1 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:13,040 Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: This week, we're talking about strategies for making remote work 4 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:21,640 Speaker 1: efficient and effective. Today's tip is about setting boundaries when 5 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:25,480 Speaker 1: you work from home. Disconnecting can be hard when your 6 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:28,320 Speaker 1: work is right where you live, but breaks make us 7 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 1: more productive and are definitely worth taking. So I've found 8 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:35,560 Speaker 1: over the years that when managers have concerns about employees 9 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:38,600 Speaker 1: working from home, they're often worrying that people will spend 10 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:41,720 Speaker 1: their entire work days watching old episodes of Game of Thrones. 11 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:44,919 Speaker 1: But when these same managers wind up at organizations where 12 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: lots of people work from home, they learned that the 13 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: biggest problem is entirely different. People who work from home 14 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 1: often have trouble disconnecting. Then they wind up getting burned 15 00:00:56,120 --> 00:01:00,920 Speaker 1: out and their performance suffers, or they quit. Neither of 16 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: these are good outcomes. Here's what winds up happening. People 17 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: who work from home want to show their managers and 18 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:10,399 Speaker 1: teammates that they're responsive, but then they wind up on 19 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:15,320 Speaker 1: email or slack constantly. They don't take breaks because they 20 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: don't want their managers to think they're watching TV. One 21 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:20,559 Speaker 1: woman who works from home told me that she'd hired 22 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:23,040 Speaker 1: a dog walker because she didn't think she could step 23 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: away from her desk for ten minutes twice a day 24 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,760 Speaker 1: to take the dog outside. Needless to say, if she 25 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: didn't think ten minute breaks were feasible, she was dealing 26 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:35,800 Speaker 1: with a lot of stress. Then there's this problem. Commutes 27 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:39,639 Speaker 1: can be terrible, but they provide a very clear line 28 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 1: between work time and non work time. When your office 29 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:46,479 Speaker 1: is right next to your kitchen or bedroom, it can 30 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: be very easy to just keep going back in all 31 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 1: evening or all weekend long. I know this has happened 32 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: to me. I have a confession here. Because I work 33 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 1: from a home office and working is almost always an option, 34 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 1: I used to just leave my laptop on. I literally 35 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:08,640 Speaker 1: never shut it down. Then one day last summer, the 36 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:13,880 Speaker 1: laptop simply stopped working, which is understandable. I managed to 37 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 1: get it going again, but I realized I needed to 38 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 1: stop overwhelming it. My laptop could use some time when 39 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:23,519 Speaker 1: work was not an option, and I probably could too, 40 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:26,799 Speaker 1: So I've gotten much better about turning it off at night. 41 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:29,720 Speaker 1: Once it's off, I can turn it back on if 42 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 1: I really need something, and I have my phone too, 43 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:35,080 Speaker 1: so it's not like I'm unplugged from the world, but 44 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 1: it raises the bar on answering an email that can 45 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:42,240 Speaker 1: really wait until the next morning. If you struggle with 46 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: these boundaries, you might try creating some sort of break 47 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: to indicate that the day is done. Indeed, you might 48 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:53,519 Speaker 1: create a fake commute, walk around the block, or run 49 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:55,760 Speaker 1: a quick errand to buy milk or put gas in 50 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:58,640 Speaker 1: your car when you come home. Then you can be 51 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: a non work mode. Most things can wait until tomorrow. 52 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:05,480 Speaker 1: We may think the world will stop spinning without our input, 53 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:08,920 Speaker 1: but you know what, it's probably not the case. What 54 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:11,519 Speaker 1: kind of boundaries will you set if you work remotely? 55 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 1: Take some time today to think about this, and in 56 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:18,920 Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's 57 00:03:18,919 --> 00:03:28,119 Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd 58 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips, 59 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:35,280 Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, 60 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the 61 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:44,520 Speaker 1: number four then breakfast p o D. You can also 62 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart 63 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:51,120 Speaker 1: media dot com That before Breakfast is spelled out with 64 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:53,880 Speaker 1: all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to 65 00:03:53,880 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I 66 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 1: heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit 67 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:09,520 Speaker 1: the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 68 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.