Shut down Ritual

Last few weeks, I’ve adopted a shutdown ritual at work. 5 pm, bang on.

I ensured that I completed the day’s work and made notes of the tasks for the next day.

Inspired by Cal Newport’s podcast episode with Andrew Huberman.

It felt good. I tend to have a hard time mentally disengaging from work, especially when working from home, as the laptop is so accessible and easy to log back on.

But on this occasion, I managed to fight the temptation. I didn’t feel guilty; it felt great.

Most importantly, I was mentally present for my wife and kids, giving them my full attention, bedtime routine, etc.

Something that can be difficult for people who “dwell” too much on things (in this case, work).

Chilled Out

I enjoyed my evenings better.

• I listened to a few podcasts

• I caught up with a few friends over the phone for an hour

Dopamine activities.

Again, I was able to be mentally present while doing these activities due to the shutdown ritual.

My Pockets of rest

For some of us at work, we may have “busy times” and “less busy” times.

Over the years, I didn’t really make the best use of the “less busy” / “downtime”. Either I’d procrastinate or start work earlier, aiming to get ahead when the busy times arrive.

But what I found was that when the busy times rolled, I didn’t always have the energy to fully perform.

Stress crept in, more irritability, and I wasn’t as sharp as I’d like to be at work.

Potential burnout, and now I’m spending more time working on correcting mistakes, and there’s a spiral.

I knew sh*t had to change, it’s not sustainable.

Calm before the storm

This period before the busy period we call the “calm before the storm”.

In the past, I’ve regretted not using the less busy periods to recharge my energy levels.

During this period, I’m super intentional to:

• Recharge

• Rest

• Recover

I’ll calendar block the deadline tasks and the headspace time to get the work done. This allows less friction getting straight back to business once my resting period is over.

Slowing down

The above forces me to slow down, enabling me to enjoy moments of life better.

I no longer feel like my evenings or weekends are flying past me, and I actually look forward to crushing work more.

It helps me “task switch” better, doing the right things at the appropriate time.

Task for you: Identify when you have these downtimes and schedule something for yourself. Something you enjoy doing that takes your mind off work

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Lastly,

Stay Different,

The AuDHD Exec

Disclaimer: I am not your psychiatrist, coach, doctor. Neurodiverse Diary does not provide medical services or professional counselling and is not a substitute for professional medical care. Everything I publish represents my opinions, experience, not advice.