Take time off from work to do work LINKEDIN | 10 AUGUST, 2016

How many CEOs feel that they always end up with lots of unfinished work – work that Is important for the organisation’s progress? The 8-10 hours that we get in the physical work place does not seem enough. We must take time off work to complete our work. Our workplace is our big hurdle. The office (or other places of work) is our time stealer and idea staller.

The office culture is not just infested with meetings, but does not provide ‘blocks’ of time (and mind capacity) required to read, analyse, reflect, ideate, synthesise, imagine, evaluate in depth, power-write, think disruptively and beyond the daily clutter, develop conviction and erase fear and despondency. Maybe you are not deprived of all these, but some of these surely are not receiving undivided time and mind-energy. These require three things : a switch off mechanism to push daily chores out of mind, a switch-on mechanism to open minds to intense lateral thinking, reading or writing and a sense of fulfilment when such ‘quality’ time is spent.

Our daily life at work has suffered more significantly post-smartphone. Emails, Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, text messaging, following news and many other habits have invaded our wake-up times, including time at work. For some, these are addictions and for the others, these are slightly short of it. The usual time wasters like meetings, staff walk-ins (some maybe necessary), ceremonies, social and professional commitments continue with the same vigour, despite enablers like google docs (or similar shared editing of documents), skypes and the like. In effect, without supplanting the traditional time wasters, the new ‘time raiders’ have actually conspired to make it worse. Even if we save a few minutes here and there, the block of time required for fundamental, creative and path breaking contributions is elusive.

So, it is time to take off from work to complete our work – work that has significantly more potency for game changer ideas or philosophies than our rut-filled routines. CEOs (and maybe other senior managers) need to carve out big chunks of time away from work – not for golf, not for travel, not for new meetings, not for more smartphone indulgence, not for sleep and rest, not for sly entertainment, not even wine – but to work in a space that is 100% yours and only yours. Coffee, paper and pen are all that you need (your Starbucks space in your space – no disclaimer necessary as I have nothing to do with Starbucks, am not even a regular customer). I am hesitant to add a laptop, but if it comes without internet connection (or firewalled from distractive online devils), I may relent. It is akin to our good old 2-3 hours of pen and paper examination where we are only allowed to breathe, think and write. How often do we need this ? – as often as it works for you, perhaps once or twice a week. It is not the same as once-a-year off-site meetings. You know what happens there and despite claims of rejuvenated mind and spirit, it is too infrequent to make a big difference. Your weekends are not for this either – in as much as your mind may not switch off completely from work thinking, the weekend is for you, your interests, your family and friends – that’s already too many claimants for your time!

Some people need people to agitate their minds better. Such consultative time should be separate from the me-time and can perhaps follow that when there is an inventory of raw and semi-processed ideas and questions ready for the next stroke. I mentioned earlier about the ‘sense of fulfilment’ – it is important to feel good about this ‘time for work off work’ and grow into it, as any guilt is not going to help. You probably will also need to learn to ignore the critics, who may only see that you are ‘out-of-sight’ but would not know that you are ‘at work’ but in a different space. There is clearly a new learning curve to ascend. Try it. Now!