WEBVTT - The New Corner Office: Embrace your weekends

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<v Speaker 1>Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the New Corner Office,

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<v Speaker 1>the podcast where we share strategies for thriving in the

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<v Speaker 1>new world of work, where location and hours are more

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<v Speaker 1>flexible than in the past. Today's tip is to embrace

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<v Speaker 1>your weekends. Yes, even now, make Saturday different from Tuesday.

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<v Speaker 1>Even if you spend your time in the same place

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<v Speaker 1>on Saturdays and Tuesdays, you don't need to spend your

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<v Speaker 1>time in the same way. There's a great scene in

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<v Speaker 1>the TV series Downton Abbey when a young lawyer offers

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<v Speaker 1>that he can visit on the weekends. An aristocratic older

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<v Speaker 1>lady asks, what is the weekend? With a life of leisure,

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<v Speaker 1>the day of the week makes no difference to her.

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<v Speaker 1>If every day is defined by pleasure and relaxation, then

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<v Speaker 1>your life might as well be a series of Saturdays.

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<v Speaker 1>But if you're listening to this podcast and aiming to

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<v Speaker 1>maximize your productivity, my guest is that in normal times,

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<v Speaker 1>you are keenly aware of week days and you get

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of good work done. In normal times, you

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<v Speaker 1>would never mistake a Sunday for a Wednesday. But these

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<v Speaker 1>are not normal times. For many people, it's become hard

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<v Speaker 1>to distinguish the days from each other. Now, this might

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<v Speaker 1>not be the case if you've got kids home with

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<v Speaker 1>you who are thrilled to get two days off from

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<v Speaker 1>their zoom classes. But if it's just you or mostly

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<v Speaker 1>adults in your household, it's easy to find yourself working

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<v Speaker 1>on Saturday and Sunday as if they were no different

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<v Speaker 1>from the Thursday and Friday you just worked your way through. Now.

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<v Speaker 1>I will never tell people not to work on a

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<v Speaker 1>weekend if you don't have a religious prohibition against it.

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<v Speaker 1>There's nothing inherently wrong with catching up on some tasks

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<v Speaker 1>on a Saturday, or as I'm doing right now, writing

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<v Speaker 1>podcast scripts at seven am on Sunday. But for most

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<v Speaker 1>people to be able to work remotely sustainably, it's helpful

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<v Speaker 1>to maintain some sort of weekly rhythm. To be at

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<v Speaker 1>our best, we need times to rest and recharge. Over

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<v Speaker 1>the longer term, will probably get more done if you're

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<v Speaker 1>not working a normal work schedule seven days a week.

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<v Speaker 1>To keep work from taking over your weekend, you need

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<v Speaker 1>to do two things. First. If you find yourself board,

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<v Speaker 1>find something non work related to do. Yes. This is

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<v Speaker 1>more challenging if you live in a place where leaving

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<v Speaker 1>the house is still problematic, but it is still possible.

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<v Speaker 1>Remind yourself of your leisure options. Go for a walk,

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<v Speaker 1>call a friend, get absorbed in a good book or

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<v Speaker 1>in practicing music, fire up the grill and experiment. Don't

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<v Speaker 1>think of this as frittering away time you could be working. Instead,

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<v Speaker 1>think of it as cross training. Athletes often devote time

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<v Speaker 1>to complementary sports. A runner might bike two days a

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<v Speaker 1>week to maintain a robic capacity while minimizing wear and tear. Likewise,

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<v Speaker 1>as you putter in your garden, you might think of

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<v Speaker 1>some design concepts to incorporate in your work. Effort Ful

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<v Speaker 1>fun if seldom wasted. Second, if you do need to

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<v Speaker 1>work over the weekend, or if you'd like to invest

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<v Speaker 1>time in a bigger professional project, set some time aside

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<v Speaker 1>specifically for that. I'm working from five thirty a m.

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<v Speaker 1>To eight thirty a m. On Sunday morning, so the

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<v Speaker 1>rest of the day is open. If you don't have

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<v Speaker 1>young kids, you probably don't need to get up that early.

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<v Speaker 1>But if you know that you'll work from four to

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<v Speaker 1>eight p m. On Sunday, then you can resist the

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<v Speaker 1>urge to check email the rest of the weekend. There's

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<v Speaker 1>a time for work and it's not. Now you'll be

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<v Speaker 1>more focused and efficient and feel more relaxed. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>part of making weekends special is not treating week days

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<v Speaker 1>like weekends. I probably don't have to tell you this,

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<v Speaker 1>but you're best off creating a challenging but doable to

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<v Speaker 1>do list for Tuesday, Wednesday and the rest and knocking

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<v Speaker 1>those items out. If you spend the day surfing the

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<v Speaker 1>web or organizing the pantry, then you'll feel behind and

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<v Speaker 1>feel like you need to work all of Saturday, and

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<v Speaker 1>the psyche gets messy. Building a weekly schedule with time

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<v Speaker 1>for work and time for everything else makes success and

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<v Speaker 1>personal fulfillment possible, and that sounds good to me any

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<v Speaker 1>day of the week. In the meantime, this is Laura,

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening, and here's to succeeding in the New

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<v Speaker 1>Corner Office. The New Corner Office is a production of

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<v Speaker 1>I Heart Radio. For more podcasts, visit the I Heart

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<v Speaker 1>Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.

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