Scheduling Downtime Effectively

467 people turned their iPhones into dumb phones for 2 weeks. Calls and texts only. The results were closer to "new medication" than "digital detox." Here's what the researchers actually did. They blocked all mobile internet on participants' phones for 14 days. The only remaining things were calls, texts, and desktop internet. Then they measured well-being, mental health, and sustained attention three times across the month. Average screen time dropped from ~314 minutes per day to ~161. Roughly two and a half hours of life returned to people, every day. After the block lifted, screen time rebounded. But it stayed below baseline. Two weeks of enforced reduction recalibrated what "normal" felt like. The outcomes were striking: → Well-being up (Cohen’s d ≈ 0.45) → Mental health up (d ≈ 0.56) → Sustained attention up (d ≈ 0.23) In psychology, these are big effect sizes. The mental health improvement was larger than the average effect of antidepressants in meta-analyses, and similar to the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy. Attention gains were roughly equivalent to reversing 10 years of age-related cognitive decline. From two weeks without Instagram. Let that one sit for a second. 91% of participants improved on at least one outcome. → 73% improved well-being → 70% improved mental health → 59% improved sustained attention This wasn't a lucky subset. It was almost everyone. Why did it work? More time in the offline world: walking, exercising, being outside, talking to humans in person. Less media. More sleep. Better self-control. By the way, more sleep increases feelings of aliveness across the board. One important nuance. Only about 25% of participants kept the block for 10+ of the 14 days. The average effects held anyway. Meaning: even partial reduction moves the needle. You don't have to be perfect to benefit. Who gained the most? → People with high FOMO → biggest well-being and mental health gains. → People with more ADHD symptoms → biggest gains in self-reported attention. If the phone feels like it's running your nervous system, you're likely to benefit most from unplugging from it. A 14-day protocol for anyone who wants to try it: → Block mobile internet (keep calls and texts) → Batch desktop use into 1-3 windows a day → Pre-plan what fills the space: walk, gym, friend, book → Keep a one-line mood and energy log If a full block feels unrealistic, time windows, app blockers, and batched notifications still help. Two weeks. The world doesn't end. What comes back is focus, sleep, calm, and time. That's a better ROI than most things you'll try this year. SOURCES: Castelo, N., Kushlev, K., Ward, A. F., Esterman, M., & Reiner, P. B. (2025). Blocking mobile internet on smartphones improves sustained attention, mental health, and subjective well-being. PNAS Nexus, 4(2), pgaf017.

Your life outside work shapes 80% of your professional mindset. If you're struggling with motivation or creativity at work, you need to look beyond your desk. Because there's 3 key areas that directly impact your work life: 1. Sleep habits → determine your energy levels ↳ Poor sleep = poor performance, period 2. Physical activity → fuels your brain power ↳ Movement boosts creativity and problem-solving 3. Social connections → affect your emotional state ↳ Quality relationships = better work relationships The science is clear: healthy lifestyle choices create positive work outcomes. Want better focus? Start with your morning routine. Need more creativity? Make time for exercise. Seeking inspiration? Nurture your personal relationships. Your after-hours choices are writing tomorrow's work story. Time to take control of your 24 hours. Not just your 9-to-5. P.S. What's your best non-work habit that boosts your work life?  Mine is morning walks - they set my day right. P.P.S. Remember: Your professional success starts with personal choices. Make them count. #worklife #employees #habits

One of the most important lessons I've learned in my career is the power of taking a real break. It can be easy to celebrate constant hustle, always-on responsiveness, and squeezing just “one more thing” into the workday. But the truth is that results require rest. Creativity needs breathing room. Well-being demands boundaries. At Verizon, we talk a lot about being our best for our customers, our colleagues and the communities we serve. That starts with being our best for ourselves. And that means knowing when to unplug. Whether it's stepping away for a vacation, signing off fully for the weekend, or just taking a walk between meetings—these moments of true rest are not “nice to have,” they’re essential. They give us the clarity and focus to lead well, solve problems creatively and support one another. I recently took a few days off, and it was cleansing in so many ways. I could hear myself think and felt a sense of peace simply because I made the space to pause. Working endlessly is a direct path to burnout. Nothing will impact your efficiency and productivity more than draining every drop of your energy and attempting to push forward on fumes. My best ideas always come after I disconnect — not when I am running on empty. Here’s the catch. You need to make the time vs. take the time. It may sound like a subtle difference, but unless you carve out dedicated space to untether yourself from work, devices and whatever else you are juggling, it just won’t happen. Changing scenery is not enough. You need a full rest and reboot for it to count. Everyone needs to model this, especially if you’re a people leader. Your teams look up to you. If you don’t truly disconnect, they won’t either. So check in with your teams, talk openly about what you’re doing to step away and make sure they have a break within reach.  I hope everyone reading this finds a chance this summer to really unplug, recharge and come back renewed. It’s one of the best investments we can make — in ourselves and in each other. #VTeamLife #Wellbeing #Culture #lovewhereyouwork #lovewhatyoudo

I just returned from our annual family skiing trip and, as every year, I came back more recharged than rested. Six hours on the slopes leaves your legs aching. But it also leaves your mind genuinely clear. And this year I found myself asking *why* that is. The answer, I think, has little to do with mountain air. It has everything to do with the fact that skiing is one of the few activities that makes it genuinely impossible to think about work. You cannot navigate a steep slope while composing an email. The physical and attentional demands crowd out work-related thought not through willpower, but through genuine displacement. Researchers call this psychological detachment: the mental experience of being truly away from work during non-work time. And the evidence is striking: employees who achieve it return to work with higher engagement, better emotional regulation, and stronger performance. Not despite switching off, but because of it. For those of us in global roles, this is especially hard to do. When your team spans Asia, Europe, and the Americas, there is always someone awake, always a message arriving, always a reason to stay half-connected. The result is a kind of chronic partial attention that we have normalized and that quietly erodes our effectiveness over time. The implication is not that everyone needs to take up skiing. It is that the most effective recovery is not passive rest, but active absorption in something that has nothing to do with work. And that organizations also have a role to play by structurally protecting recovery time, not just advocating for it in wellness newsletters. Strategic idleness is not a concession to laziness. It is a professional discipline. And the global professional who masters it will, over time, outperform their always-on peers. I wrote more about this, including the research behind psychological detachment, the role of technology in undermining recovery, and what companies can actually do about it, in a recent blog post. Link in the comments. 👇 #GlobalWork #Leadership #Recovery #StrategicIdleness #Wellbeing

Slack went down, and the internet panicked. But let’s be honest—this isn’t about Slack. It’s about how fragile our business operations have become when a single tool suddenly disappears. I’ve seen this play out before. A company I worked with relied heavily on a single SaaS vendor for all internal and external communication. When that platform went down—just for a few hours—it disrupted customer service, stalled sales deals, and even delayed compliance reporting. The aftermath? Scrambling to recover, frustrated clients, and a whole lot of “Why didn’t we have a backup plan?” First, redundancy is non-negotiable. Every business should have an alternative communication channel ready—whether it’s email, a second chat tool, or even (gasp) the phone. Second, product counsel should be in the room when these tools are selected. The legal team isn’t just there to review contracts—we should help assess risk, negotiate protections, and push for backup plans before disaster strikes. Third, train your teams. A business continuity plan only works if people know how to execute it. If your team’s response to an outage is “Now what?”—that’s a problem. If you’re rethinking your reliance on SaaS after this outage, good. It’s time for legal, IT, and product teams to work together to build a more resilient operation. For my take on the legal implications of SaaS downtime, check out the video—because trust me, contracts matter when things go south. -------- 💥 I’m Olga V. Mack 🔺 Expert in AI & transformative tech for product counseling 🔺 Upskilling human capital for digital transformation 🔺 Leading change management in legal innovation & operations 🔺 Keynote speaker on the intersection of business, law, & tech 🔝 Let’s connect 🔝 Subscribe to Notes to My (Legal) Self newsletter

My work is very busy at present. I have a demanding schedule of coaching appointments, workshops, webinars, and learning design deliveries, as well as administrative tasks. So I took yesterday off to ski. Stepping away regularly from work isn't just enjoyable; it’s essential. Research shows that intentional breaks — especially active ones — deliver powerful benefits that enhance our performance and well-being: • ��𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆: Our brains operate on an attention budget that depletes throughout the workday (you may notice, for example, that you are more capable of focused productivity in the morning than at the end of the day). Even brief breaks can replenish this resource. During physical activity, different neural pathways activate, allowing overused cognitive circuits to recover — like resting one muscle group while working another. • 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹-𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴: Breaks function to interrupt the cycle of stress accumulation. Physical activity in particular triggers endorphin release and reduces cortisol levels, creating a neurochemical reset. Research from Wendsche et al. published in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that regular work breaks were consistently associated with lower levels of reported burnout symptoms. • 𝗣𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗷𝘂𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Studies in occupational health show that the extended periods of continuous sitting that characterize professional work negatively impact cardiovascular health and metabolism. Active breaks counteract these effects by improving circulation, reducing inflammation markers, and maintaining insulin sensitivity — benefits that persist when you return to work. • 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁: Psychological distance from problems activates different regions of the prefrontal cortex. This mental space triggers  an incubation effect wherein our subconscious continues problem-solving while our conscious mind engages elsewhere. Many report solutions crystallizing during or immediately after breaks. • 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁: Research published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology found that walking increases creative ideation by up to 60%. Additionally, exposure to novel environments (like mountain vistas) activates the brain's novelty-recognition systems, priming it for innovative thinking. • 𝗘𝗻𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆: A study in the journal Cognition found that brief diversions improve focus during extended tasks. Research from Microsoft’s Human Factors Lab revealed that employees who incorporated strategic breaks completed projects 40% faster with fewer errors than those who worked straight through. The irony? Many of us avoid breaks precisely when we need them most. That urgent project, deadline pressure, or busy season seems to demand constant attention, yet this is exactly when a brief disconnect delivers the greatest return. #WorkLifeBalance #Productivity #Wellbeing

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 15 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀. I've met dozens of high-performers who thought they needed to eliminate stress from their lives. Wrong approach. 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵: Stress is the enemy. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Poor recovery is what kills performance. The highest performers I know don't avoid pressure. They recover from it faster than their competition. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀: Your nervous system has two modes: fight-or-flight (sympathetic) and rest-and-digest (parasympathetic). Most executives LIVE in sympathetic overdrive for 12+ hours straight. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀. Just like muscle adaptation, you need the stress stimulus. But the magic happens in recovery. Without intentional downtime, you're not building resilience. You're accumulating damage. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 15-𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: Elite performers have strategies to flip the switch from stress to recovery. I’m not just talking about apps or retreats. Active protocols that shift physiology in real time. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲: 🫁 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴: 4 second inhales, hold for 7 seconds, long exhale for 8 seconds. This shifts you from sympathetic to parasympathetic in minutes. 🧘 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴: A few minutes of targeted stretches signals your nervous system to downshift. ⚡ 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝘀: The best operators I know don't wing their downtime. Schedule your recovery sessions, whether a sauna or something else, like you schedule board meetings. 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 + 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 = 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵. Every top performer has systems for this equation. Your HRV (heart rate variability) trends tells you if it's working. And when your nervous system is recovered, you make better decisions under pressure. The companies who understand this are building an unfair advantage. Their people have clarity in hour 12 that competitors lose in hour 3. What's your non-negotiable recovery practice? (The one you actually stick to, not the one you wish you did 😉)

In today’s always-on culture, it’s easy to let work bleed into every aspect of our lives. With emails pinging at all hours and the pressure to stay ahead, the line between work and life becomes increasingly blurred. We tell ourselves that this is just the way things are, that to be successful, we have to be available 24/7. But this mindset comes at a cost. There’s a powerful truth in the quote, “If you never leave life to go to work, you will never leave work to go back to life.” It’s a reminder that the boundaries we set between our work and our personal lives are essential—not just for our productivity, but for our well-being and the quality of our relationships. When we fail to separate our work from our life, we risk losing touch with the very things that give our lives meaning—our relationships, our passions, our health, and our sense of self. Work begins to dominate our time and energy, leaving little room for the people and experiences that truly make us feel alive. And ironically, this imbalance can lead to burnout, decreased productivity, and a sense of emptiness that no amount of professional success can fill. The key is learning to set boundaries. Just as you leave life to go to work each day, you must consciously leave work to return to life. This means creating space for the things that matter most—spending quality time with loved ones, pursuing hobbies, taking care of your physical and mental health, and simply enjoying the moments of stillness and reflection that life offers. This isn’t about neglecting work or being less ambitious. It’s about recognizing that life is about more than just work. By intentionally carving out time to disconnect from work, you’re not just preserving your energy—you’re ensuring that when you do show up to work, you do so with a full tank, ready to give your best. So, make it a priority to leave work behind at the end of the day. Close the laptop, turn off the notifications, and step back into your life. Reconnect with the things that bring you joy and the people who matter most. Because if you never leave work, you’ll never fully experience the richness of life. And in the end, it’s that balance that will lead to a more fulfilling, successful, and meaningful existence. #WorkLifeBalance #Productivity #Mindset #WellBeing #PersonalGrowth #Relationships

Want to Break Free from the Scrolling Trap? Stop. Don't scroll by. Stay with me. I have a confession—there was a time I’d open social media or shopping apps “just for a minute,” only to realize I’d lost an hour, scrolling mindlessly. It left me frustrated, knowing I was wasting precious time I could’ve spent on things that truly mattered. If you’re in this situation too, you’re not alone. The good news? You can take control. Here’s what worked for me: 1️⃣ Set Clear Boundaries I started using app timers and put my phone on “focus mode”(similar to Do Not Disturb )during work hours or quality family time. Limiting access made all the difference. 2️⃣ Declutter Your Phone I uninstalled apps that weren’t adding value to my day. For social media, I shifted to using only the desktop version, which instantly reduced the impulse to check them. 3️⃣ Rearranged My Screen All productivity apps went to the first screen, while social and shopping apps were tucked away in folders on the last page. Out of sight, out of mind! 4️⃣ Replaced Bad Habits with Better Ones Whenever I felt the urge to scroll, I’d stop and ask myself: What can I do right now that aligns with my goals? Reading a book, journaling, or taking a quick walk became my go-to alternatives. 5️⃣ Turned Off Notifications No more constant pings grabbing my attention. My phone stopped dictating my day, and I regained focus. 6️⃣ Tracked My Time I started monitoring my screen time weekly. Seeing those numbers made me more mindful and motivated to cut back. Think of it this way: Social media and shopping apps are like a dessert—they’re fine in moderation, but overindulging can leave you feeling drained. Your time, however, is the main course—use it wisely to nourish your mind, body, and soul. One thing I’ve learned: "Time wasted is time you’ll never get back. You either own your time or let it own you." If you’re feeling stuck in this loop, I encourage you to start small. Set a timer, log off, and be intentional with your day. What strategies have helped you limit app usage? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments! #PersonalGrowth #TimeManagement #DigitalDetox #Productivity #Focus #IntentionalLiving

This week's Well Purposed letter is the one that has both evolved, and been grappled with. It's called The 4am Decision Problem. The argument is that the quality of your commercial decisions is directly determined by the quality of your cognitive infrastructure. This is not soft. In a business where the founder is the primary commercial asset, the single most important thing you can do for your pipeline is protect the quality of your own thinking. Three patterns I've watched separate the founders who maintain decision quality through high-load periods from the ones who don't. 1. A decision threshold tool. Not a wellbeing app. Something, even a single page in a notebook, that captures the conditions under which you don't make a decision that cannot easily be reversed. "I don't commit on less than six hours of sleep." "I don't fire on a Monday." "I don't respond to investor emails after 9pm." These aren't wellness rules. They're risk management protocols. My favourite is Full Focus planner (I am a pen and paper girl)! 2. A real calendar audit, not a productivity app. Once a quarter, take your last thirty days of calendar and colour-code them by what kind of thinking each meeting required. The answer is almost always: too much reactive, almost none strategic. The fix is structural, not behavioural. 3. An external check on your own cognitive state. A co-founder, advisor, coach, peer group Cabal that tracks the slow variables that are invisible from the inside. Decision quality doesn't degrade in ways you can see - you need an external signal. 4. Physical guardrails. The basics - movement, nutrition, restoration, not as something to optimise, but as a sense-check. The founders I know who last through the hard years all have one non-gamified physical practice that they don't treat as a KPI, supported by tools such as Wist, ŌURA 5. A named recovery cycle. Visible, planned, and protected downtime. Not "when I can". Actually booked. The founders who don't burn out have built this into their year, not hoped for it. Why am I writing this now, as someone who spent over a decade in food and healthtech? Because the founders I work with in HealthTech are, ironically, worse at this than most. They know the evidence on sleep, stress, and cognitive load. They ignore it as thoroughly as everyone else, because the pressure to build and sell does not feel optional. It isn't optional. But the degradation is. If you're building something hard this year identify tools that treat founder health as infrastructure. This Friday's Well Purposed letter goes deeper on the decision-quality part of this. It's called The 4am Decision Problem. ----- I'm Sara. I advise HealthTech founders on the gap between clinical credibility and commercial scale, through Well Purposed. Previously founded Healthy Nibbles (kitchen to £10M ARR, Queen's Award, B Corp) and Dsions. Writing 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘺 - publication 2027.