How many nights do you lay in bed, unable to fall asleep because your mind is filled with thoughts about work? Thoughts of work commonly preoccupy our minds, specifically at night, and they interrupt our sleep big time because we answer that call or are up all night working a project. And us common folk aren’t the only ones who go through this, even someone like producer Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, etc.). is faced with this struggle.
In fact it got so bad for Rhimes, she needed to come up with a way to end the 24/7 work day in her head and unplug. “Work will happen 24 hours a day, 365 days a year if you let it,” Rimes said during an interview with Fresh Air’s Terry Gross, “It suddenly occurred to me that unless I just say, ‘That’s not going to happen,’ it was always going to happen.”
So what did she do to make the change? She changed her email signature to include the message that she does not respond to emails at 7 p.m. or on the weekends. She also makes sure she turns her device off completely.
Now, many of us can’t just go totally offline. Lawyers, doctors, assistants, etc. have jobs that require unusual work hours. However, if you can put in your email signature that you will not be checking your email from say, 7-10 p.m., so you can enjoy dinner with your family, it could improve your schedule and your nerves.
Also, the whole weekend thing is important. There’s a reason we have two day out of office — it’s to unwind and relax. You might as well be at work if you’re going to spend the day answering calls and typing away. It’s totally justifiably to not work on the weekends. And if your boss has a problem, tell him other that if Rhimes can do it, you can too.
What do you think of Shonda Rhimes trick?
