Good Leaders Don't Think About Work at Night: How to Clear Your Mind After Working Hours | Work-life balance | Diamond Harvard Business Review

summary:It's not uncommon for people to continue thinking about work even after work is over. Many leaders find themselves overwhelmed with thoughts about their team's problems, trying to figure out how to solve a customer's problem, or making a mental list of tasks that need to be done the next day.…See morethere. However, this trend is not helpful for improving business performance. This article offers ways for leaders to mentally disconnect from work at the end of the day and stay energized.Close

Are you thinking about working late at night?

Are you a leader who stays up late thinking about work? Do you often feel stressed by work problems, or do you find yourself able to switch off from work and relax at night?

Like many managers, you may feel like you need to stay connected to work even after office hours. The demands of leadership roles are so high that they may believe that the only way to succeed is to work around the clock. As a result, long after you've left the office or turned off your computer, you're thinking about employee problems, thinking of solutions to customer problems, and making to-do lists in your head.

The authors recently published a paper in the Journal of Applied Psychology.researchIt suggests that constantly thinking about work may actually impair your performance as a leader, rather than improve it. Researchers have found that not shutting down at night is counterproductive, especially for new leaders in management positions, because it drains mental resources. Leadership effectiveness was highest on days when leaders were able to mentally disconnect and recharge their batteries the night before.

To understand the impact of break times on leaders' performance, the authors conducted a 10-day diary study of 73 leaders and their matched followers (the leaders' direct reports). Each morning before work, we asked leaders to reflect on the previous night and report on their work disengagement (i.e., the extent to which they felt cognitively disconnected from their work) and rumination (the degree to which negative thoughts about work are common and widespread). repeat).ta. They were then asked how active they were while working that day and how aware they were of their leadership role.

We've found that when leaders take a break from work at night, they feel more energized the next day, making them more aware of their leadership role. On the other hand, on days when leaders were thinking about their work at night, they felt more tired the next morning, which hindered their ability to identify as leaders. Because fulfilling leadership responsibilities requires energy, exhausted leaders may be unable or unwilling to fully immerse themselves in leadership.

These findings are clearly important for leaders' experiences in the workplace. But what about their followers? To answer this question, we asked one of each leader's followers to rate their leader's effectiveness for the day at the end of each shift. Followers rated leaders who unplugged from work the night before (in the morning feeling energized and connected to their role) as more transformative and powerful in their work that day. In contrast, leaders who were reflecting on their work the night before (and who feel drained in the morning and less connected to their leadership role) may find themselves at the end of the day experiencing transformational change that followers have commented wasn't very powerful. Therefore, leaders who switched from working at night were viewed as more effective leaders the next day.

Interestingly, the negative effects of post-work rumination were particularly pronounced among new leaders. Inexperienced leaders may find after-hours rumination particularly stressful because they have little experience managing leadership challenges. Finding a rhythm for rest and recuperation after work can be especially beneficial for those in leadership roles for the first time.

The results of this study provide practical recommendations for leaders, including: