Question of the day: Do you regularly schedule a time to unplug?

In follow up to today's RBC Daily a question for recruiters - Do you regularly schedule a time to unplug?

I try my best on the weekends, but never really works out. So I choose my spots from time to time. I always find at least 3 days work best for me.

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Permalink Reply by jeffreytmoore on November 28, 2011 at 9:48am

Not enough but I'm usually pretty good on Saturday/Sunday!

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Permalink Reply by Stuart Musson on November 28, 2011 at 10:18am

I use the Entrepreneurial Time System (TM) from the Strategic Coach Series to make sure there is balance in my life.

It consists of Focus Days, Buffer Days and Free Days. In a nut shell Focus days are the money making activity days, Buffer days are used for the "stuff" (IE, Paperwork, Research, etc...) that needs to be done to free up Focus days and Free days are days I do absolutely no work related thinking or activities.

Typical week will be Monday all day and Friday afternoons are Buffer, Tuesday-Thursday Focus and Saturday-Sunday Free days. These are all 24 hour periods NOT 8-10 hours "workday".

My family knows all about this system which allows them to fully understand and support it so we have a great home/work balance.

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Permalink Reply by Charlie Allenson on November 28, 2011 at 10:57am

For the sake of what little sanity I have left, I make sure to play my guitar for a few minutes every day, read a non-work related book (take that as a cheesy thriller) for a few minutes and take a walk. Otherwise I get cranky, cantankerous and curmudgeonly. Not to mention a having a serious case of tunnel vision from staring at my computer screen for too long. I find those little breaks help work in more relaxed and production fashion.

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Permalink Reply by Cora Mae Lengeman on November 28, 2011 at 2:16pm

Everyday I take an hour to play with my two golden retrievers.. Usually between 1 and 2 in the afternoon. I spend 1 full day every other week with my two granddaughters - usually from Friday night through dinner Saturday.

I don't have regular work hours - most days I begin at 6:30 or 7:00 AM talking to people on the phone. They are either on their way to work or at their desks already. I will make telephone calls until about 6:00 and take calls after that. I talk with people at 11PM when necessary. My schedule depends on my search load and other people's schedules. I try to make myself available to best suit the people I want to talk/meet with. I meet every candidate before they interview with my clients so I schedule time for that during the weekdays or Saturday mornings.

I stop talking on the telephone whenever I am tired during the day so I work in segments of two to three hours then break for 20 minutes then begin again.

I also make sure that I spend at least four days in a row each month not working - I tell my clients ahead of time and my voicemail will say I am unavailable until XX day. I make sure that I read a fiction book every week, one that I don't have to think about so it's always an easy read (think Debbie Macomber type books) along with one business related book (marketing, recruiting, technology, etc.). I save James Patterson, David Baldacci and others for my four days off.

I like Stuart Musson's system and might try to implement the system to suit my needs - not using full/half days but using hours run together.