Are You Getting Enough Quiet Time in Your Work Week?

How do you balance quiet time and connection time when working?

Do you structure your diary in a way that works for your needs or are you at the mercy of others and have little or no agency over how your day unravels (yes, unravels as opposed to unfolds).

Agency is a core need of ours and in the workplace having appropriate agency means being able to make choices about how we schedule parts of our day – i.e. when we schedule certain tasks, when we block out protected time for quiet work, when we connect with others and when we take our breaks.

If your role requires deep thinking and processing (don’t they all at some point?) are you getting enough quiet time to do this?

Global Tech firm Atlassian work fully remote; however, to foster connection (also an essential) they have been piloting a Melbourne based “connection hub” where staff can come in whenever they like and connect with others, or sit in a comfy couch in the corner and work quietly away from home.

This has been a huge success for the company and I particularly admire how it helps staff balance connection and quiet.

I need connection and I need periods of quiet. When those conditions are met, and I have control over how that looks – amazing things happen. 🙌

How do you ensure you get your periods of quiet each week? Are you intentional about it?

Or does it only happen if you get into work 2 hours early – chewing up your precious personal time?

Tanya Heaney-Voogt

Director & Principal Consultant
MBA, ICFACC, MAHRI, Dip Mgt, Dip Coaching, Prosci® Certified Change Practitioner
E: tanya@tanyaheaneyvoogt.com

Recent Blogs

Leaders Are Crying Out For Support

Leaders Are Crying Out For Support Only 48% of managers strongly agreeing that they currently have the skills needed to be exceptional at their jobs (Gallup). The work environment continues to shift and evolve with Leaders assuming more and more responsibility and...

What To Do If An Employee Tells You They’re “Stressed”

What To Do If An Employee Tells You They're "Stressed" I once had a frustrated leader bark at me "How am I supposed to know if my team member really is stressed or not?" It was in the middle of a workshop with 50 other leaders in the room. His frustration was...

New Data Reveals New Insights

Traditionally, data showed that people left leaders not workplaces. New data received this month shows that the most frequent reason for employees to leave their organisation is excessive workload. Sure, there's potentially a correlation if concerns aren't being...

The Real Cost of Interruptions

The Real Cost of Interruptions How long does it take to get back into the ‘zone’ after an interruption? By the “zone” I mean that sense of flow, where you are productive and totally absorbed in the task at hand. Researchers at the University of California found it...

Navigating the Blind Spots of the ‘Empathy’ Clifton Strengths Talent

Sophie always knew she felt things more deeply than others.In meetings, she could sense tension before anyone spoke a word. When a team member was struggling, she was the first to notice. People gravitated to her when they needed someone to confide in. And as a...

Navigating the Blind Spots of the ‘Responsibility’ Clifton Strength

Victoria was the person everyone relied on at work. If a deadline was in jeopardy, she stepped in. If a team member was struggling, she picked up the slack. She prided herself on being dependable, always delivering on promises, and ensuring everything ran smoothly....

Bringing the Outside In – Using Nature in the Office to Boost Mood

There is no end of evidence that proves nature is good for our mental and physical wellbeing. What we have often felt has now been proven as fact, that sense of soul restoration, of mental clarity we get if we lose ourselves in a forest for a while for example. Or...

The Importance of Post-Incident Support for Minor OVA in the Workplace

Written By: Alexandra Heaney As a Mental Health Nurse who spent many years working in a large metropolitan public mental health facility, I have seen my fair share of OVA. It’s interesting when I reflect on some of the things that occurred in my time there, and I...

Struggling to Activate Your Psychosocial Safety Initiatives? Understand the WHY

I caught up with a legal colleague recently and we spent some time discussing how psychosocial safety initiatives still lack traction in many Australian workplaces. We mused over the fact that workplaces are change saturated, resource lean and struggling to CREATE...

Is Change Resistance Taking Up Space? How I finally embraced AI to create space

It’s 2025 and hasn’t the year has gotten off to a cracking pace? Those I was meeting with in mid-January were talking about the lack of "ease back in" time this year. Of course, in many ways we perpetuate this. It’s helpful to now and again stop and ask: How might I...