{"id":1639,"date":"2014-01-03T16:15:38","date_gmt":"2014-01-03T21:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/peroty.com\/blog\/?p=1639"},"modified":"2014-01-03T16:15:38","modified_gmt":"2014-01-03T21:15:38","slug":"leave-by-example","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peroty.com\/blog\/wrote-about\/leave-by-example\/","title":{"rendered":"Leave By Example"},"content":{"rendered":"

Go home when work is over.<\/h3>\n

This is a deceptively simple idea. When your work day is complete, leave work. It’s something I’ve struggled with as I tried to clear my ticket queue. I love to tell myself if I just spend a few more minutes on this problem I’ll have a solution.<\/em><\/p>\n

I won’t. I never do. I need to go home and pick it up tomorrow. You know when I do find the solution for my problem? Tomorrow, after I’ve slept and rested. After I’ve stopped thinking about it.<\/p>\n

When work is over, I go home. I don’t stay late. I don’t give my free time to work. I am a contractor which means I stop getting paid the moment I work 8 hours. I don’t get paid overtime. When I work late, I work for free. Don’t work for free.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Leave
\nVia Gratisphotography.com<\/a><\/p>\n

My time is valuable and so it yours. I leave by example<\/a>. Working as a team lead, I would leave at the end of the day and urge my team to do the same. Your team takes cues from you. Be a good example and others will follow.<\/p>\n

Time is finite and comes from somewhere.<\/p>\n

Go Eat Lunch<\/h3>\n

I have a hard time taking this advice, but it’s important. Eat lunch away from your desk.<\/strong> Get up and go to the cafeteria, find a restaurant you like. Find a place to eat where you won’t be disturbed.<\/p>\n

When I am at my desk, my co-workers take that as a signal I am working. So I can be disturbed. Even if I’m clearly eating lunch, it doesn’t stop the interruptions or requests for work as I eat.<\/p>\n

I do it to myself. I will be trying to find a solution to a problem as I eat. Or I’ll be sending emails. I need to stop working. I need to switch gears.<\/p>\n

I usually eat in about 15 minutes. With my remaining 15 minutes I read a book or listen to music. If I’m having a rough day I’ll go for a walk or close my eyes and set a timer for a midday nap.<\/p>\n

Non-Smoker Smoke Break<\/h3>\n

Smokers get to go outside for a few minutes a couple of times per day. I decided I would do the same thing.<\/a> Instead of smoking, I go for walks. I read a book on my phone or go through my Instapaper<\/a> queue.<\/p>\n

I use the chance to get some fresh air and clear my head. It works wonder to step away from a problem and come back to it with a clear head and a different perspective.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, it saves me from never leaving my desk for 8 straight hours. I’ve had days where I stand up to collect myself and go home and wonder why my legs are so stiff and sore. It’s from sitting all day without moving.<\/p>\n

Leave on time. Go to lunch. Leave your desk throughout the day. You’ll be happier and healthier at the end of the day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Go home when work is over. This is a deceptively simple idea. When your work day is complete, leave work. It’s something I’ve struggled with as I tried to clear my ticket queue. I love to tell myself if I just spend a few more minutes on this problem I’ll have a solution. I won’t. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Leave By Example. Stop working for free. http:\/\/wp.me\/p1rw6z-qr","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[524,195],"class_list":["post-1639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wrote-about","tag-breaks","tag-work"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peroty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peroty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peroty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peroty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peroty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1639"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/peroty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1651,"href":"https:\/\/peroty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1639\/revisions\/1651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peroty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peroty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peroty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}