Give Yourself Permission to Dial It Back

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You’ve heard it time and time again: overwork is bad for you. It hurts your productivity — and your health. So give yourself permission to dial it back, even just a little. Start by noticing the story you’re telling yourself about work.

For example, if you find yourself working on a weekend or responding to emails after hours, pause. Take a couple of minutes to reflect on and even write down why you’re doing this. What’s motivating you? Are you afraid of falling behind? Losing your job? Seeming uncommitted? Then ask yourself: Are these fears rooted in reality, or is it time to change the narrative?

Next, share your goal to dial it back with those you respect — a mentor, friend, or colleague who can not only hold you accountable but also give you some helpful strategies that they use to stay balanced and avoid burnout. Finally, go all-in on what matters. Take a careful look at your workload and recalibrate your schedule to spend less time on the tasks that drain you and more time on valuable responsibilities that bring you the most joy.

Give Your Self-Confidence a Boost…

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Do you have a hard time voicing your thoughts at work, even — especially — when you want to? You’re not alone. The important thing to remember is that your lack of confidence isn’t an inherent flaw. Confidence can be learned and practiced. Here are a couple of steps to help you get started.

Step 1: Connect with yourself. Take the time to understand who you are, where your motivations lie, and what makes you unique, because there’s literally no one else who will share your particular point of view. You have something important to share, no matter how obvious or uninspiring it may seem to you.

Step 2: Focus on building confident behaviors (such as speaking up in a meeting or asserting yourself when someone interrupts you). Don’t worry if that doesn’t happen overnight; any mindset shift is going to take time. So, start small and be deliberate about each effort. Don’t expect change to happen overnight. Confidence is a muscle!

You Don’t Have to Be Helpful All the Time…

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Most research shows that helping others makes us feel happy and energized. But the reality is that lending a hand to coworkers can often be exhausting, draining our cognitive and emotional resources and leaving us too tired and depleted to perform subsequent tasks. So how can you help colleagues while protecting your productivity? 

First, it’s important to recognize that, in addition to its positive effects, helping has negative effects that may persist for hours or days. 

Second, if you are feeling depleted, take actions to restore your energy: Take a break, go for a walk, or sneak in a nap. 

Lastly, give yourself permission to put off the request for help. You may not want to refuse outright (though that’s an option too) but you can agree to assist at a future and more opportune time for you, such as the end of your workday or workweek after you’ve accomplished your own goals.

No Charm…

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Food does not remain a charm.

Materialistic things do not remain a charm.

Things you bought do not remain a charm.

Shallow friends which you attracted do not remain a charm.

Your Ego hanging in earnings does not remain a charm.

What remains is your body, your mind, and your family. 

So take good care of them, they will be your charm in the end.

Manage the Endless Stream of Email by Setting Boundaries

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One of the reasons email is so hard to manage is that sending it is easy. We can fill up each other’s inboxes by just clicking a button, so it’s important to set boundaries around email. Here are three things to try:

Use auto-replies. When you need time to focus on work, your email autoreply can tell people that you’re unavailable and when you’ll get back to them. Whether you’ll reply in a day or a week, let people know what to expect. (In the meantime, give yourself permission to ignore messages that can wait.)

Set guidelines for your team. Tell people how and when you prefer to communicate, and ask colleagues and clients about their preferences as well. Don’t forget to revisit this discussion when people join the team or new projects begin.

Lead by example. If you answer emails late at night or on weekends, you’re telling your team to do the same. Use services that allow you to schedule emails to send later. Better yet, step away from your inbox entirely.

Worried You’re in a Dead-End Career?

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Every sector is vulnerable to disruption or obsoletion. The good news is that industry-level shifts don’t happen overnight. If you anticipate that your career is on a sinking ship, here’s how you can chart a new course. 

Look for a new job. Of course, you can look for a new job. If you’re updating your resume, don’t just focus on your achievements. You should also identify all of your transferable skills. Can you bring people together to work toward a common goal? Are you good at taking abstract problem statements and turning them into an actionable game plan? Make sure your resume includes your capabilities, as well as your successes. 

Another approach is to adopt a different mindset and think about how your company could evolve. What are its biggest vulnerabilities? If you were a competitor, what would you do to steal market share? Can you capitalize on — or better yet, invent — the next trends in your industry before they capsize your company? Most industries will undergo a radical change at some point. 

Instead of lamenting what’s coming, face those changes head-on. Your career depends on it.

Build Relationships…

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We human beings cannot avoid good turns or bad turns, we cannot avoid good fortune or bad fortune.

But in each of these if we can build relationships and cherish them it will lead to a much bigger impact in our life. 

So keep building relationships and you can live a golden life. 

Sometimes it doesn’t matter…

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It doesn’t matter which car you drive, as long as it takes you from point A to B.

It doesn’t matter which house you live in, as long as you build a home in it.

It doesn’t matter where you work, as long as you enjoy working.

It doesn’t matter in life, as long as you are happy.

So don’t fret about anything and be happy!

Are You Taking Effective Breaks from Work?

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Taking breaks throughout the workday can boost both your well-being and performance, but far too few of us take them regularly—or use them effectively. Research suggests you consider the following factors to get the most out of your pause from work.

Length. A longer break isn’t always better. Disengaging from work for a few minutes but on a regular basis (micro-breaks) can be sufficient for preventing exhaustion and boosting performance.

Location. Changing locations will help you recharge. If you can get outside, even for a short walk, all the better.

Activity. Browsing social media is a popular, but not necessarily effective way to take a short break. Instead, choose to do something that enriches you, brings you joy, and gives you energy.

Pets! Research shows that interacting with a dog can lower levels of cortisol hormone, an objective indicator of stress. So if it’s possible to spend some time with a furry companion during the workday, give it a try.

Music. Music can be a really good breaker from work. It nourishes you and you feel really good after a good music break.

Movie or TV. Movie or TV watching can also be a good break, provided you use it effectively and within the time limit.

Made a Big Mistake at Work? Own Up and Move On.

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Here’s the thing about mistakes: Everyone makes them. But making a big mistake at work doesn’t have to be a career killer. As awful as it might feel in the moment, you can take steps to regain trust, minimize damage, and mend the situation. It’s important to be proactive. As soon as you become aware of the gaffe, try to get in front of the situation before it spirals. Address whatever took place so people know you’re aware of the problem, and they don’t feel the pressure to bring it to your attention.

Reach out to anyone impacted by your actions, hear them out (or ask for their feedback), and share a plan for improvement moving forward. Offer an apology, if warranted. Make it genuine. Don’t be defensive or make it about you. Instead, acknowledge your error and the harm you caused to the other person, team, or business. And don’t forget to show yourself compassion. Setbacks at work can be embarrassing, but being excessively self-critical isn’t helpful.

Berating yourself for something in the past won’t make the mistake go away. So own up, and move on.