Shaping Work Guardrails

Build. Rest. Have Fun. Repeat.

something that’s been a thorn in my side recently has been balancing work and rest.

i love to dig into difficult problems but work expands as you go.

to counter the “to-do” list hydra, i need to set up guardrails for myself. this is your spelunking rope, your deep-sea diver’s umbilical, the safety system that pulls you out.

this blog is an exercise about what good work guardrails look like.

1) when you work/rest

you need to have set times to work and rest.

for me, this is what i’m experimenting with:

• build: ~6 weeks

• cool down: ~1 week

repeat.

then i’ll run that for ~6 months or until i feel burnt out and i’ll take a ~2 week break.

i’m using tildes (~) because the time is relative to the situation.

if you’ve ever tried time blocking you’ll understand — if your plan is too strict you plan your day, everything goes great, then you poop or do something random and the plan’s ruined.

the cycle needs flexibility and breathing room.

2) external guardrails

align your cycles to external events.

for example christmas is coming up (i’m in september now). for the next project, i’d like to finish before xmas so i can cool off and be present with the fam.

if there isn’t a big event coming up, create one.

• go to a concert or conference

• get a haircut

• go camping

• ...

find an external event to jolt you out of your flow.

3) reset rituals

have a few things you do deliberately when the build cycle ends.

• caffeine detox

• write

• build something fun or open source

the point is to have a clear signal that the building is done.

do the opposite of whatever the build phase was. if you’ve been executing, reflect. if you’ve been serious, do something fun. if you’ve been running hot, cool down.

4) do it

lastly, do it.

it can feel counterproductive to stop and rest. you need to have faith that sharpening your axe is good.

one tool that helps me is freewriting / daily mantras, which just means repeating to myself what my goal is and what i’m doing.

wrap

work will always expand. there will always be another problem to solve, another thing to do.

guardrails are there to remind you when to stop.

build. rest. have fun. repeat.