This Week’s ABC…

• Advice of the Week: How I learned to disconnect from work—even when it felt impossible.
• Breakthrough Recommendation: A transformative TED Talk that challenged my beliefs—“The Art of Stillness” by Pico Iyer.
• Challenge: One practical step you can take this week to start unplugging without compromising your responsibilities.

*📖 *Advice of the Week: Set Boundaries To Unplug

I used to think that being constantly available made me a better leader. I worried that if I wasn’t on top of every email or Slack message, I’d fall behind or let my team down.

Sound familiar?

3 Strategies For Workaholism

1. Recognize That Constant Connectivity Isn’t Sustainable

• Burnout Benefits No One: Working nonstop leads to decreased productivity and increased errors over time.
• Quality Over Quantity: Being always “on” doesn’t mean you’re performing at your best.
• **Work Will Go On: **The reality is that the pressure you feel is just from yourself. Work goes on. Life goes on. Let your team be without you—it’s healthy.

*“But my job demands constant attention!”*Change your thinking:

I wanted to maintain the air of being responsive, approachable, available.

That’s how I burned out.

Here are 3 strategies for unplugging and creating boundaries around work.

2. Actually Set Boundaries

• Communicate Clearly: Let your team know your core working hours.
• Emergency Protocols: Establish what constitutes an urgent issue and how you’ll be contacted.
• Evening Wind-Down: Set a time after which you stop checking work messages.
• Weekend Boundaries: Allocate specific times for work, leaving the rest free.

By setting expectations and clear boundaries, I found that urgent matters were rare, and most things could wait until the next day.

We oftentimes need to just zoom out and realize we’re not in a business of life or death situations. (Perhaps you’re in healthcare, and you are—in that case, more power to you. Still, I urge you to create boundaries though.)

3. Start Small First

• Start Small:
  • Micro-Breaks: Take 5-minute breaks every hour to reset.
  • Tech-Free Meals: Avoid devices during lunch or dinner.
• Modeling Healthy Behavior: Set boundaries and show your team it’s okay to set boundaries. By doing this, you encourage your team to do the same, reducing burnout across the board.
• Empowering Others: Trust your team to handle responsibilities, which fosters trust, growth, and confidence.

I noticed that when I started to disconnect appropriately, my team became more autonomous and efficient.

That’s because I gave them the chance to work without me.

If I didn’t give them that chance, they wouldn’t have been able to grow.

*🚀 *Breakthrough Recommendation: “The Art of Stillness” TED Talk by Pico Iyer

If you’re struggling to find peace in the midst of constant crazy life chaos, this TED Talk is a must-watch.

The author is a travel writer, and talks about being in a taxi after work in Time Square, realizing he was racing around so much that he could never catch up with his life.

He had manifested the life he dreamed of as a boy: a nice apartment, interesting friends, a fascinating job.

But he couldn’t quite separate himself enough from his identities to figure out if he was truly happy.

He felt like he was constantly catching up, and so he couldn’t even understand if he was truly happy.

He suggests that taking time to be still actually enhances creativity and effectiveness rather than the opposite.

*“What will my team think if I’m not always available?”*Change your thinking: *“I can’t just ignore emails—what if something urgent comes up?”*Change your thinking:

*“I don’t have time to unplug for hours!”*It’ll convince you that you need to just sit still.

“So in an age of acceleration, nothing can be more exhilarating than going slow. And in an age of distraction, nothing is so luxurious than paying attention. And in an age of constant movement, nothing is so urgent as sitting still.”He abandoned his dream life for a single room in Kyoto, Japan.

He found happiness in being still, and finding peace.