How to separate week from the weekend when working remotely

It is very easy to forget about breaks or time to finish work during the working week, after some time, you find yourself looking at your emails during the weekend too. It is all fine and acceptable if you keep a healthy balance otherwise you may quickly fall to workaholic world which would have a colossal impact on your physical as well as the mental health. I went through it and I will tell you how to avoid.

You need to have some self discipline, when you are working during the week and you suppose to have a lunch or time to relax, go for a quick walk etc, you do it regardless, set the alarm on your phone and when it go off, don’t find excuses like “I will finish it in 2, 3, 10 minutes then I go”, no, don’t do it, you won’t finish it as something else will manage to come around, you need to apply self discipline and have the right attitude, just leave what you was doing and you will come back to that when you finish your break. During eating – never ever check your phone, take your time and eat slowly, enjoy every bite, otherwise you are putting yourself at dangerous risk of having gastro problems, again I have been through it, your body can easily adapt to stress and while you think all is ok and that’s just a little bit of adrenaline, you are causing a damage to your body. Time when you are not working supposed to be a time to escape from digital world as a whole, breath in and out slowly, go for a walk, appreciate the nature around you, listen to nature, all the noises birds make, listen to wind, listen to rain, all these little things will take your distraction and help you to have a happy life.

So how to separate the working week from weekend then? Glad you asked !
Weekend is starting on Friday, straight after you finished work, make a “time stamp”, something which will help you to notice that this is last day at work, start from cleaning your work space, you want to make it nice and pleasant for your Monday morning, go for a nice meal, make a nice meal, watch a movie, put a weekend cloths, go for a longer walk. Don’t set alarm clocks during the weekend, try to make it as a reward for the whole week you just worked really hard. Now time is 100% yours, still remember to eat at same time, still do exercises, if you have a difficulty and still watching emails or work stuff, turn off the digital world, radical changes usually helps, instead go outside, spend more time with a nature. If you have kids or family in general, spend time with them, they will appreciate it. Stay happy, this is only way you will have a healthy balance between your work and your life.

All the best,
Lucas