Why it’s important to have downtime at work

Hello dear subscribers. New year, new ESP. I’m giving Beehiiv a spin in hopes that it helps this newsletter grow a bit.

I started this newsletter using Email Octopus. It gave me absolute control over the design and code, but offered little in the way of growth tools. I’ve mentioned my challenges with marketing myself and am hoping Beehiiv helps me reach more people.

If you’re on Beehiiv, I’d love for us to help each other with recommendations! And if you enjoy this issue, please consider telling your friends.

It’s January and my head is clear. But not because I took off 2 weeks in December to “rest and recharge.” I have young kids and was the only one in my house not to get covid. If anything I’m more tired now.

My head is clear because last year I started designing regular downtime into my work weeks.

I’m a lead designer and design manager at Dialpad, and am directly responsible for a large part of the company’s design efforts. I oversee 12-15 projects at any given time, regularly work across teams, and help my direct reports with their careers.

My typical week could look like this:

We’ve all had weeks like this and know it’s no fun. Exhausted at the end of each day but feel like we accomplished nothing. Answering notifications between meetings while squeezing in a 10min lunch somewhere. Feels like a never-ending game of whack-a-mole.

It’s a one-way ticket to phantom burnout.

To make matters worse, it’s also my job to have a vision for my product area and see the forest for the trees. It’s incredibly hard to do that if I’m constantly switching from one thing to another.

Some say their best ideas come while they’re in the shower or walking the dog. Basically anywhere except in front of a screen.

I can relate.

So last year I became more intentional about how I spend my time and began designing regular downtime into my work weeks.

Each week I’ll block a few hours on my calendar and do one of the following:

• Walk or run (without listening to anything).

• Exercise where I don’t have to count reps (without listening to anything).

• Sit somewhere away from an screen and read. Or just sit.

Basically get away from distractions that come from screens and let my brain go on autopilot for a while.

When I’m in front of a screen, I accumulate knowledge:

But only when I let my mind wander am I able to connect the dots to form bigger, deeper ideas.

The key here is that this happens while I’m “at work.”

We all think about work outside of work, but this shouldn’t be the only time we get to do this kind of deep thinking. Thinking is work, so it’s fair to do it while we’re on the clock.

Last year I started doing scheduling a few hours of downtime each week. It’s helped slow down my mind enough to do some blue sky thinking and connect the dots I’ve accumulated. It also keeps work from dominating my thoughts when I’m off the clock.

I’d love to know how you find time to think. Reply to this email and let me know!

Stray Links 🧶 

Who is responsible for the impact of innovative products? Designers are responsible for a product’s UX, but there so much more involved in a product’s impact and we should be thinking beyond the pixels. One of the better articles I read in 2023.

The Obvious, the Easy, and the Possible: An oldie but a goodie about balancing elements in interface design.

What Spotify’s latest layoff means for a career in UX Research is a harsh but real take on the current job market. UX researches help a company learn, but in times of resourcefulness and lean structure, there might genuinely be less interest in learning.

Parcel Unpacked is back this January. The free, online conference has sessions about email design, code, and careers. The sessions this year are so 🔥🔥🔥 that I’ll have to take PTO to catch them all!

Electricity Maps shows how electricity is generated and consumed around the world, including how some regions are incredibly ahead of (or behind) the curve.

If you’ve ever pondered getting a pair of sustainable headphones, House of Marley has you covered. Their store offers a collection of classy audio gear, ranging from in-ear headphone to turntables. Better than best, House of Marley’s products are made from sustainable, mindfully sourced materials.

66 Good News Stories You Didn't Hear About in 2023, Future Crunch’s annual roundup of positive news stories that didn’t make the headlines (because bad news always travels faster and farther).

A primer on a few key phrases to understand climate action. Among other things, this helped me understand the 3 scopes of emissions.

Over the next few issues, I’ll be switching things up a bit. I already mentioned the new ESP, but I’m also trying out a new format (one topic + several links) as well as a new send time.

Again if you’re on Beehiiv, I’d love for us to help each other with recommendations!

Thanks for reading ✌️
- Ted Goas (@tedgoas)