Embrace the disconnect

Summary

People take a work-centric or life-centric perspective to their careers. Regardless of the world-view, disconnecting from work completely can be beneficial to workers and their colleagues and employers.

For the last few weeks, I’ve been away, driving around in Botswana's deserts, delta and forests. You may not have noticed, but I haven’t posted here or on LinkedIn. In Botswana, even the 5G symbol on your phone can be deceptive. Your eyes may light up at the thought of fast internet, but you'll be disappointed once you fire up a browser. 

During my trip, I met many interesting people. One of them - a nurse from Australia, is a compulsive overlander. He’s shipped his Landcruiser into Africa and plans to spend a year there. While at a prolonged leopard sighting in the delta, he revealed he has a Starlink since his partner was working from the bush. He even invited me to his camp in case I needed fast WiFi. Tempting as the offer was, I didn’t take it up.

My home for three weeks in Botswana

To me, disconnection is a fleeting privilege. For 220-odd days in a year, I’m at work. So there’s no question of disconnecting there. Add to this, the responsibility of kids in school, an octogenarian dad and a septuagenarian mom and my family expects me to be online as well. Let’s not forget I have bills to pay, courses to complete and news to read. Like many of you, I’m connected more often than not.

I wasn’t always like this. I remember texting with my boss at midnight in a pre-Slack era over good old SMS! Until a few years back, I’d check and even respond to work emails over weekends and during vacations. I took pride in how engaged I was through work systems, even when I was away. It wasn’t until I started writing my book that I realised how much I was letting work impinge on the rest of my life. I’d begin the morning looking at email and chat on my phone and lull myself to sleep at night while checking work apps. This level of “connection” didn’t allow me to focus on my writing, and worse, it disrupted my sleep patterns when I most needed a well-rested brain.

Make no mistake about it - I still enjoy my profession, and I work for decent employers. Left to my own devices, I’ll find it hard to resist the temptation to check in occasionally. Harmless as it may seem, such check-ins don’t foster a great work environment either. Sure, my bosses may consider me a rather dedicated worker, but spare a thought for the precedent it sets. After 17 years in the company, some people inevitably look at me as a role model; however miserably I may fail at living up to that image. I don’t want my younger, less-tenured colleagues to feel like working during off-hours is normal. It only takes a few harmless check-ins to make team members feel they must always be on email and IM.

So, over the last few years, I’ve delegated my work-life separation to systems. Here’s what I do to keep my indiscipline at bay.

• I use Freedom as my primary app and website blocker across devices. This allows me to overcome the limitations of Apple’s Screen Time, and my blocklists work across operating systems and devices.

• I can access work email and IM for only three blocks during work days.

• 0700 - 0930

• 1130 - 1330

• 1600 - 2000

While it may seem restrictive at first blush, that’s more than 8 hours of access to work communication.

• During weekends, I have no access to work email or IM. Freedom cuts off these apps from 2000 on a Friday to 0700 on a Monday.

• Except for my phone, personal devices (i.e. my tablet and laptop) don’t sync to my work apps. 

• I turn off synchronisation for my work accounts during vacations, even on my mobile phone. If I try to check my work email in a moment of curiosity, I’ll have the extra friction of turning on the sync first.

Those little hacks have helped me enjoy my time with family and friends without distraction and set an example for the work environment I want to promote. Regardless of how passionate you are about your work, I encourage you to find ways to separate your professional life from personal time. Unlike me, your life may revolve around your work, and that’s ok! Embracing the disconnect can even help you return to work with renewed energy. Everyone wins.