Why I Don’t Check My Work Email on the Weekends Anymore

Separating your personal and professional life are vital in keeping yourself from suffering burnout

I grew up surrounded by entrepreneurs, and the biggest influences in my own journey of becoming a self-starter were my dad and his skill of separating his professional and personal life. Rather than admiring CEOs who I’ve never met, I admired how my dad harmonized his personal and professional life.I witnessed from my dad was when he didn’t check his work emails over the weekend.

A simple, yet powerful, practice, not checking your emails over the weekend is an act of preserving your passion for your startup. While it seems counterproductive, ignoring work emails on the weekends is a practice in preventing burnout from happening. Burnout and stress are two factors that can cripple your success as a business owner.

A little on my dad and his entrepreneurial example

My dad immigrated to the United States from Central America without the knowledge of what, “entrepreneurship” even was. My dad’s dream was to just build something — a business-that would provide his future family with the opportunities he never had.

From buying his first home to supporting my sisters and me through college, my dad’s business flourished grew without him having to sacrifice his well-being my checking his work email on the weekends. Without ever saying a word, my dad taught me how to be a successful entrepreneur by working towards harmony.

Consider the framework of harmonizing your time, not prioritizing

The framework that I learned from the CEO at home was to toss out the idea of trying to manage priorities. Yes, ditch trying to manage your time because this mindset can cause more stress than it alleviates. Again, the simple practice of not checking your emails outside of business hours prevents stress from invading your time to recharge and rest.

When you’re running a business or brand from the ground up you act as this institution's foundation. You must yourself remain stable and strong to keep those around you or the vision of your entrepreneurial journey on track. The act of trying to prioritize in itself represents restraints in time and energy. As an entrepreneur, your other identities don’t just disappear. If the weekends is that time when you pursue other passions, don’t let one email spoil that precious period.

As an entrepreneur, time really is your most precious resource. Using that framework of knowing that things on your to-do list might spill into the weekend offers some peace. Instead of stressing in trying to finish 20-things in one day, ask yourself what are the 5 most important things to do that day. And then consider how can you harmonize your life to include time for breaks, lunch, and self-care.

Whatever time you designated for your other passions, respect that time

My dad ran a transport company and I now work full-time in entertainment public relations, and I too started not checking my work emails as an act of protection for my entrepreneurial spirit. The weekends are my time to practice my passion of writing. Whether I’m drafting posts for my blog or brainstorming pieces for Medium, I reserve this time for my own creativity. The result is a lot of ideas that may not be written, but I feel fulfilled at the end of it all.

Being an entrepreneur looks different for all of us and we need the time to both grow and explore the dimensions of our passions. For my dad, he worked as an assistant for several years and also tagged along with truck drivers before he launched his business. For me, I’ll write and then spend time submitting freelance pitches to different outlets and editors. Whatever your passion is, it’s important to honor the time that you devoted to nurturing that.

My dad never carried two phones, but he still knew how to harmonize his channels of communication so that on weekends he had the respect of being Mr. Samayoa, but also being my dad. It was a difficult conversation to have, but I too had to tell my boss that while he lived on his work email I did not. I am more than my job title and work emails can wait.

By harmonizing your time and identities you nurture and protect your entrepreneurial journey

Our identities all intersect in different ways and accepting that you are more than your business could protect you from suffering burnout. In the two-decades, my dad ran his business without facing a burnout that folded everything over. Through the peaks and valleys of being a business owner, he never let the stress of one email break into our family.

He faced dozens of moments when he thought he might have to close his business. But like all entrepreneurs — the fear of failure serves as motivation and not a deterrent. I understand that some tasks are urgent, and sometimes emergencies happen. In those moments where you need to activate your entrepreneurial identity, I say go for it! However, we need to normalize the notion that it’s okay to be more than your business and brand.

After all, the sign of a successful business is when it can be self-sustaining. Not checking my work emails on the weekend helped me grow my focus and passion in my creative endeavor. I’ll skim emails on the weekend, but I do my best not to reply. Come Sunday night, I feel fulfilled in how much I wrote for myself and I take that joy and push it into my full-time job.

Try to see if you can go a weekend without checking your work emails

I hope that by the end of this piece you feel inspired and okay with the idea of not checking your work emails. It’s a practice easier said than done, trust me I know. However, it’s a practice in preserving that passion for your creative endeavor that inspired you to become an entrepreneur in the first place.