As an independent marketing consultant, I normally work from my home office, or at clients’ offices, typically within a short drive from home so I don’t have a regular journey to work. A couple of times a month I travel into London by train, and I’ve realised that I enjoy that time to catch up on my personal twitter, read a magazine or browse some articles that I normally feel I don’t have time to read. (I’m lucky enough not to have to travel at rush hour).
Coincidentally, I just read a post this week about somebody lamenting their lack of commute – that opportunity to switch mode from ‘home’ to ‘work’ and using the journey time to mentally adjust to the next phase of the day, putting the previous one behind you.
It’s too easy for me to switch straight into ‘busy mode’ as soon as I get downstairs, and I often work until the last minute when I need to be doing something else, such as cooking dinner, leaving little or no time to switch off! So I’ve decided to try a fake commute, using the time between getting up and arriving in my home office as pretend travelling time. I will find myself a seat somewhere in between bed and office, flick through twitter without purpose, read a book, listen to music or catch up on some articles I’ve been meaning to read … or maybe even just stare out of the window.
Downtime (or ‘switching mode’ time) is important – what do you do to make sure you get yours?