Knowledge workers and people who work from home have discovered a tricky new issue- how the fuck are you supposed to switch off?
Here’s another great insight from Oliver Burkeman.
Forget being finished. Focus on what’s good enough for today.
This chimes well with Dale Carnegie’s idea of living in ‘day-tight compartments’. In other words, focusing only on today’s work.
"When you end the day feeling like there’s vastly more you ought to have done, you’re telling your nervous system it can’t take a break; and you’re reinforcing an idea of your work as an oppressive and insatiable force. And all of that invites a counter-reaction of procrastination: due to fear, or defiance, or a mixture of both, it gets harder and harder to make yourself work."
[...]
"What you realise, the moment you ask “what would it mean to be done for the day?”, is that the answer can’t possibly involve doing all the things that need doing – even though that’s the subconscious goal with which many of us approach life, driving ourselves crazy in the process. If there are a thousand things that need doing, you’re going to need to arrive at some definition of “finished” that doesn’t encompass them all."
- Oliver Burkeman
