Careers blog: The Summer Surprise

Alumni Careers Manager Konstantina Dee talks about switching off, resetting, and giving your nervous system a chance to reset:

Early this summer my work and home diaries were full of colour coded boxes, and I also had a big launch event in mid-September. So, what happened during a holiday in early September, surprised me. I didn't spend a single moment worrying about work. Not one minute.

When I looked at why, I realised that it wasn't willpower, and it wasn't a meditation app. It was something I had only recently started doing: compartmentalising.

It started with one non-negotiable rule: no work apps on my personal phone. No work email, no chat channels, no shared calendars.

Dr David Rock, a leading neuroscientist, describes how our brains constantly scan for threat, also things like uncertainty and lack of control can tip us into a "threat state", where our thinking capacity diminishes, and calmness is hard to find. Think about what a work notification does. It arrives without warning, demands a response on someone else's terms, and asks you to switch focus when you hadn't planned to. That is a small example of uncertainty and lack of control, so every ping becomes a small nudge towards that threat state, even when the message itself turns out to be harmless.

By removing the constant pings and buzzes on my phone, I removed the micro-threats. With the cues gone, my brain no longer had to obey my habit or resist the urge to "just check." That let my brain settle into what Rock would call a "toward" state: open, curious and able to be present. When I'm at work, I'm fully engaged. When I step away, I can enjoy what's in front of me. This is compartmentalising. It isn't about colour-coding a packed diary or being rigid about your time. It's about clear boundaries that give our nervous systems a chance to reset.

Three Simple Steps to Protect Your Thinking Space This Autumn

You don't need a holiday to try these. Pick one and experiment with it this week.

Protect your time off work
Notice where work sneaks into your personal time. Is Teams buzzing while you make dinner? Delete the app from your personal device or switch off notifications after a certain time. Small barrier, big exhale.

Choose two things to let go of
Look at your to-do list and ask yourself: "What am I still doing out of habit, guilt, or the small satisfaction of ticking a box?" Pick two recurring tasks or meetings this week to cancel, decline or step back from.

Book time to think
In coaching, we talk a lot about the value of a true thinking environment. Block out two hours in your diary each week as an appointment with your own mind. No agenda but time for reflection, making sense of things and looking ahead.

As we move into the busy weeks of this term, remember that your value as a leader or professional isn't measured by how fast you reply to a message. It's measured by the clarity and calm you bring to your decisions.