Emily writes articles for major media. When she submits the text, she fearfully waits for a response from the editor – suddenly, there will be a lot of edits. Emily flinches at every notification and constantly opens Telegram. Maybe the editor already wrote, and Emily missed the message.
Matthew draws websites remotely. He goes to bed at three in the morning, wakes up at ten in the morning, and opens his laptop without getting out of bed. It seems to Matthew that work takes up his entire day. But he deliberately went to a distance so that there was time for himself.
The digital environment is almost everything related to online. Internet advertising, website development, SEO, web design, SMM, and marketing. There are no hard and fast rules here. The main thing is that the work is done on time, and the customer is satisfied. That’s why it’s so hard to finish the work day at 7 pm, set aside an hour for lunch, and not look into chat rooms on weekends.
Because of the distance between home and work, the boundaries have completely blurred. More and more unhealthy habits are being developed. We will tell you how to overcome the most common of them.
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Reply to Messages Even in the Shower
Emily checks her email at breakfast, texts while driving, and records voice messages in the bath. It seems to her that the only way to keep everything under control.
Make an Appointment When You Are in Touch.
You can’t just stop checking chats every two minutes and answering calls in the toilet. You can put your phone away, work only on your laptop and not answer calls on weekends. But this is very worrying.
Try to answer not after five minutes but after 15, 30, or even an hour. When you understand that the project is in order and the boss will not fire you, it will be much easier for you to relax.
Consider how long colleagues are willing to wait for a response from you. Does it take time? Or half an hour? Discuss with the team and clients when available.
| It’s not worth it | Is that allowed |
| “I’m sick of it. I’ll answer as soon as I sort out the tasks. You don’t have to call me every five minutes.” | “Guys, I feel my efficiency is suffering because of the phone. I want to fix this – I will turn off notifications, but I will go to Telegram once an hour. If something urgent, call – I’m in touch.” |
Imagine Your Worst Scenario And Live It Out
Working digitally does not mean being in touch around the clock. It’s one thing if you agree to respond to messages within an hour. Another is if constant tension and guilt create negative attitudes. For example, these:
- “Since I communicate with clients, I must always be available.”
- “If I answer long, the boss will think I am messing around.”
- “On a remote site, you can never close Telegram.”
Ask yourself what you are afraid of. Urgency? What if it doesn’t exist? The client understands that you have other tasks, and a colleague can ask a question someone else. Try saying you’re behind schedule and see if you can ask the client to move the deadline.
Try Using Your Smartphone Less
The fear of being left without communication, even for half an hour, is a sign of digital addiction. To cope with it, you must be separated from your smartphone as often as possible. Set rules: “Gadgets are not allowed in the bedroom” or “Smartphones are prohibited before breakfast.”
You don’t need to immediately arrange a week-long digital detox or replace your smartphone with a Nokia button. Going to lunch without a gadget is already a victory.
Emily and the editor agree on new rules. If edits arrive before 3 pm, Emily makes them by 9 pm. If they arrive after 15:00, Emily corrects the text the next day. Emily no longer worries about the editor thinking she’s messing around. Going to the shower without your phone no longer seems like the height of irresponsibility.
Work Out of Bed
Every day, Matthew wakes up, grabs his laptop from his bedside table, places it on a tray table, and gets to work. Matthew is pleased – he used to get to work in an hour, and now in 30 seconds. You don’t even have to get out of bed. Now Matthew has breakfast in the afternoon and brushes his teeth in the evening. And it never seems to rest.
Don’t Work Where You Sleep Or Eat
It seems great to call up a client from under the covers. Or equip a workplace next to the cupboard with cookies. But after a couple of weeks, the bedroom ceases to be associated with relaxation, and the kitchen with family dinners. The brain gets used to the fact that in bed and at the dinner table, you need to solve problems. Because of this, it becomes difficult for us to fall asleep, and thoughts about work never leave our heads.
Create Rituals
For the brain to have time to recover, you need a regimen. It will help support the rituals. Get a separate cup that you will drink only during working hours. When you get down to business, wear clothes that you could wear to the office. Change into your home at the end of the day. Go for a short walk in the morning.
Matthew orders a separate table and equips a mini-study at home. It is unusual to work not in pajamas. But soon, Matthew notices that he concentrates more easily and completes tasks faster. The workspace in the apartment has boundaries, and Matthew has free time.
Clench your Jaw And Raise your Shoulders
The bank’s application calculates Alena’s monthly expenses. She wonders how she could spend so much on massages and painkillers. Lately, she has been having headaches. Emily doesn’t notice that she is clenching her teeth as soon as she opens her laptop.
Listen to the Body
Take a 10-15 minute break every 45 minutes. Like change at school. Close your laptop, turn on Do Not Disturb mode on your smartphone, and turn your attention to your body. Focus on where you feel tension – on the jaw, neck, or shoulders.
Stretch to Relax
If the muscles are tense, the usual warm-up will not help – waving your arms and rotating your head will not relieve jaw clamps and neck pain. To relax:
- Increase the muscle tension and hold it for as long as possible.
- Drop your shoulders and open your jaw.
- Sit back in a chair or lay down.
Relax your eyes. Draw a small dot on the window or put a sticker on it. Move your gaze from the point to the most distant object outside the window and back.
Consider Why You Have a Clamp
Tension in the body has a mental source. Of course, you can stretch and meditate diligently in the morning. But if you do not vent to emotions and experiences, these exercises will not help you remove the clamps.
You often wanted to hide when your mother yelled at you as a child. Out of habit, you pull in your neck and lift your shoulders before talking to your boss. Orbiting your nails when you don’t know what to do with your hands while waiting for a client’s call.
Understanding why you have chronic tension is easier with a therapist. It will help you notice blocks with spasms and understand what causes them – fear, anger, anxiety, or a desire to control everything.
Emily gets nervous when she sits down to make edits. She does not agree with some of the comments but is afraid to discuss them with the editor. Emily decides to go to a psychotherapist to understand what is causing the clamps and get rid of them.
Set Multiple Alarms to Wake Up
Matthew sets his alarm for 9, 9:10, 9:20, and 9:25, but he can’t get up before ten. Matthew blames himself for not getting up at 9 sharp, but he has a new plan: he will set alarms for 9:07, 9:12, and 9:17 as well. Now he’ll wake up just in time.
Relax
If the body stubbornly sabotages alarm clocks, then it needs a break. It is useless to convince yourself that you must get up at seven in the morning to prepare for the planning meeting. Remember: first you – then work. Sleep first, then everything else.
Sometimes you need to force yourself to go to sleep. Just admit to yourself that four hours is not enough and you will not be able to work well if you do not get enough sleep again.
When you get enough sleep, experiment with your wake-up time. You may find that getting up at 7:15 is easier than getting up at 7:30.
Matthew remembers going to bed even later than usual for the last three weeks. He was working on a website for a major client. Matthew now understands that he cannot come up with anything cool in this state. He prioritizes sleep and goes to bed at ten.
Close Your Laptop an Hour Before Bed
Fatigue is muscular and mental. After a long walk or an intense workout, you feel like your body needs rest – go to bed early or don’t go to the gym the next day. Mental fatigue is harder to notice – often, we realize that we are overworked only when we have sat in front of the screen for 9 hours without a break.
It is important to finish work at least an hour before bed. The brain continues to think about tasks if you do not disconnect from them in time. Don’t be surprised if you dream of an illustration you’ve worked on all day or an urgent message from your boss.
Wake Up Earlier Than Needed
On deadline days, Emily doesn’t sleep well, jumping out of bed at 5 am and sitting down to reread the text. Suddenly she missed a repetition, bad wording, or a typo. We need to recheck everything. Three times.
Check with a Doctor
Restless sleep can be a symptom of hormonal imbalance and depression – go to an endocrinologist or neurologist. Getting up early is a sign of intense anxiety. You can discuss this with a psychologist.
Emily gets tested and shares her problem with a therapist. Emily constantly worries that she wrote an average article and that the media will no longer want to cooperate with her. The therapist reminds Emily of her impressive portfolio and the skills she has proven over time.
With a psychologist, Emily lists articles she has written in the last three months. Emily looks at the number “24” and is proud of herself – it seems that she works well and hard. Periodically, Emily still wakes up an hour before the alarm, but now she doubts her abilities much less.
You can find a psychologist here: you need to fill out a short questionnaire. You will be able to choose from professionals with whom you are confident. If a psychologist doesn’t work for you, that’s okay – try another one.
Scroll the Feed to Take Your Mind Off Work
When Matthew gets tired of talking to customers, he switches to the Instagram feed. Between phone calls, Matthew reads Telegram channels or sticks to TikTok. Sometimes he gets so carried away that he is late for meetings.
Monitor Screen Time
The switch that social media provides is an illusion. They do not help to relax but load the brain with unnecessary information. Did you really want to know about the summer 2021 trends while working and the fact that classmate Pete was investing? Decide how many hours a day you are willing to devote to social networks, and often check your screen time on your smartphone. It’s sobering and disciplined. Do you really have to spend 6 hours a day on your phone? And when to live?
Do not set yourself a limit to go to Instagram for a maximum of 15 minutes. The more you demand from yourself initially, the more you suffer if things don’t work out. Look at the average time you spend scrolling every day and subtract 20%. You will get a number that is really worth striving for.
Create a New Habit
Replace a bad habit with a good one. We are not kidding. If you have 15 minutes to spare, do 50 sit-ups, do the dishes, walk the dog, or book a table for the evening. This will shake you up and reset your head. The new habit mustn’t be a burden. I don’t want to squat – well, don’t, then lie down. Otherwise, you will be able to overcome yourself a couple of times, and then you will want to get into TikTok again.
Matthew closes all the tabs and includes small things between calls – calling his mother, bathing in the bathroom, and going to the bakery. At the end of the day, Matthew feels less tired than usual. And he also unexpectedly dealt with the list of personal affairs that he usually left for the evening: he went to the store, washed the dishes, and even managed to vacuum.
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