[deleted]
How to Leave Work at Work
21–30 of 60 posts
Re: How to Leave Work at Work
#22[deleted]
Re: How to Leave Work at Work
#23Tangentially related question for the hackernews audience: When you learn, do you do so on company time or personal time? I often feel like if I'm not "working" (IE; actually producing something) then I'm somehow cheating the company. This doesn't apply for the simple "trial-and-error" stuff that kind of comes as a part of the job, but sitting down to read a book or watch some tutorials etc; I could never imagine doi…
IMHO this type of learning can be work as long as it aligns with what the company needs. Dicking around with Rust because you think it might be useful one day doesn't count. There's a grey area for sure.
I also think that it's healthier to strive for setting+hitting ambitious outcomes, and thinking less about literal hours that you're working.
(My blog co-author wrote a post about a very closely related topic - the TLDR is that it's really a manager's job to look for ways to train their team by aligning learning areas with what the business needs. Without that alignment, you'll always have the tension that you called out where it can feel like you're not doing "real work" while learning: https://staysaasy.com/management/2020/08/01/Growth-Paths.htm...)
Re: How to Leave Work at Work
#24The thing i struggle with isn't really working extra hours or getting off hour messages. I think those are obvious problems and easy to be aware of.
My biggest problem is just having work thoughts come up, in the shower, eating dinner, on the commute, falling asleep. One time i was on vacation on the other side of the world and out of nowhere i suddenly realized I knew how to handle some problem i was having at work. I wouldn't get back to it for a week, i would need to take notes on my aha moment...
Re: How to Leave Work at Work
#25To help with the 'defining' bit, I've been making a conscious effort to separate work from home over the past few months in a few ways. Even though I'm at home and nobody sees me most of the time, I get into "work clothes", even if it's just a T-Shirt or polo, and trousers. At 5-6PM, I'll shutdown the laptop and put it away, out of sight, and get back into "home clothes". The acts, despite its placebo effect, helps i…
I don't do the work clothes but I shut down my laptop at 6pm and only turn it on the next day. Also, no e-mail or anything work related on any of mother devices.
Re: How to Leave Work at Work
#26Personally, the biggest win was to learn how to leave tasks unfinished. This pays off in two ways - firstly I finish work when I planned to instead of "just five more minutes", which inevitably spins off into a series of open ended diversions. Secondly, it means I can start the next day with something I can sink in to, avoiding the feeling of procrastination and guilt that comes along with that, ultimately resulting…
I try to finish something every day. Sometimes I will work a little later but sometimes I also stop at 3pm. Took me a while to not feel guilty about finishing earlier but otherwise it's very one sided where you are expected to work more when needed but never work less even if things are quiet.
Re: How to Leave Work at Work
#27tl;dr Step 1: Define “After Hours” Step 2: Have Mental Clarity Step 3: Communicate with Your Colleagues Step 4: Get Work Done at Work And I will add my own personal experience: Step 5: Realize you (probably) work a B.S. job[1]. I realized I was dedicating my precious life to the pursuit of profit for people at the very top to the detriment of my own well being. If my job disappeared tomorrow, would society be negativ…
"Step 5: Realize you (probably) work a B.S. job[1]."
Very important to realize this. Also, from my experience if you just work 35 or 40 hours per week but use this time to really work, you are already way more productive than most people.
Re: How to Leave Work at Work
#28Tangentially related question for the hackernews audience: When you learn, do you do so on company time or personal time? I often feel like if I'm not "working" (IE; actually producing something) then I'm somehow cheating the company. This doesn't apply for the simple "trial-and-error" stuff that kind of comes as a part of the job, but sitting down to read a book or watch some tutorials etc; I could never imagine doi…
The short answer is, it should be company time (to at least some degree). I have development as part of my work plan and, while I'm a bit flexible about things, I have absolutely been spending ~half-days this summer on predominantly classes. Some of those more or less directly feed into other work I do, others less so.
But to your broader point, if I need to step back to do some learning for a work task/presentation/etc. I absolutely consider that to be on the clock.
Re: How to Leave Work at Work
#29I encouraged my girlfriend to get a separate cellphone. As a kindergarten teacher it doesn't seem obvious, it is incredible how much they plan and discuss after hours. Now she switches off her phone and enjoys her leisure.
Re: How to Leave Work at Work
#30The thing i struggle with isn't really working extra hours or getting off hour messages. I think those are obvious problems and easy to be aware of. My biggest problem is just having work thoughts come up, in the shower, eating dinner, on the commute, falling asleep. One time i was on vacation on the other side of the world and out of nowhere i suddenly realized I knew how to handle some problem i was having at work.…
All the time! I'll try to email one or two lines to myself to remember it later. I've found this is the quickest way to give myself confidence that I'm not "losing" the idea if I stop thinking about it now.