Being Done for the Day

When I taught, I always knew when I was done for the day. When I left campus, I usually left work back on campus with few exceptions. Therefore, when I left campus, I was done for the day. The work was there for me to restart again in the morning.

But I’ve been working remotely now for 19 years. 19 years! And it’s much harder to know when I am done for the day. If I’ve ticked everything off the to-do list, and it’s beyond a certain hour, am I done for the day? If I have to stop so I can make dinner, am I done? I’ve been trying to move to a different room to work on personal projects and delineate between work and home.

But if I had nothing to do after work, there is a chance I would just keep working. So I make myself things I need to do.

Oliver Burkeman recently wrote about the concept of being done for the day. He explains: “When you end the day feeling like there’s vastly more you ought to have done, you’re telling your nervous system it can’t take a break; and you’re reinforcing an idea of your work as an oppressive and insatiable force.” So he encourages you to set a point in the morning when you will know you are done for the day and stick to that endpoint. It’s more about “feeling done” than actually “being done.”

It’s an interesting read if you also struggle with this.