Work life balance in 7 days

In summary:

• Switch off your work email notifications on your phone. You can still have the email app on your phone, just switch off the notifications popping up on your screen.

• Sign out from your Microsoft teams app (or other instant messaging app you use at work), as soon as you leave the office - even if you are working from home.

• If something is urgent, make sure your boss/colleagues can reach by telephone only.

There is no right or wrong way to perform active relaxation, as long as you are engaging and relaxing your body at the same time. If you’re looking for some inspiration, here are some ideas:

• Go on a solo walk. Observing the trees and nature around you without distraction can relax the mind, but your body is still engaged in the physical activity of the walk.

• Deep breathing exercises. Believe it or not, many of us don’t breathe as properly and as deeply as we should. There are many breathing exercises, but deep belly breathing is a basic and easy one to accomplish.

• Massage. Massaging tight and stressed muscles can provide physical pressure to ease muscle tension, which can help relieve stress and chronic pain.

• Pilates or stretching. Look for a class you'd like to try, such as pilates or stretching

Do you wake up in the morning already feeling behind? Does the pressure of keeping it all together make you feel anxious and irritable? Doing less might seem counterintuitive, but doing less is more productive, because you’re concentrating on the work you actually want to be doing.

4 Ways to Practice JOMO:

1. Practice saying “no”. It is your time and your space. Learn to say no to invites, events, or people that do not serve your goals at the phase you are in.

2. Device free periods. Take a hike. Look forward, not down. Stash the phone, tablet, or laptop away for extended periods of time. Your senses are built to take in nature.

3. Meditate. Check into your mental space. How are you feeling? What do you crave? Are they urgent? What do you really need at this moment of your life?

4. Set your priorities. Be intentional with your time. Schedule priorities that are of meaning to YOU. Start planning activities to achieve your hopes and dreams.

Some more ideas for healthy snacks to take to the office:

• Nuts (especially walnuts and almonds)

• Dried fruit

• Humus and veggie sticks (bell pepper, carrot, cucumber)

• Boiled egg(s)

• Fruit (mandarin, apple, grapes, berries)

• Dark chocolate (70% +)

• Greek yoghurt

Your next assignment is to apply at least one of these methods once a day, this week :).

• Change how you sit.

• Standing desk

• Move more in the office

• Deskercise.

• Walk while you talk

• Start by saying no to little things as a practice. Choose little things to begin with that will allow you the practice. When saying no, keep your explanations brief and simple.

• Always work from a list. It will help you to prioritize and you will be less likely to forget important details and deadlines.

• Master the art of “maybe”.

A few things to keep in mind when you are in a conflict:

• Ask yourself, is this really a conflict or do I just not like this person or vice versa?

• Try to stick to the issue in all your dealings and don't get personal or bring old topics back on the table.

• Know that you can take a break from an argument.

• Know when to ask for help and bring in a third person as a mediator.

Now that you have written down your annual goals, it is now time to think about what you can do THIS month, to come a little closer to the goals you have set for this year.

Pause the video with every example, so you can see how I have broken down annual goals into monthly (only this month) goals and then further scheduled tangible action items for the coming week in my calendar to reach those goals for this month.

Things that classify as habits and that should occur on a daily basis, I have written down in my daily habit tracker. Take some time for this exercise, but don't overthink it. 30 minutes is good enough :).

You can find a fillable template of the monthly goals, weekly planner and daily habit tracker in the attachments below. You can also use a notebook, laptop, or wherever you keep yourself accountable.

My preference goes to:

• Annual goals: notebook

• Monthly goals: notebook

• Weekly goals: mobile phone calendar

• Daily habits: 'reminder' app on my iPhone

To write down my daily tasks, I love to use a physical notebook and a pen. Once I have written my goals/tasks for the day, I have it right in front of me, and not somewhere hidden in my phone, so I can be reminded all day what to focus on.

The best way to open and edit the attached PDF is on your computer via the Adobe reader or internet browser (Chrome).

A simpler alternative for the Eisenhower Matrix, for when you are on the go:

The [Must] [I] [Do] [This] [Now] method.

• Do you sometimes refresh your inbox, even though you just checked it only 5 minutes ago?

• Do you often make e-mails your priority rather than actually getting things done?

• Are there days when you spend more time in your inbox than doing proper work?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, the following email management tips are for you!

Links with tutorials:

• Google step by step explanation: https://usingtechnologybetter.com/blog/how-to-get-cc-emails-out-of-your-inbox-in-outlook-for-windows/

• YouTube tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_iJblPmrbw

Disclaimer: There are claims that wireless bluetooth headphones are not so healthy for us, but I came to know that only after buying mine. What I try to do to (to be on the safer side!) is switching off the bluetooth functionality when I'm not on a call or whenever I can plug in the wire that comes along with it.

Make your meetings more productive and efficient:

1. Before you set a meeting, ask yourself if a meeting is really necessary

2. Prepare and send the agenda in advance

3. Assign a ‘driver’ to lead the meeting

4. Respect other people's time

5. Someone has to take minutes

6. Go on 'do not disturb mode'

6 ways to manage digital distractions:

1. Switch off notifications from apps that are not important

2. Use the focus mode on your mobile phone

3. Limit the number of whatsapp groups and mute groups which you cannot exit

4. Add a time limit to the apps that suck most of your time

5. Apply the 5 minute rule

6. Turn off all notifications and allow yourself to check your social media 3 times a day.

• Demo 'switch off certain notifications': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrqrVsIcxbo

• Demo 'focus mode': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16EhVDqqBzI

• Demo 'turn off whatsapp group notifications' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzASJzXL_X4

• Demo 'mute certain whatsapp groups': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDdbMvpYuXE. The video shows how to mute an individual person, but same can be applied to groups.

The above demos are for iPhones only. For android you can check on youtube how this works, as I don’t have any experience in it and won't be able to validate the tutorials :).

500 emails after you are back from vacation

• Plan reading emails in your calendar before someone books a meeting with you.

• Don’t panic, start slowly.

• Scan for promo and junk and delete that first.

• Keep your Cc inbox for last.

• Start with newest emails, as often problems are resolved by the time you are back from vacation.

• What ever does not need your action, archive it.

• If something can be done in 2 minutes, do it instantly, otherwise flag it or move to do list

• Whatever needs action and takes more than 2 minutes, flag it and archive it, you will deal with it later.

• Then you look at your flagged emails and categorize and prioritize whatever needs a response today and move the rest to tomorrow or next week