Saving Your Sanity in the 24/ 7 Work Culture
As society settles into this new technologically assertive communication style, we’ve begun to dismiss traditional boundaries that were set by crazy notions such as “office hours”. Texting is the new email, messages are shorter, more abrupt, and clients expect immediate response throughout the day. In a non-stop working environment, it can be difficult to set boundaries or manage expectations with demanding or emotional clients during what is a significant milestone and disruptive transition in their lives. Here are a few tips for setting boundaries: 3 Rules for your 24/7 Work Environment
Rule #1
Create hard lines in the sand with your personal time.
Have a disciplined daily routine to ensure you are consistently maximizing productivity, meeting personal or family obligations (and not completely losing your sanity!). This includes a hard ‘unplug time’ which means (unless it is a true emergency) you cannot respond to texts, emails, calls after that time. Whenever unplug time begins, be consistent. Setting ground rules up front will send the message to your client that you are a seasoned professional, and not frantically scurrying at odd hours of the night. It will create legitimacy and credibility around your brand and your occupation. Your client will respect you more.
Rule #2
Time Blocking
Create a schedule is important in this industry, even though most week’s unexpected events may knock you off track. Having this schedule as a skeleton of your week, will add peace of mind, and help gauge where you should be focusing your time. Complete your non-urgent administrative duties such as email responses, and social content creation in the mornings before your phone starts ringing. Knocking out these tasks early on, and get ahead of the game for the rest of the day. Two books I recommend reading for productivity and time management: Getting Things Done by David Allen and Traction by Dan Sullivan.
Rule #3
Adapt and Evolve.
Finally, with a grateful spirit for the busy career that you are enjoying, seek out software and technology tools that will help you more effectively and efficiently manage your day. For example, are you using digital calendars and synching software that notifies you when to leave and how long your drive will take you? Are you using CRM tools that will take the follow-ups contacts off your plate or Astro to organize your email box? Applications like Buffer, Evernote and Hours a few of my favorites. Read more about them here.
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