Thanks to modern technology it can be really easy to always be checking email and taking calls. This is great for some circumstances but it’s always important to take a break from being always-connected to work. In fact, it can be good for you!
Another trick: simply ask yourself “will anything bad really happen between 5pm and 6am if I turn my back on my inboxes completely?”
To save your own life, create your own list of “tricks” and of rules to impose on yourself. Some of mine that work:
• Switch gears: When tired of “project A,” switch to something else on the list — easier, different, faster-paced or (gasp) fun. Changing rhythm is restorative and you return to the tougher project fresher in an amazingly short time.
• Change chairs and media — draft that important thing in (gasp) longhand in a club chair or on a sofa.