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Do you lead a large team in a multinational corporation and find it hard to switch off and be present at home? If you do, you are not alone. I’m your host of this podcast, Lucy Gernon. And then today I’m gonna we’re going to be diving in how to help you to switch off from work and be present with those you love at home. Because I know that’s what we all want, right. And sometimes you might even be a little bit resentful about work because it just seems to be taken over. You’re there with your partner or your friends. And you have to push yourself to have a conversation with them. Because you’re tired. work emails and the thing you forgot to do swirls around in your head, and you want to be able to close down the laptop to turn off the phone and not think about it just so you can refresh and re Energize. Things can be crazy at your level. And I know this because I work with so many women in corporate leadership, just in terms of the breadth, the depth, even the revenue responsibilities, everything is just huge. You want to be able to manage everything like a CEO, because ultimately you’d love to get to those kinds of levels. But you know, you just need to learn to manage your day, your productivity, your life, and being able to switch off to recharge. If this sounds like you, this is the episode for you. Okay, I know that work. And home can be very overwhelming, just managing it all, fitting in all those calls with your parents and making time for your sisters or your siblings and just to do more things that light you up in life. I know you care about your job, because you’re ambitious, you’re dedicated, but switching off can be a problem. So honesty, I promise you, you can do this. And when you do actually learn to switch off, you will be able to do your very best work because when you’re energized, you will be able to actually think and if you’re anything like the clients, I my clients before they work with me, they’re convincing themselves that you know, it’s pretty crazy at the moment, and it’s gonna settle down soon. But does it ever? Not really. That’s why it is crucial that you arm yourself with the right support and tools, so that you can unlock your full potential so that you can do your very best work every day without burning yourself out or missing out on life. Certainly something you want. If you said yes, stick around, we’re going to dive into it.
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But before I dive in, I do want to share a very special gift just for you. I am gifting you something that I usually only give to my private clients, I have a powerful meditation that I share that helps my clients switch off. And it’s a little ritual I started doing myself many years ago, and I just thought I would record the meditation for one of my clients one day, and she was like, Oh my gosh, this is so good. And then she asked me, she gave it to her friend and I said right, okay, and then before I knew it, all my clients knew about this. And then they were all using it and was really, really working. So today I wanted to give this to you for free. So you can go and grab this meditation, I call it the switch off and shutdown method where I will guide you to sleep. And you can just get that at sign up dark Lucy garden.com forward slash switch off. And allow me just to guide you to sleep as you shut down that magical mind of yours. So you actually get some blissful sleep tonight. So here’s a sidenote, actually, I get asked all the time, you see, why do you give so generously on your podcast? And why do you give so much in your content on LinkedIn and on Instagram? Like you’re not even getting paid for this? Why do you spend so much time doing it? It’s because I believe in the impact that you make in the world. And I want to be the most sought after executive coach in the entire planet. Because I know I make such a huge difference when you work with me. And I care deeply about your success but also your work life balance and your happiness. I care so much genuinely about you that I quit my corporate career with a mortgage to pay and three kids. So I could do this work and I know some Have you will come and work with me one to one or in my groups where I can support you on a deeper, more personal level and be there to guide you when the shit hits the fan. But I also know that there’s so many of you who get tons from my free content. And once I’m serving you, when I’m helping you, that’s all that matters to me. So that’s why I give so much it’s all for you, lovely lady, I see you, I’m with you. And I want the best for you. So onto the topic of the day, aside from that little meditation gift that I encourage you to grab, do not forget to get that the link will be right below where you’re listening to it here on the show notes, I have three more strategies to support you. Are you ready? Strategy number one is to bump and establish a digital detox routine. Now I know this is really boring, but it is honestly you have to do it. Because in our digitally connected world, even with the evolution of AI and everything, everything is changing so rapidly. And it’s so easy to bring your devices with you and on your devices are your emails are your systems are your instant messages. And you don’t want to be bringing that home with you all the time. So setting boundaries with your technology is essential for your work life balance, and ultimately, for your well being.
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So what you want to do is, first of all, you have to get real with yourself, okay, stop making excuses, stop saying oh, I just have to do this, and I can’t do this. It’s not that you can’t do it, it’s that you won’t do it. And there are people around you in your life right now who need you when you need them. Okay, so for every email you respond to, it’s less time you’re spending with those that you say you want to be with. So you’ve got to get real with yourself. And, you know, I want to give you some tough love here a little bit today, because you got in your own way you know what you want, but you get your own way. So I encourage you to designate times where you can just completely disconnect from emails, work related emails, calls notifications. So you might create a daily ritual, like turning your device off at a certain time and putting it away in a certain spot, or even just using a separate work phone. So I had a client who used to put her laptop out in the boot of our car, for example, so that she couldn’t physically get it because we’re so addicted, right, she had to do that. I had another client who used to lock her phone in a drawer. And I used to do that myself. So right now I’m good, I don’t need to lock it away anymore.
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Because I’ve trained myself that when I feel like I really need to disconnect and I really look around and I see my husband, and I see my children, and I’m on the laptop and I’m like are on the phone, at least he stopped now they need you when you need them. So what you’re looking for is stimulation and you’re looking for a connection, and you’re looking for all these things, but yet you’re on your device. So come on, put it away. That’s what I do. So right now I like to leave my phone in my bedroom upstairs charging while I’m downstairs at my family. And at nighttime, I just use my phone for meditation, I do not check emails at nighttime on a very, very occasionally if I’m having an off day. So it’s really all about creating habits for yourself, especially with your phone. Because if you’re like me and everyone else that I know, you can be stuck to it and not even notice. So it’s about intentionally setting boundaries to do this, it’s back to this whole concept of self leadership, you have got to learn to lead yourself, nobody else is going to do this for you. And I wouldn’t want to be the person that takes the phone out of your hand because you probably have it. If you’re like me, I’d go crazy, right? You have to remind yourself that when you switch off, you’re more productive, you can think clearer, you have more energy, you have that connection with people, and the work is not going anywhere. And you need to stop fooling yourself into thinking that it’s, you know, it’s just for today, and it’s just for this week, usually it’s not. So I invite you just to reflect on that piece for yourself and really giving it’s all about giving yourself permission to fully disconnect and just focus on the other areas of your life that are going to bring you joy, fun, you know, fulfillment, okay, and remember that the world will keep turning even if you’re not constantly plugged in. The second thing I recommend is to engage in mindfulness. Now, when people hear this, sometimes they kind of roll their eyes because it’s not very sexy, right? It requires you to be self disciplined and be quiet. And in this fast paced world that we live in. I’m exactly the same. I like to achieve and I like to get stuff done. In fact, I pride myself on delivery. And I have to I have trained myself now thank God, but it was difficult at the start. It’s just about being more mindful. And it requires you to shift your focus and engage in more activities that
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bring you joy and relaxation. So being more mindful is a great way to redirect your attention and be present in this moment. So I remember the first time I ever heard about this whole mindfulness thing If it was like, you know, if you’re making a cup of tea, just be present with it.
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So instead of thinking about, you’re making the tea and you’re thinking about the meeting, maybe just make the tea and focus on the temperature of the water or like looking at the steam as the kettle is boiling, focus on putting the teabag in the cup, imagine this with me now for a second. Imagine yourself pouring in the water, imagine yourself getting the spoon, the clink of the spoon, like how it feels, how it looks, what you’re doing there. And what nobody ever told me before is why it’s so important. And I think when you understand the why I’m hoping you’ll do it. What you’re doing when you’re mindful, is you are taking control of your mind. So it’s not about like, oh, like, if you’re anything like me, I like to get things done. I used to think well, this is just stupid, because it’s actually wasting my time when I could be thinking about this other thing for work that I need to think about. But that’s actually when you’re not in control of your own mind and your own thinking. So I invite you to practice mindfulness and just allow yourself to fully immerse yourself in whatever thing it is you’re doing, whether it’s once a day in the shower, or look out the window every now and again and look at the birds and just really notice what you’re seeing. And the more a little mindful moments you can have in the day, where you just bring yourself into the present moment, the easier it becomes, okay, so it could be anything from like I said, looking at the window, it could be reading a book, it could be gardening, I love gardening, I love Get out of my garden. And and I’ll say no, so many of you do too.
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Or at least like the thoughts of a nice garden, and painting or going for a walk or yoga. Whatever it is for you just do more things that require you to get out of your head and come into your body in the present moment. It’s the most simple thing, though, of all of all the mindfulness tools that I invite you to try is just train yourself to come into your body come out of your head and into your body several times a day, by focusing on your breath. Breath work is just so powerful. All it is is just you’re what you’re doing is you’re stopping thought and focusing on your breathing. So that all those swirling thoughts, they lose momentum, so you can re Energize. So a thought is just a thought is just something that you keep on thinking okay, but thoughts gain momentum.
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So the more you think and think and think about a problem, there’s a reason it feels bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. Okay, so what you want to do with mindfulness is try to break those patterns. By stopping the thought it will slow down its momentum. And you can do that by the power of mindfulness.
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Okay. And then the third tip tip I will give you today is to create a transition ritual between your work and your life. So I had an excess sleep expert on a good while back on the podcast. It was back in episode number 12, which was sleep tips for corporate women leaders from sleep expert honoree, boy, Hannah, Now Anne Marie is the founder of the sleep care company. And she was an ex corporate leader too. So she knows a thing or two about this. And she remember, she was talking all about creating a buffer. So creating a bedtime buffer like between your day and your night. So that literally signifies to your body that you are finished work. And now it’s time for sleep. So by doing things like this, it can it will literally tell your body and your mind that it’s time to shift gears and leave work behind. So for example, you could do two two transitions after work. So for example, you might finish work and then you might go and get changed into your your yoga gear or your tracksuit or whatever. And that needs to be a clear symbol that you tell yourself, okay, so when I’m in my tracksuit, that means my workday is over. That means that’s the time when the phone goes off, so that it’s nearly like a line in the sand for yourself. And then what you can do them before bed is to create another ritual, which might be okay. So in order for me say if you put on the tracksuit, but then you know, you bring the phone and you check the emails, and it hasn’t really worked and you’re still haven’t really switched off. You want to create a new ritual. So a bad time. I’m a real advocate for nighttime rituals. Again, it’s one of the first things it’s one of the in the all of my initial modules and all of my courses and all of my mastermind so far, at this moment in time, we focus on this, it’s literally the foundation of your success and your balance and your happiness is this. Take this concept of evening and morning rituals. So in the evening, you might do something as simple as just taking a few minutes to reflect on your day to jot down any lingering thoughts or to do items and then consciously close the mental work folder. I always practice gratitude. I like to end the day on a high note. Do not ever never end the work day thinking about something negative. And if you’re multitasking please come back to me. Because when you’re going to sleep if you’re thinking about Got a problem. When you stop all momentum subsides, okay when you sleep. But when you wake up again, you’re more than likely going to pick up on the last thought wherever you left off. And if you start the day on a negative thought it will gain negative momentum and your day is not going to be as good. Which is why I always recommend that you finish your day on gratitude. Okay, so you want to close down the mental work folder. And that’s exactly what I take you through in my meditation that I shared earlier. It’s the switch off and shutdown meditation, where I guide you through switching off your brain like a computer, closing down those tabs one by one by one, so that you can go asleep and you can grab that at signup dot Lucy garland.com forward slash switch off. You might do other things. By the way, at bedtime, whatever works for you, you might just you know, listen to some nice music. I’m into piano music at the moment. I love listening to different meditations. Sometimes I listen to alpha waves and things that gets me in a state of abundance and receptive mode and just get into a really nice physical state. And I sleep like a baby guys, like I sleep really well, eight hours minimum every single night. But that’s because I’ve intentionally created a ritual, I invite you to do the same. So in summary, here are the three strategies again, the first one is to establish a digital detox routine, okay, boring, but it needs to be done. Number two is have those mindful moments every single day and begin to really practice it knowing that that every time that you’re mindful, you are actually taking control of your mind, as opposed to it controlling you. And then the third one is to create this transition ritual between your work and your life. So like I said, you might have a ritual between logging off and getting into the tracksuit and then getting into the tracksuit with the old gear and then you might do another switch offs. Meditation on bedtime ritual, as I always recommend as well. So please just remember that switching off from work, it’s not only beneficial for your mental health, but like what is the point if all you’re doing is thinking about work, like honestly, those people around you there who are dying for your attention, who will make you laugh, who will bring you so much joy, if you just look up from the phone and look at who’s there in front of you. It’s time to make yourself a priority my friends so don’t forget to grab that free meditation that I recorded for you. Just go to sign up dot Lucy garmin.com forward slash switch off. And I look forward to being in your earbuds as I guide you to sleep one of the nights this week, hopefully. So that is it. For this week’s episode. I really hope that you found it valuable. If you are feeling this way, you’re not alone. But it doesn’t have to be this way. And if you try the tools that I’ve shared with you in this episode, you’re off to a really, really good start. So until next time, I hope you have a great week and I’ll talk to you again soon. Bye for now
