How do you mentally disconnect from work?
I’m constantly stressed about work. Even when I’m on vacation, it takes me a couple of days to stop thinking about how many Slack messages, DMs, emails, meetings, etc will be waiting for me when I get back. I’m interviewing to find a better workplace but I’m worried this is all me and I’ll have the same issues at the next place. What has worked for you to turn off work? #burnout #mentalhealth
Sports
This
This is my goto solution. Sports and Gym
Leave your work devices home and remove any work apps from your personal devices.
I work from home. The only work apps on my phone are Slack and PagerDuty
Drugs
Get a second phone
I don't
Realise that everyone else is mentally disconnected from you. Your manager, his manager, your QA, your teammates, that junior who is "blocked" on you, that product manager with a clarification or an urgent requirement. No one really cares for anything other than themselves. You're just an option for them. So don't treat them as a priority. This includes your company too. They'll fire you in a minute if needed. The
As a counter, for whats it worth, as a TL I am constantly thinking about how to better serve my people help them and the team grow. Doesnt have to be this way.
It's good to think that, but only for the time that you're paid to do so. It's not a charity, it's a job requirement as a TL to inculcate a sense of team spirit and make the team better overall. You may be constantly thinking how to better serve your people, while your people might be secretly applying for jobs elsewhere. Or your manager might be secretly planning to manage you out. Again, not saying that what you're doing is useless, but do it at the company time, for the stipulated hours only.
My strategy is to make my own goals for the week.. and then for the day every day on paper. Lack of control and micromanagers make work stressful. Keep 15 min windows for mail/slack rather than constantly checking it even during workdays. And ultimately financial freedom obviously helps. I have taken breaks from work before and intend to whenever I want to again if I don’t like things..
I’ve heard of this technique of dedicating blocks of time to slack. What’s your strategy here? How many blocks do you allow a day? Does this still work if you’re fully remote?
Depends on your work and team stage obviously. High-level evaluate how urgent r the msgs.. is it ok to respond within an hr, 2 hrs.. and close slack in between.
You're letting your job take over you life. What are you afraid of missing? This sounds like a you problem.
That’s a great question. I guess my current product seems fragile. If I’m not diligent and involved in the big picture conversations, then mistakes slip through, which creates more work going through postmortems and creates more process, less autonomy.
Most of our stress comes from money. You are stressed because you need to keep a good image so you don't get fired / can get good referrals for future employers. Once you have a 1-year emergency fund you will be in a better mental state. This is easier said than done especially if you have a family but having a good financial cushion is the only way to disconnect from a toxic workplace. If you already have one, realize you don't need this job. You can find another one soon. In way under a year's time.
You’re right. This stress is coming on because I bought a house this year. My emergency fund became my down payment
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