Balance and Boundaries
The Art of Professional Self-Care
Happy new week dear friend!
I am not sure how much thought we put into our professional self-care as it all seems to be linked with the other. Granted, we talk and hear about mental health in the workplace and managing workload to avoid stress or burnout.
However, I have realised that professional self-care goes beyond these. It is about creating a healthy work-life balance that supports growth and fulfilment.
We spend a big part of our lives working, so taking care of ourselves professionally is as important as taking care of ourselves physically.
Over the years, many experiences have led me to paying attention to this aspect of my self-care routines, and I would like to explore a few tips that have helped me thrive in my career while keeping my well-being intact.
Setting Clear Boundaries Between Work and Personal Life
One of the biggest revelations was learning to set boundaries both in my professional and private lives. I know a lot of young people at the start of their careers are very eager and ambitious, so they overwork to climb the corporate ladder.
I was one, and this meant working in the evenings and during the weekends. This started taking over my private life and before I realised it was affecting my relationships. I had to set boundaries with my schedule to separate work times from personal times.
Making time for personal growth
Put your development as a priority because no one will do it for you. Sometimes, we can get so used to the same routines and tasks, and this can be dangerous for our motivation and development.
As part of my yearly goals at work, I set goals for developmental opportunities, be it some relevant courses I can take to stay abreast or taking part in a corporate-wide project to work with people I normally don’t work with and to learn about a different aspect of the company’s strategy and goals.
Learning to delegate
It’s good to be ambitious but remember how everything still goes on when you are on leave and someone covers for you? Gone are the days when I thought always being busy was a “badge of honour.”
I think it’s a junior employee thing where you take on so much to prove yourself. However, that only stressed me out. These days, I am more than happy to delegate and share the workload so we can work efficiently and harmoniously.
Taking regular breaks to recharge.
I also remember to take short breaks in between to rest my arms, hands, eyes, and neck and move a bit for circulation and blood flow to my legs. These have helped a lot, especially in periods where there’s a lot of admin work to be completed.
I know these tips are not groundbreaking, but I hope they serve as a reminder for you when it comes to taking care of yourself at your workplace and in your career. All practices of self-care link to our aim for a holistic self-care routine, and this means including practices at our our workplaces.
As we start a new week, I would like to encourage you to set some time and evaluate if there is any place you can adjust, then try to do so because we cannot perform at our best if we are not taking better care of ourselves in all aspects of our lives - our careers included.
Have a great week ahead.
Love & light
Sheila Daisy