The Creative Group offers five tips to avoid working weekends:
- Prioritize. Take 10 minutes at the start of each day to assign a one-to-three “urgency rating” for each item on your to-do list. Tackle top-rated tasks as soon as possible and postpone or delegate items with less urgency.
- Empower employees. Performing certain tasks yourself may initially be quicker than explaining them to someone else. But time spent training staff now can reduce your workload later and improve the overall skill set of your team.
- Rethink meetings. Take a close look at any standing or upcoming meetings and ask yourself if there are enough agenda items to merit a gathering.
- Schedule personal time. Block time on your calendar to relax or pursue outside interests on weekends. Hobbies can feed your creativity, increase your happiness and provide extra motivation when you’re back in the office.
- Seek help. If overtime is constant, consider bringing in freelancers to help ease the workload for you and your team.
Domeyer cautioned that regularly working 10- or 12-hour days is a recipe for burnout. “Everyone needs time to disconnect from the job, unwind and recharge their creative battery. Delegating tasks and keeping a check on employees’ workloads can help managers and their teams achieve better work-life balance.”