HBR Working Dads Collection (6 Books)

13

Commit to a No-Work Weeknight

by Mark McCartney

Quick Takes

• Recognize that family time is recovery time for work
• Commit to at least one work-free night per week
• Use rituals to carve out and protect your family time
• The more structured a ritual is, the better it will stick

I often tell the story of Mike, a coaching client of mine and head of sales at an aviation company in the United States. Once, he told me, on the first day of a holiday away, he announced to his wife and three children that he preferred being at work to being there with them. It happened when his wife told him to put his phone away at the breakfast table, but the root causes of his outburst were an always-on work culture combined with a toxic relationship with his boss ...