What we smell, touch, see, and hear around us, influences how we think and feel. Align the environment with your intentions for a better grasp on a huge workload or for decompressing after a long marathon workday. Reserve some areas of your residence for leisure and others for work. This is easier for your mind to focus or slip into relaxation mode. Even clothes can impact how you feel.
Research indicates that by wearing formal clothing we can enhance creativity and cognitive processing. That doesn’t mean you must be fully suited, but to get into work mode, wear comfortable clothes before leaving the house. Though often ridiculed, there’s something about putting on different clothes, taking off glasses, and entering a specific room that cues the brain when it’s time to work. Though managing much work on the couch or at the dining table, various environmental cues help to focus quick inspiration and concentration.
Working long hours could be an opportunity for growth
Consistently working ridiculously long hours is disastrous. A 2014 survey reported 50% of US full-time participating workers, worked more than 40 hours a week, with some working 50 hours. We do burn the midnight oil at times, but this is approached in a healthy way. Experts opine that the key to surviving the difficult professional sprints is by accepting the circumstances and deciding how tostep up. For projects out of the comfort zone, consider taking this opportunity to grow as much as possible. The importance of a strong internal compass, positive self-talk and a sense of purpose to guide us when times are difficult, cannot be over-emphasised as it connects us to our values, morals, heart, and current position. Remember the fine line between hustling and working too much by risking your health. If a supervisor or mentor informs you that you need to be working so much that it endangers your health or relationships, search for ways to escape that situation.
Foster a hobby that is non-work-related
In this side-hustle era, turning a movie blog or your passion for piano into a way to make money is possible. Don’t succumb to temptation. Researchers found a positive correlation between non-work creative activities and increased creativity and office performance. You need available time to pick up new hobbies whether it’s writing, art, music, or even collecting things, and a leisure hobby makes healthier and happier and builds social relationships with new friends or even colleagues with similar interests. Dedicated hobbies might be time-consuming, but provide more consistency. You could draw, knit, or even play a musical instrument for only 10 -15 minutes daily. Try to schedule time to enjoy a new creative hobby the way you would attempt an important deadline with due publicity without any interruption during that time.
Ensure a balance between Work and Personal Life
It’s possible to be successful and yet find time for a personal life without letting anyone dictating how it is achieved. In the era of businessmen like Elon Musk, expecting rest is not easy, but if you align your work-related decisions to the larger “why,” where prioritising yourself will be easier. Though seemingly impossible to find balance in this all-or-nothing culture, with intentional effort and planning, and after honest self-evaluation, working hard without getting consumed, is possible.