Protect your Sundays at all costs
You read that right :)
Raw and Real Conversation
The year is 2015. The first year of my official job (I had interned for 3 years previously, though).
I am sitting with a colleague of mine and our manager for reviewing a report.
From work conversation we suddenly moved to a conversation on managing our time.
Because I had been reading Robin Sharma for years, I blurted out:
“I keep my phone on silent mode at some particular times. On weekends, all of the time.”
Why do I call it blurting out?
Because my manager, who was a great man (and I am still in touch with him), said, “You have no idea how busy I am. The Group Head can call me up any time and I must be available.”
He said that in angst, but I felt pity for him. Still do.
He was right.
He was always available. And had made sure everyone knew he was always available.
But the truth is there is zero correlation between your availability and commitment. As a matter of fact, if you are less available, it also means you are more focused. And more committed.
However, that’s scary for most people.
What if I respond to an email an hour later?
What if I give a “thumbs up” to an FYI message boss sent on WhatsApp—1.5 hours later?
What if my boss texts/calls me for an important conversation and I am unreachable?
And my question is:
So what?
So what my friend?
If your boss is someone who gets agitated if you do not receive a call or are not available 24*7, they do not understand the meaning of focus. It will ultimately affect your focus too. At the same time, whenever you are out of that team, the body would always be in the hyperactive mode.
So what can we do if we are always active?
Here is something that has helped me:
Keep your Sundays to yourself.
I’d rather add Saturdays and before 9/after 6 pm hours too, but for the starters, let’s do Sundays.
Let your team also know of that. That manager of mine knew I was off on Saturdays and Sundays, yet I achieved a great rating those years, because I was focused and committed.
What “Sunday to yourself” means:
No devices on Sunday.
If you call or hang around with friends, make sure they are the ones that energise you, not drain you.
Get bored. Yes please, please get bored. It is the gem we all are silently forgetting.
Hang around with family and friends if you are blessed to be surrounded by a positive breed of those :):):)
Take 30 minutes out and schedule your next week—on a paper, my friend :)
Go for a walk in the park, in the morning as well as evening.
Pickleball? Some courts are covered so you may go any time of the day
Lay on the couch and get into a fiction book that you can’t keep down.
Have hobbies for real, such as stitching, cooking, cleaning (it is Deepika Padukone’s hobby), knitting, painting, reading, writing—whatever.
But make sure you are doing nothing on devices, just to reiterate.
At first, it is hard.
Most people are chronically online.
However, once you tell your brain: “I know you are looking for the device, but have you tried standing in the balcony and just chilling?”
You will have revelations you never had.
To give you a sneak peek into my life:
I plan my days around no work on Saturdays and Sundays.
Mostly half of Saturdays I am still working. Sigh, need to work on that.
Almost every Friday I am saying a polite no to a call (or more) on a Saturday or a Sunday.
I read (reading Anxious People by Fredrik Backman and The Wrong Daughter by Dandy Smith for this weekend).
I write. Most of the books I write are first written on paper. Yes :)
I legit force myself to get bored :)
Of course I walk.
Basically do everything that makes no sense to the world.
The saddest part is, whenever I tell this to someone, they give me all the reasons why they are busy and why they do not have a luxury like me.
Firstly, I work very hard when I am working. So hard that I bet it would make most people faint with glory.
And it is heartbreaking to see why people think doing nothing is a luxury.
As far as I can see, it is only necessary. It is all about time-management. And legit believing you have only 5 days in a week.
The Parkinsons’s Principle states your work expands or shrinks in proportion to the time you have. You were not meant to be constantly grinding and having a device as your extended body part.
You have a life.
And modern luxury is not about getting a free stay in a Marriott or Taj with your credit card points. Modern luxury is all about keeping your weekends (okay at least Sundays) empty.
It is in this emptiness, that you will get your best ideas.
It is in this emptiness, that you will find answers to questions you have been looking for.
It is in this emptiness, that you will move on from something you have been trying for years, and then it happens suddenly.
As we wrap up, let me share a story of one of my clients in the Middle East. He is the CEO of a large organisation, and a medical doctor too. Which means, he has to be available all of the times.
In our very first call few months back, he told me that the best thing about his life is his family. Since his weekly off is on Fridays and Saturdays, I can never get him to get on a call on these two days. He spends those days with his daughters. In the initial days of our working together, when I push for a call on Friday, he would suggest a Sunday. Learning from him, I would gently move the call to Monday.
We both were (and are) protecting our weekends.
While getting great work done.
Yes, that is possible :)
My friend, no one is going to ever give you that advice. Because most people don’t do that actually!
However, once you try this out, nothing would ever be better than this positive addiction.
Make time to get bored, read a book, stare at the sunrise and sunset, walk in the park, and most importantly, divorce your devices on Sundays.
You will live the most luxurious life ever. Promise.
2 Raw One-Liners:
Dealing with success shapes your career. Dealing with rejection shapes your character.
Not a lot of people would love you for saying no often. But guess who will, when you do?
3 Real Gratitudes:
To have clean home. I called Urban company deep cleaning yesterday, and I am so so thankful for the things they do. I just hope they treat their staff well, too.
Discovered a new park near my home. Speaking of luxury :)
Listened to my body and napped each time it shouted it needed to nap. Got out more productive :)
Alright then, friend. I hope you liked this. And I hope you engage yourself in activities beyond devices at least on Sundays.
We all deserve that luxury :)
On that note, stay raw, stay real, and never stop reading.
I’ll see you next week.
Nishtha Gehija
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Instant access ebooks for your reading, and spend some time with yourself:
The Corporate Life Handbook: The book everyone working a corporate job needs :)
The Career Changing Guide: My bestseller so far :)
How to Deal with Heartbreak: Because, life happens :(
Every Writer Needs to Read this: I wish I had this one, when I was starting out as a writer
This is What You are Looking for (Paperback): Small Life Lessons for a Happier Life