Are You Overworking Yourself? Tips for Finding Work-Life Harmony
Are you placing an unreasonable workload on yourself to get things done? One time I stressed myself out at work while trying to go to graduate school, be a new mother, and work a fulltime job. Check out this week's fail in the #Failsume.
new baby, work, and school
I just had a baby, I was going to graduate school, and I had a full-time job. It was way too much!
I asked my supervisor if I could move my role to 80% time so I could have one day at home with the baby and have some more time to do my school work.
I thought I was so brilliant!
In execution, though, I failed. I did 80% in the office like I agreed but then I took home the other 20%!
The result: I was working more and getting paid less! Sometimes, I even worked more than 20%.
Fortunately, I was able to talk to my supervisor and we fixed it even though it took me a while to set my expectations. It was so important.
We have all been in this moment where we are overstretched. This is what I did to fix it.
1. over communicate
Tell people what is going on and what you are actually doing. You can’t expect people to help you make a change if they don’t even know that there is an issue.
2. Take breaks
You can’t work all of the time. It is not good for you and it is not good for your work product. So, if you find yourself in a space where the work/life harmony is just not there, be kind to yourself and recognize that it is OK to admit it.
3. be kind to yourself
Keep your INTERNAL narrative in check. Is someone doing it TO YOU? Or are you doing it to yourself? It may help to get the perspective of someone you trust.THE FAILSUME