Work, Life, Growth

Over the years I have realized that many professionals struggle with setting healthy boundaries to prevent burnout or the sense of being overly stressed. I am guilty of this as well, but have learned to implement steps into my professional and personal life to help with setting boundaries. Are you someone who has issues setting boundaries with work? If you aren’t sure, then check out these quick questions and they can help you determine if this could be an issue for you.

1. Do you often find yourself taking on additional tasks or responsibilities at work that are beyond your designated role or workload?
2. Do you frequently feel overwhelmed or stressed due to an inability to say “no” to requests or demands?
3. Do you regularly find yourself sacrificing personal time, hobbies, or self-care activities in order to accommodate others?

If you answered yes to any of these questions and recognize that this happens frequently, there is a chance that you may have an issue with setting boundaries. Identification of this is important, but working to rectify this is even more so. So, let’s move into a few strategies that I have found to help set these boundaries.
First and foremost, I want to address the concept of initiative. Taking initiative to complete various tasks can be appealing and can also help to set you apart from others. However, taking on too much can cause you to become overwhelmed. Be willing to prioritize and recognize that you first must be able to complete your designated assignments and responsibilities prior to taking on any others. If you are able to complete 100% of your work in a timely manner and it is accurately performed, then you are doing much better than if you were to only complete a percentage of your work and the quality is terrible. A lot of times, people are so focused on standing out and hearing that in order to move up, you must take initiative. Although I do believe that this is true to an extent, I also believe that it can lead to a breakdown of systems and for you to become easily overwhelmed.

1. It is okay to say “no”. Do not be afraid to say no when asked if you can perform additional tasks above and beyond your responsibilities, especially if you know you do not have the bandwidth. Remember that it’s okay to decline requests that don’t align with your boundaries. When saying “no” in some situations, it can be helpful to offer another solution that could allow for the task to be completed. If you do not want to say “no” or cannot, learn to offer a reasonable timeline for when you plan for the task to be started, and/or to revisit this request at a later date with a planned date stated.

2. Do not be afraid to ask others for their help or guidance. I remember when I was running a busy clinic, I wanted to succeed and was afraid that asking for help would be seen as a weakness. After being overwhelmed for a few months, I decided to reach out to other directors who had been in the role longer than myself. I wish I had done this sooner because I was able to gain insight on how to effectively implement changes that I wanted, and also hear about some of the mistakes that they had made to avoid making the same ones. Asking for help and guidance was a huge time saver, and it helped me to be more efficient in performing my normal duties. It also opened up my capacity to take on additional tasks to help my team grow and develop.

3. Have you ever had a day where you just say, “I will just finish this work at home” and then the next thing you know, you are finishing all of your work at home? I was guilty of this and have to remind myself that there must be a cutoff time for work. There will always be some form of work to do and always a task that needs to be completed, but that does not mean I should load my daily responsibilities up beyond what is reasonable to be completed. Occasionally working after our normal work hours is not the problem, but it does become a problem when other aspects of our life begin are neglected. I have alarms and schedules to remind me of when it is time to move on to the next task or even when it is time to close out work for the day. This helps hold me accountable to prioritizing more than just work and to prioritizing time with my family and other activities that help me to refuel.

When setting boundaries in your professional life, I encourage everyone to focus on what they want, not just professionally but also personally. In order to better explain this, let me share a few of my own desires and how I use these to set boundaries.

1. Goal: I want to spend more time with my children.
Boundary: My work schedule is set up so that I am able to play an active role in my children’s schooling and participate in their activities. I limit the number of patients I see during a week to ensure that my family gets the best of me.

2. Goal: I want to be able to exercise multiple times during the week.
Boundary: I have time built into my schedule where I go exercise, and this time is used just for that. If I have not completed a task, I remind myself that the task will be waiting for me when I return, but that exercising helps me to refuel and remain productive.

3. Goal: I want to be able to offer participate in pro bono and community events, but don’t want to be overextended
Boundary: I commit services that agree with my mission and moral compass. I also limit the number of activities that I say “yes”. I accept that saying yes to something means that I will also say “no” to something else.

4. Goal: I want to ensure that my patients have ease of access to me outside of their scheduled appointment times.
Boundary: I am available via email and telephone during my normal business hours. I also limit the number of active therapy patients on my caseload to allow for them to be able to reach me if needed.

5. Goal: I want to continue to mentor and coach other therapists to grow in the profession and/or in their business.
Boundary: I have designated times for in my schedule that I can meet with therapists individually and have group sessions to allow for me to help more people at once and focus while focusing on individual growth.

Remember, setting boundaries is essential for maintaining a healthy work-life balance, reducing stress, and ensuring that you can perform your best in both your professional and personal endeavors. In order to give your best, you have to be willing to set boundaries.

Did you find this post helpful? If so, please let me know!