When work from home became the new normal, I quickly realized that my job was measured entirely by output, nobody was measuring my hours, and studies had proven that fewer working hours improved productivity.
So I just started working 2-3 hours less per day. Every day.
First I was worried that I'd get caught and possibly disciplined. I felt like I was letting my team down. I was convinced that I was being a scofflaw.
Nope.
I'm considered a model, hardworking employee, and my pay is up 40%. Nobody has ever taken note of how I'm actually working. 40 hours per week is still the posted expectation, and all of my coworkers regularly exceed 50 hours per week burning themselves out.
And I take long walks and complete tasks here and there with my laptop and hotspot. I answer emails at 6am and then go back to sleep till 10. I log out at 3 and keep slack open on my phone to appear online.
And my employer thinks I'm great.
Occasionally there's some big catastrophe that makes me work 14 hours straight, but I'm still working less than 40 hours those weeks. I'll even convince my manager that I need to take a half day to recover from it, and work 2 hours. They'll pat me on the back and tell me not to let myself get burned out. Don't worry, I won't!
Cut back your hours if you're WFH folks, trust me. It works.