Is work taking over your life?

4. Get enough sleep. People in ‘long hours’ organisations tend to be short on sleep. Everyone needs to unwind after work and if you work late this leaves less time for rest. Being permanently tired will make you less effective at work and you’ll take longer to get your work done. Break the cycle by getting plenty of rest and then working at your best.
   
   
5. Start letting people know, firmly but politely, that you’re not going to work all hours. Tell your boss you’ve finished your work and are going home. If you’ve done the work you need to then don’t worry about disapproving looks.
   
   
6. If you’re the boss then set a great example by leaving earlier and encourage others to do this too. Working long hours doesn’t make you a good boss, working reasonable hours does.

It’s not easy cutting back on hours when you’re put under pressure not to. But almost everyone can shorten their hours significantly with a bit of careful planning. Once you’ve cut your hours you may, of course, have to deal with things you’ve been putting off or avoiding in other areas of your life by using work as an excuse. But then you know, by now, that you’re up to any challenge and that there’s nothing you can’t sort out.