn off all notifications so I don't get surprise messages. There is only so much I can control when it comes to how much work I will miss on my day off (taking 3 this week), and next week I will come back and hold myself in compassion when it comes to finishing what I missed!

2. Arika LawrenceNovember 23,2021 at 4:34PM UTC

   Agree with what was said below about setting out of office messages, turning off notifications to truly decompress and I'd add being mindful of the meetings you're hosting/attending. Meetings over the holiday season can be challenging because most people have mentally checked out, tired, stressed and it's a highly sensitive time for most people (not everyone is feeling joyful this time of year and I truly believe most people have been in a state of mourning since the pandemic started). So, I'd try my best to avoid meetings that don't really require my presences; it has to be an actionable meeting for me to attend at this point in the year. Otherwise, I'd prefer the time back to do deep focus work in prep for next year. I'd also like to put together a checklist of my "to-dos" to focus on when I return from holiday break. Sometimes with holiday brain we forget where we left off, so leaving a few breadcrumbs guides me back to where I should pick up my work. The last thing I would say is getting crystal clear about your work priorities from now until the end of the year -- what are your top of mind items that you 'must do' before 2022/top of 2022? I know annual performance reviews are usually on most folks plates, so I would spend some time carving out what you need to do to prep for your review, but then also consider what the other priorities are and assume to push everything else (non-priority items) into 2022. Hope this helps!

3. AnonymousNovember 23,2021 at 5:10PM UTC

   I love thinking about the back to office to-do list, setting myself up for an organized and reduced stress day back. Also, the end of the year push is real, and re-orienting yourself is probably a good idea. Thanks for sharing!

4. AnonymousNovember 23,2021 at 5:06PM UTC

   Just changed jobs and THRILLED that they let us go at 2p on Wednesday and give us both Thurs & Fri as holidays...so I plan to pretty much check out of work all weekend. :-)

5. AnonymousNovember 23,2021 at 5:07PM UTC

   That's amazing I wish that was an industry standard! Enjoy your long weekend!

6. AnonymousNovember 23,2021 at 6:15PM UTC

   I'm trying to set aside Wed to prepare myself for the following week after Thanksgiving so I don't feel like I'm coming back to a bunch of to-do's...its about advance planning and project management so I can truly enjoy the Thanksgiving weekend.

7. AnonymousNovember 23,2021 at 7:46PM UTC

   I try to stay off my email as much as possible, though I will go in and delete any promotional or spam emails I get to help with my inbox before I get back! I also take off the day before Thanksgiving so I have time to prep food :D

8. AnonymousNovember 23,2021 at 8:05PM UTC

   Such a good question! To-do lists are my saving grace. I'm looking at my calendar for Monday as well so nothing's a surprise, then writing down everything I need to do before then to make coming back a breeze (and less stressful!).

9. AnonymousNovember 23,2021 at 9:00PM UTC

   I have started turning off email and slack notifications when I'm on PTO. It's not expected of me to be online when I have approved time off -- or if the whole company is off -- so this is more just me reminding myself of that! And everyone on my team has my number in case of emergencies :)

10. Krista Haugner Sieg, MBANovember 23,2021 at 9:22PM UTC

    When I log out on Wednesday my computer will be off (or at least asleep with the volume off) and so will my work phone! I am looking forward to a few days of recharge! Also, to keep myself honest, I am setting my out of office now to kick in tomorrow afternoon so I don't find myself mindlessly working later into the evening. When you see that out of office reminder bar across your email, it is a great visual reminder that you are supposed to be out!

11. TroyNovember 25,2021 at 2:46AM UTC

    Gabrielle, I am still trying to figure out what that looks like. I am taking off 2 weeks. One week in December and one week in January. My goal is to honker down before I go, so I can truly enjoy my days off. I currently work from home, so I can tell you, it's all about time management for me. I rather honker down and manage my time, so I can truly enjoy myself and not have work interruptions or work on my mind while on vacay.

12. Liz MilneNovember 25,2021 at 3:49PM UTC

    haha, I tend to work more over Christmas because all the other freelancers go on holiday, leaving all the work for me! I work at night anyway, so it doesn't impact too much on family life! (UK here, we don't do Thanksgiving)

13. AnonymousNovember 25,2021 at 6:33PM UTC

    I'm fighting the urge to check work email as I type! I will look at around 730 pm on Thursday. Do to a questionable emergency I will be onsite on Friday when I had not planned that. Such is work and life!

14. AnonymousNovember 29,2021 at 1:37PM UTC

    That is a good question. In the past we as employees were better organized, but nowadays it is always immediate response. We had backups who would cover for us.
    Companies say that they want you to have work-life balance, but if they would really live it, we wouldn't have this discussion, right?

15. Robyn McCabria KelsoNovember 30,2021 at 1:23PM UTC

    Turn on your automatic replies for emails and if you have email on your phone, turn off notifications. It was a small tweak that helped me immensely.