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Two questions:

a) I have accepted a new job offer and in the process of serving my notice period. My productivity has dipped, I just mentally do not feel that motivated to work since I know that I am leaving. I am concerned that my boss is going to pick up on this and give me a difficult time.

Is this normal?

b) The original plan was to serve my notice period and start my new role straight away, I am close to finding an experienced replacement and want to take a week off. The trouble is that my boss is already expecting me to serve the whole 2 month notice period which he has already shortened (originally 3 months). What is the best way to negotiate?

bobo2000
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    Your point b) is difficult to comprehend, at least for me. Some clarification would be helpful. Why do you have to find your replacement yourself? Apart from that, the question whether it is normal or not is very subjective. Your question should be how to motivate yourself and stay productive. – NoBackingDown Sep 08 '17 at 09:08
  • @Dominik it is a small company (tech start up), they need all the help that they can get. – bobo2000 Sep 08 '17 at 09:11
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    On your second point, If you have holidays saved. You can use that so in that way ur consuming your holidays and serving notice period too. Many people do. –  Sep 08 '17 at 09:16
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    I don't think we can provide in answer that's in any way useful to the first question - there isn't really a goal we can address. Knowing whether or not it's normal won't help you, and this isn't really a site focused on productivity or motivation (and of course it's better to do the best you can until the end, that shouldn't even be a question). – Bernhard Barker Sep 08 '17 at 12:48
  • Note that asking multiple questions in a single post does not really work well in this Q&A format - it doesn't have as much future value and the answers are all over the place and that causes voting on answers to be messed up. – Bernhard Barker Sep 08 '17 at 12:51

1 Answers1

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It's easy to lose the drive in a job you know you are leaving, but it's important to be professional and keep going until the end (especially if you would like the end to come an additional week earlier!). If you still have annual leave left to use up, it may be better to take them for long weekends or the occasional day off here and there, rather than a single week-long chunk. It may help with the motivation; to work only a few four-day weeks during the notice period.

I would be surprised if I was tasked with recruiting my replacement, but it gives you an opportunity. If New Guy can start during your notice period, that may help your case of taking a holiday in between jobs. Is there even the option of taking the time off unpaid?

If you have negotiated a whole month off your notice period, you probably would be pushing your luck to shorten it further, especially for a small start-up company! If your replacement starts while you are still there however, you could maybe speak to your boss about allowing you and New Guy to spend time on some knowledge transfer. It will allow you to wind down on your other responsibilities while confidently preparing New Guy to continue without you. This would also instil some confidence in your boss that they could do without you a week early, assuming New Guy rises to the role.