Do you leave work behind at 5pm every day? Do you easily and regularly switch
off and make time for you? In a world of 24/7 access to technology and syncing work emails to phones it can be hard to switch off. Workloads can be intense and it can feel like you have to fight to keep up because what will happen if you don’t? The advanced technological world we live in with connectivity and information at our finger tips is amazing, but when it comes to leaving work at work it can become a nightmare if you let it.
There are some sectors that place value and prestige on the number of hours you clock, or where there is an underlying feeling that you must get everything done and if you don’t its fatal. In others it may just be that everyone stays late, and either you feel bad or its expected that you should stay too. Or maybe it’s not actually expected but you have an overwhelming feeling that if you don’t get everything done, which is impossible to get done in 9-5pm hours, then you have dropped the ball. There can be a fear your colleagues and superiors will judge you not capable. The reality in this situation can often be that it is you putting that pressure on yourself, no one else.
Add to this that at the same time with the era of Facebook and Instagram there are conflicting pressures to have an amazing social life and be fun, exciting and come into work Monday morning with impressive stories of what you’ve been up to over the weekend that satisfy those around you.
Ultimately, it’s exhausting. Is it worth it? And, does it make a difference?
If you clocked off at 5pm, removed your work emails from your phone and even turned your phone off for the evening, would anyone notice? Would it have a catastrophic impact on your work? If you set boundaries and delegated tasks you physically don’t have the capacity to complete in a reasonable working day because you are not 10 people, you are only one person, would your career be over? I suspect not. And if it was, is it worth it? Are there other options that would provide better work satisfaction, allow you to be more productive, add more value, and be happy and healthy?
How often do you truly make time for you and switch off?
Do you make time for you and switch off every evening? Once a week? Once a month? Once a year? Has the habit got that bad that you don’t ever switch off and make time for yourself? Life is about more than just work. Its about more than just impressing people that don’t matter, and its about more than being treated less than you deserve. When you make time for you, be with the ones you choose to be with, have fun, relax, create, breathe, switch off and allow yourself to replenish, life gets better and you become more productive and effective in your work.
The early career workers amongst us who are just starting out in the workplace seem to have a very different attitude to work than those of us who came before them. Life is very important to them and they seem to have very clear boundaries when it comes to excessive hours and work-life balance, so much so it’s changing the conversation with employers.
If you’re someone who struggles with making time for you and switching off, which ultimately makes you happier and more productive, may be you should find an early career role model who has work-life balance down? Or maybe its time to set goals and start to change habits so you can gradually claw your life back, and your job satisfaction with it. Often that job you loved can lose its feel good factor when stress and overwhelm take over.
Start slowly and set monthly or weekly breaks, filling those breaks with whatever activity lifts you up and makes you excited to think about. It could be windsurfing, painting, walking, family time, a holiday or even just giving yourself a day to indulge in the garden.
Make time for yourself, set boundaries with your working hours and start to get honest with yourself about how much you’re doing, how it makes you feel and what you might be missing out on. Focus on slowly starting to address the balance by creating new habits.
Over to you
What is the one step you’re going to take now to switch off and make time for you? Let me know in the comments below.
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