One of my challenges after I left employment was losing the work-place routine – my contract of employment which put the structure into my working hours.
Ironically the stifling nature of working for someone else, which often prompts the flee from PAYE, is the very tool which saved us from overwork.
Initial joy at waking up to new found freedom, means we can forget the positive apsect of this workplace structure. Let me explain what I mean.
When I left local government after 20 years, what I relished was the control of my own routine. If I wanted to stay up until the small hours – fine – it was up to me what time I got up the next morning. Freedom. The problem is that I also lost the boundaries which told me to stop working because I was no longer being paid. When you work for yourself, you are always on duty.
So how to switch off effectively? Christopher Howard stresses the importance of always taking 1 hour for yourself each day. But what happens when this isn’t enough? Do you take a day, a week or a month? What if you cut your break too short and undo all the good work you’ve aleady put in doing nothing? But let’s also get real, if you need to pay the mortgage you want to spend little time as necessary mooching around doing nought.
Well I read a fantastic tip the other day which I wanted to pass on, and I’ll tell you why I like this technique in particular. With this very simple procedure you take only the time you need to regroup and after that you’re soooo bored you just have to get going again…all you do is this…
Turn off everything like the TV, radio and your PC’s. And the phone. You are now all alone with yourself. Oh Grief! Total shutdown. Sit in a chair in a room on your own, with the door shut, and do nothing. Really nothing.
And stay like that until you want to get up and do something.
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