Give yourself a lagom time out

A lagom approach to time is really about reclaiming your own time. Log out from your computer to leave the office on time. Don’t have email or social media notifications on your phone, and switch it off when you are with your family (if your kids will let you, that is). Set specific work hours and ignore your email outside of those hours. You will probably find that you are just as efficient as before. Boasting about working an 80-hour week is definitely not lagom; knowing that there’s a time to work and a time not to work is lagom.
 

How to find your lagom time:

• Reduce the amount of activities you plan during the week and weekend. Try to leave one day free per weekend. That is when you can find your lagom time and allow yourself to be spontaneous and spend quality time with your family.
• If you can’t leave the office at 5.30, try leaving a little earlier than you usually do to see how that affects your day. If you know that you have to leave at a fixed time, you will be more efficient.
• Being well rested is also key to being efficient and experiencing fewer feelings of stress. Try to go to bed in good time and get up a little earlier than usual. Having an extra 30 minutes in the morning instead of rushing can give you a feeling of owning more of your day—a small gesture of self-empowerment. If it’s still dark, make the extra time special by lighting a candle and having tea in a favorite mug.
• Ask yourself if your week is looking lagom in terms of activities and commitments. Perhaps you could arrange your social life differently. A book club is a good example of a lagom activity. You meet friends, enjoy socializing at someone’s house, and you also have to spend time reading. Taking a walk, perhaps in nature, is a perfectly harmonious way to spend lagom time, especially if you bring fika along.