Creating Boundaries with Your Work

When you’re overwhelmed, you may not feel like you have the energy to create boundaries, you’re just trying to stay afloat. Energetically, this is the most important time to have them so that you can balance your energy and RECLAIM your power. When you are over-stressed, you aren’t doing your best work.

There are so many ways to create boundaries and through the years I have helped my clients create boundaries that are easy to implement and continue to use. Otherwise, if it’s too much work or too hard, you’re not going to do it.

One of the most important things that have helped my clients create boundaries is to realize what you are missing out on by not creating them. Every time you say YES to something, you are saying NO to something else. The no is usually to you and your self care because that is what will get pushed to the bottom of the priorities, after all there are only so many hours in the day.

Boundaries in the work place depend on your job and your actual job requirements. Many people often feel obligated to take on more work and for some it is part of the job.

Are you taking on too much?

How “on call” are you after hours? Is this required or something you do because you love to work or feel you have to?
How many hours constitute your work day? 8 hours? 10? 12? How long are you supposed to work and how long do you work? Are they part of your job or do you take them on because you feel you have to?
When you leave work, do you actually leave work or are you still working?
Do you take a lunch or do you feel you have so much work to do that you have to work through it?
How do you feel in your work environment? What does your relationships with your co-workers look like?
How easily do you fall asleep on your own at night? This is a very important question! Can you fall asleep on your own or do you need help to fall asleep because you can’t shut your mind off because you are so focused on your work?

What changes are within your power at work to create? Do you want to make any changes?

Easy boundaries to create at work to take care of YOU:

Take your LUNCH. It gives you time to fuel your body, check in with anything outside of work and it gives you space to re energize and come back to work re-focused.
Don’t check work email an hour before you go to bed. This gives you time to start a bedtime routine to help you fall asleep on your own.
Any ideas for the next day that are keeping you from sleeping, write them all down on a piece of paper and imagine them leaving your mind. You have them written down, you can access them again in the morning, assess their priority and add into your schedule as needed.
Start your day with a good morning routine.
Pay attention to what you say yes to. When you take on extra tasks, why are you doing that? Does it help your career or is it just adding more to your plate and to do list. Remember, what are you going to say “no” to.
Stay away from workplace DRAMA. There are no winners in drama, it is an energy warp.
When you find yourself taking on other people’s energy, in your mind, say, “no thank you!” Do not build walls to “protect” yourself. I spend a lot of time helping people energetically remove those walls. Instead, imagine as their energy is coming at you energetically saying, “no thank you” and giving it back to them the same way they gave it to you.

Boundaries are totally up to you!

You tell people what is okay and what isn’t by the boundaries you draw. No one is going to tell you to work less, it’s up to you to you to figure out what boundaries are best for you in your role.