Do you have them?
Boundaries. I am hearing that word a lot lately. My clients want boundaries. According to Webster’s Dictionary, a boundary is: “something that indicates or fixes a limit or extent.”
With remote work, many of us have lost our boundaries – have lost that “fixed limit”. The commute to and from work used to be a buffer that separated work and home, and now it is gone. Technology blurs boundaries all the time, we can be reached anytime, anywhere.
How are your boundaries? Is your work blending into and possibly negatively impacting your home life?
When coaching clients, we talk about various tactics to honor boundaries, such as:
- communicate your expectations clearly about what you can and can’t do
- delegate to others, learn to let go a bit
- prioritize yourself, your health and what matters to you
- set limits, such as not taking any calls after 6PM, maybe with one exception per week
- practice saying no graciously “I have 5 projects right now, I can start that one on March 1st.”
What works for you?
#WiseWords
“Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves even when we risk disappointing others.“
Worth the Share
After living with the impact of Covid for almost two years, many professionals have re-evaluated their relationship with work. The Great Resignation is real. As you probably heard, 4.5 million people walked off the job in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a record high.
This article from Thrive is especially interesting because it digs into the numbers and talks about the reset that is happening with a lot of professionals. “According to a recent global survey by Future Forum, 76% of workers want more flexibility about where they work, and 93% want greater flexibility on when they work.
But it’s not flexibility for its own sake — behind the desire for flexibility is a desire to recalibrate our relationship between our lives and our work. That’s what’s at the heart of the Great Re-valuation. People want their lives to come first.”
The article’s title makes a bold statement: Now Is the Time for “Life-Work Integration”: Going from work-life balance to work- life integration to life-work integration.
Are you ready to make a shift from striving for work-life balance to begin focusing on life-work integration?
And Finally...
If you are feeling radical, and want to read something that will help you reframe your approach to time, and maybe even positively impact burnout, read Effortless: Make It Easy to Do What Matters, by Greg McKeown.- Turn tedious tasks into enjoyable rituals
- Prevent frustration by solving problems before they arise
- Set a sustainable pace instead of powering through
- Make one-time choices that eliminate many future decisions
- Simplify your processes by removing unnecessary steps
- Make relationships easier to maintain and manage
- And much more
Personally, I love Greg’s concept of setting a sustainable pace as it allows me to be more fully present. Oddly, I also get more accomplished.
Have a great, boundary-setting week,
Mary Jo