Leaving the office is not the same as leaving work. Many leaders close the laptop and carry on replaying meetings, drafting replies and sorting tomorrow into priorities long after the working day has ended. This article draws on recent research on psychological detachment, unfinished tasks, rumination and boundary management to explain why it is so hard to switch off after work, and what tends to help. You will find five practical practices, from writing a specific plan for open loops and building a shutdown sequence to sorting useful thinking from replaying, giving your attention somewhere to go and making your boundaries visible, together with micro practices and reflection questions to try this week.

Time is fixed, but your capacity to use it well is not. Managing your diary alone rarely protects the energy you bring to it. This article explores the research on recovery, work demands and four sources of energy, then turns it into five practical exercises for leaders: a limiting source check, a recovery floor, an effort and recovery rhythm, a relational energy map and a meaning link.