Free Do Less by Rachel Jonat

returns in your work can mean:
Saying no to working after a certain time in the evening
Building rejuvenating breaks into your day
Taking your lunch break away from your desk and going for a brisk walk outside before returning to work
Shutting off your work computer in the evening and doing something that engages you a different way, such as exercising or enjoying a hobby
    These types of breaks will help you reset so that when you return to work, whether it’s thirty minutes later or fourteen hours later, you are ready for focused and highly productive work.
Work Less
    We’re working longer hours than ever before. Many of us aren’t even taking vacations. The toll on our health and relationships from these long hours is evident. We’re tired and stressed out, and although we can blame work culture and the mobile and 24/7 nature of work today, there
is
a way out. There is a way to work less and live more—it’s minimalism.
    Why are we working so much? During her years helping people through their final weeks of life, hospice nurse Bronnie Ware observed several common regrets people had about what they wished they had done more of or less of in their lives. She chronicled them in her memoir,
The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing.
A big regret of the dying was working too much. As people reflected on how they’d lived their lives, it became clear that working long hours had kept them from the people they loved and the pastimes that nourished their souls.
    Obviously, the long hours and sparse vacation time aren’t serving you well. But how do you change things? How do you reduce your work hours or even days? Is it really possible to start taking alternate Fridays off or to negotiate working from home or even ask for unpaid leave? Yes. If your goal is to work less so you can have more personal time, you need to realign your work hours to give you more time for those things you really value. With some small easy steps, you can start the process of working less and enjoying life more.
Figure Out Where You Could Cut Work-Related Expenses
    The first answer is to reduce your need for the paycheck. The Money section of this book will give you ideas for cutting your bills, and in the Home section, you learned how to live well by owning and spending less. Revisit your expenses before you make your plan for reducing work hours or taking extra leave. Are there a few more things you can do without if you’re spending less time in the office? There are inherent savings to working less, such as:
Reduced commuting costs
Less wear on work clothing
Less money spent on daycare
Less money spent on takeout food
Less money spent on hiring others to do home services, such as cleaning or repairs, because you don’t have the time do them yourself
    Make a list of all those things you regularly spend money on that you could eliminate or reduce if you worked less.
Learn to Say No
    Are you always behind at work? Do you take on more responsibility and projects than you have time for? If the root of your long hours at the office is an unrealistic workload, it is time to learn to say no. It is time to sit down with your manager and outline all the work you are currently responsible for and how much of it can be realistically done by one person in the hours described in the company policy. Many of us find ourselves working evenings and weekends because we say yes to every request that comes our way and we take on far more than is in our job description.
    If you find it difficult to say no, start equating new projects and tasks with what will suffer in your personal life. Saying yes to extra work will mean less sleep, less time with your loved ones, and less time for those things you love to do. Saying yes to extra work means saying yes to more stress, and more stress is bad for your health and can take years off your life. Is it worth it? Start asking yourself that before you accept