This post is a message to myself that hopefully, you can use.
I am off from work for the holiday and every day I have the urge to check my email or do some work “get caught up”. Over my career, this pull has become more pronounced, especially since became a manager.
The problem is that I will never be caught up because there is always more to do than I have time. Cal Newport calls this an infinite buffer, but I think of it as an infinite PEZ dispenser of work tasks.
It might be okay for me to do one little thing here and there, though if I am not careful this can become a habit regularly working while I am supposed to be off trying to keep up with the new expectations I set. Plus, I want to set an example for my team members and I don’t want them to feel they should be working on their time off.
I have to keep telling myself I will have time to work on these tasks when I return. What will happen if I get things done a bit earlier? Nothing, a new task will just take its place in the queue. And how much time would I save? Maybe a few hours. It is rarely worth it.
Funny Instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/p/C1JAnRBA4_1/