Learn to have a weekend off every now and then to unwind

6.15   Don't be a Weekend Warrior

Productivity hack no.67 from '60 Ways to Hurray! by Ralph Varcoe.

Have you had a boss who sends emails out to their team on the weekend with asks for information or actions? I have been on the receiving end of these and they always made me feel a bit jumpy. Under pressure. “They’ve sent this on the weekend so it must be urgent. I’d better reply now.”

If you receive something like this and decide to respond you’ll spend your precious weekend time on something that 99% guaranteed could have waited until Monday morning. That’s time away from your own passions, hobbies and family to answer something that is unlikely to have been needed on a Sunday!

I’m ashamed to say that I’m guilty of having done this to my teams in the past. I now try to avoid it if at all possible.

If you’re working on a client tender that has a deadline of 9am Monday morning then it’s fine to work with the team over the weekend, as long as everyone is agreed that’s what you’re all going to do. (Although, having said that, if you implement some of the smart productivity tips in this book you may find it’s all completed by the previous Friday).

What I’m suggesting is that you should avoid sending out unsolicited and unnecessary emails to anyone. By all means draft the email but don’t send it until it needs to land in their inbox.

Ultimately it’s about treating others how you’d like to be treated yourself at the same time as being sure whether something is both important and urgent.