This reflection came from one reader in response to our series of blogs on ‘OOO’ (out of office) messages for example. We share the ideas we received here (thanks R):

“Excellent and timely articles.

I have been experimenting with some of these (and would dearly love to try one or two others).

Although I have, and try to maintain, very separate work and social lives, I have found that the way I operate them has become almost identical.

By which I mean that work is ruled by desktop/laptop/Blackberry/mobile etc and social life is ruled by laptop/smartphone/internet. This means that when those two seemingly distinct worlds collide, which they inevitably do, it’s not always clear which laptop/’phone I need to reach for.

I recently found myself very much behind with what used to be called ‘paperwork’ – I don’t know the modern equivalent – in my private life (bills, correspondence etc). I had to specifically allocate a set amount of time on a specific day when I could deal with that and do so by switching off/ignoring everything to do with work. (For me, that’s a downside of the ‘digital only’ world – timely paper reminders kept me on track and ‘going paperless’ sometimes means I let things slide!)

I think I managed to give myself a three hour block when I did nothing but sort out those things important to me/my family. It was very liberating.

The ‘day blocking’ you cite here is something I will take up. I recently got back from a short period of leave to be faced with two conflicting issues: my first day back involved three meetings; and my bulging inbox contained ‘promises’ from colleagues about urgent briefings and the like that I would provide immediately upon my return.

The next leave period I have, I will clear at least one day either side. I have to say, the ‘e-mail bankruptcy’ idea is very appealing – I shall consider that further.”

Tags: balance, communication