Writing a to do list helps employees switch off from work

Planning how to tackle work that has not been completed at the end of the day helps employees to switch off from work, according to a new study.

A survey of 103 employees published in the Journal of Organisational and Occupational Psychology, found people who spend time at the end of their day planning a to-do list were more able to relax in their spare time than those who didn’t.

The study was undertaken by psychologist Dr Brandon Smit from Ball State University and found that employees were even less likely to switch off from tasks they considered important, such as an impending project deadlines.

Writing a task list or work plan for the next day also boosted employees’ job performance. Dr Smit says people with a specific deadline or job to to will find it difficult to relax, but if they plan where, when and how they can tackle the work they have to do they will find it easier to relax. He says this is particularly true of people for whom work is the centre of their lives.

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• Work life balance