Your calendar and inbox can either be your best friends or your worst enemies—it all depends on how you use them:<ul><li>schedule 30-minute open blocks of time into your calendar every day (to each lunch, deal with something urgent or simply for taking a break).</li><li>set specific times to check for any new messages—and avoid it the rest of the day.</li></ul>

Take control of your time

You’re never going to have complete certainty about everything at work. You have to make your peace with the fact that there’s only so much you can control.It’s crucial for your self-care that you learn to adapt when the road ahead is unclear.

Accept uncertainty

Going to sleep and waking up at the same time, working out in the morning, reading before bed—a routine imposes structure on an otherwise chaotic day.

Create routines

There’s no harm in saying “no” to an invitation if you know it will leave you drained for the rest of the week or eat up precious time you could spend on meaningful activities.

Don't feel guilty for saying no

A hectic work schedule demands a strong support system. If you focus strictly on your career and forget about the relationships you’ve built with friends and family, then you’ll be on a one-way track to burnout.

Find time for friendships

As a group, busy professionals with big career aspirations tend to be lousy at balancing the demands of their work with their personal health. It's not that they don't want to take time for themselves and let their inbox be for a few hours-it's that work somehow always finds a way to encroach on other parts of their lives.

Don't feel guilty for saying no

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