(Forbes) -- Some people don’t like to take time off from their job because they fear they will get behind. But it is not taking time off from work that could cause you to get behind in your career. Time off can increase your effectiveness. So think of the weekend as an investment in your long-term success.
Don’t be a work martyr. Pride yourself in learning to work smarter, not harder. Here are five ways to regain control of your weekend:
1. Know that time off is time well spent.
Weekends are not meant for professionals to feel guilty. Weekends are days for professionals to decompress and recharge to continue being successful.
Studies show that breaks lower stress and increase both productivity and creativity.
Use the weekend to invest in yourself to be better at your career.
2. Be a team player.
When you work with others, you can spread the work around. You can designate people to be on call certain days. If you are part of a team, leverage your colleagues and set a schedule that distributes the work equally. If you are a solo professional, consider developing a network in which you can refer work to fellow solo colleagues.
3. Enable your out-of-office message, if it makes you feel better.
It is generally recognized that people step away from their work on the weekend and, therefore, don’t need to enable their out-of-office reply. But if you still feel the need to be on call, it may help to enable this message. Letting people know that you will not respond immediately can help you to de-stress.
4. If you must, check your messages at a specified time.
If you feel you can’t not check your e-mail or voice messages for 48 hours, identity a set time in which you allow yourself to check your messages. For example, you might decide to check your messages at eleven o’clock each weekend morning, and hold yourself to 30 minutes.
5. Recognize that a professional’s work never ends.
Whether you are a lawyer, doctor, engineer or project manager, you find yourself moving on to the next task after you finish the previous task. The work never ends, and being a professional is understanding and being comfortable with never-ending work. The work will always be there when you return on Monday. So don’t let it consume your weekends.
If you want to advance your career, give yourself the weekends off. Give yourself time to recharge and be better at what you do.
