2.4 the default need not be work: cut off times

a tool that costs zero money, but is rarely encouraged, and can have radical benefits if you implement it....it's a cut off time at the end of the day. this was one of the hardest things i did as a grad student, and it can still be a tricky thing, but nothing has made a bigger difference for my sustainability. listen to learn all about it!

and if you're looking for a routine to help support your cut off time, i have your back on the blog!

• transcript

  On today's episode, a tool that will cost you zero money, but might take a little bit of practice. Let's talk about why I think most people need to cut off time.

  📍 Welcome to Grad School is Hard, But... A Thrive PhD podcast. I'm Dr. Katy Peplin and this is a show for everyone who's doing the hard work of being a human and a scholar. And in season two, I'll introduce you to various tools that might make the hard stuff from writing to managing your time to taking care of your brain just a little bit easier.

  And if you rate and review this podcast, by the end of the month, you'll be entered to win a free session for me. More details at the end of the episode. Now let's get into the good stuff. .

  In this season of grad school is hard, but I'm presenting various different tools that I think could really help you with some of the things that you guessed. It are so hard about grad school. And in today's episode, I am going to introduce you to the single biggest thing that I did as a grad student that changed the way that I worked and the way that I lived, and it was designating a hard stop at the end of the day. You might call it a cutoff time or you might celebrate it by ringing a dinner bell, but this is basically just a time of the day where you say, okay, No matter what I'm going to be done by X time.

  And if things are undone, they're undone. If things have to get moved to tomorrow, they get moved to tomorrow, but I am officially done working for the day at this specific time. I encourage you to set this time for weekdays. And at least take some time off on the weekends. But here's some of the reasons why I think that this is such a useful tool.

  Number one. It creates a boundary. For so many of us, especially if you are still working in a hybrid situation or are not fully comfortable being back completely in the world. I get it. Me too. Your work life spaces are probably a little bit confused. Even me, I have full control over my time and my schedule. I have a dedicated office to work.

  And I still work on the couch. I still work sometimes in bed and I still do life things in my office. So for me, even though there's some sense of a boundary spatially, the cutoff time is what really makes a difference for me switching between work and the rest of my life. Yeah.

  If you have never had a cutoff time before. Then this can be a bit of a revolutionary concept. And this is one of those ideas that comes from me from the folder of life experience I like to call being partners with a person who has a quote, regular job. In this person's regular job, there were certain hours where they were expected to be there. And then at the end of the day, they were done. They left the office. And I felt like I was never done as a grad student. There were always more emails to check more grading to do, more books that I could be reading and it really started to bleed into the rest of the time.

  So having somebody that lived in the house with me that had a hard cutoff time made me think: wow, I could do that too. And when I did it made such a difference.

  Now, maybe you've already tried to do this, and you've said, Katy. For the last couple of weeks, I have tried to stop at 7:00 PM or 5:00 PM if you're really a go getter and it really has not worked. Maybe I have told myself that I was stopping, but I kept going and I stayed on my computer and I scrolled through things or I checked my email a million times on my phone and I never felt like I was done, even though I said the word done.

  And for those of us on team busy brain. I'm the captain, of course. You might need to get your body involved to make this boundary stick.

  I know that I physically have to leave a certain area. I have to leave my desk in my office. At various other times, I've had to leave campus. I've needed to switch from the working side of my couch, to the relaxing side of my couch, but getting my body involved sometimes even with a shower or a workout or a walk or a meal has really helped me get that sense that there was work time and then there was other time and there was a boundary between them.

  And this is so useful because it teaches you that the default for time doesn't have to be work. I know that whether I was conscious of it or not, I felt that any hour that I was awake, I needed to be working. And even if I wasn't working at the same intensity, they didn't all need to be writing, but they needed to at least be thinking about my project or able to think about my project or at the barest of minimums, able to respond to an email that might be sent to me at any day or time.

  I "didn't feel like I had the professional standing or quite honestly the amount of clout to be able to take time off and say, Hey. I did not respond to that email because it was sent to me at 10:00 PM. And I responded to it when I got into the morning." That was an unthinkable boundary for me. And by not having that boundary, I really taught myself and my body that it needed to be ready for working no matter what.

  When I switched to a model, aided by this cutoff time where I worked on purpose, and then I stopped on purpose, things got a lot easier. Because even though it didn't happen immediately - it took me a couple of weeks to settle into this new routine - once it felt a little bit more solid. I realized that I was not only working on purpose and feeling like, the end of the day felt like mini deadline energy, where I was doing my best to catch up with all of those loose ends to be done at the end of the clock. I've never been a basketball player, but you know, those real good buzzer beater shots where you've finished that last email and shut it down, felt great.

  I was working on purpose and I was stopping on purpose. I was watching TV and my computer wasn't open. I was cooking dinner and actually talking to said person who had a real job catching up about our days without having my phone, literally in my hand. That rest at the end of the day felt so much more satisfying and I didn't know how much it was going to help my focus, my relationships, my ability to get laundry done by just having a cutoff time.

  Your brain is always going to probably creep in. So I know that even in my best and most beautifully tended boundaries between work and other things, I still will get ideas for projects I want to do. I'll get flashes about that sticky thing I was working on in the draft. So, you know, keep, keep a notebook and bring yourself back if you've noticed that you've drifted into work during that work time. But that cutoff time, once it really feels habitual can absolutely help your brain sort of flip that switch between. Okay. in certain times I'm working in certain times, I'm not.

  This tool is going to be really good for anyone who is flirting with, or maybe already in burnout. I reached for this tool for the first time when I was absolutely burned out, I was working a bunch of jobs, couldn't focus, and I felt like I was working all day and getting nothing done. Working for less hours and resting more intentionally at the end of the day. It wasn't an immediate fix for burnout, but it absolutely set me on the path.

  Paradoxically. If you're a person who feels like they're not getting enough done, I encourage you to set a cutoff time. Because, like I mentioned a little bit earlier that deadline of, okay, it's almost five o'clock or it's almost seven o'clock can really help you give a little bit more momentum to the tasks that you're working on. And I find that that little bit of extra focus absolutely makes a difference.

  Plus, if you are getting a little bit more rest, a little bit more recovery, I can make a solid bet that you might have more improved focus during the hours that you do work, which might help you get enough done.

  And the last, but not least if you're in a deadline season and you're listening to this thinking, Katy, I have to work every minute of every day. And that's the only way that my dissertation is going to be submitted on time. I first of all applaud you. Way to go for getting so close. But I am going to double down and say you more than almost anyone needed a cutoff time. The tendency that we all have when we're getting close to big projects is to clear the schedule and work every single minute.

  And while that can feel really productive for the first couple of days, you might get a lot of things done. Eventually your body will need a break. And if you're not taking those breaks intentionally, your body will decide when to take those breaks for you. So if you've really been pushing in the last couple of weeks, or maybe months, I encourage you to check in with, reimplement or maybe implement for the first time a cutoff time. All of us deserve to do something else during the day, whether that is for your body or your brain or your family, or a book or a silly show on Netflix or a great podcast. You choose the other thing, but if you have a cut off time, it makes it so much easier to give yourself permission to do whatever that other thing is. Maybe even a couple of other things. Thanks so much and I will see you next. next week.

  📍 Thank you for listening to Grad School is Hard, but... You can find more information and resources in the show notes and at thrive-phd.com. Every month, I'll select one reviewer for a free 45 minute session with me. So please subscribe, rate, and review to help spread the word about the show. Thanks so much and I'll see you again soon!