Putting your professional wellbeing front & centre

We all know that wellbeing is not just a nice thing to do but often we don’t make it a priority. 

Your health is the single most important thing you have. Yet so many of us sacrifice it to our employers, to our family, our friends. Left too late and inevitably you will get a health warning in some form or another to let you know you need to focus on self-care.

Every year, and at several points during the year, I make a renewed commitment to do better and bring wellbeing into focus to get better balance but it’s often short lived! I recharge I feel stronger and I throw myself back in – so I am not about to tell you the key to success because I’ve definitely not cracked it.

One thing that has helped over the year though is creating healthier, more sustainable work habits.

I’ve read too many stories of people struggling at work with professional life encroaching on personal, and feeling overwhelmed and deeply unsatisfied. We have an ‘always on’ work culture that is very unhealthy, and ultimately it makes it hard to completely switch off even when we want to. Burnout is not a badge of honour. And as much as Employee Assistance programmes, or a lunchtime yoga class is a nice thing to have this is about fundamentally re-contracting our relationship with work – and that isn’t easy.

Over the years I’ve come to realise that fundamentally work life balance, and professional wellbeing, is all about boundaries. Our personal wellbeing becomes an issue when our professional boundaries blur, suddenly it feels like work is in control and that is not a good place to be.

So, if boundaries are the discipline we need – do you know what yours are?

Here are a few tips to help you on your journey … they helped me, and if they help others that’s a win in my book!

1. What brings you joy? – This is about getting to know your professional boundaries:  These are your non-negotiables – often when these are compromised you feel resentful or a sense of failure and disappointment. It could be missing dinner with your family, or not being able to do school picks ups or regularly skipping a much loved gym class. Even taking your dog for a walk during day light hours – which during winter means flexing your schedule to give you that much needed fresh air. Whatever your non-negotiables are you need to ring fence and commit to protecting these activities. Whilst sometimes there will be compromise upholding these will help you feel more balanced.
2. Now write them down  There is nothing quite like putting pen to paper to hold yourself accountable.  Tell people in your team or discuss them with your line manager. Own them. And make a note to review them every six months or so.
3. Take control of your calendar  Whilst so much is not in our control in a busy work environment, make sure you block out deep thinking time every week. If you don’t set aside time to focus on what you need to deliver you will always feel like you are chasing your tail. Protect that time – it’s also a non-negotiable. And with AI it is even easier now to get regular time blocking.
4. Question unexpected meetings  I appreciate this might feel uncomfortable but it’s only natural to question your requested attendance at a meeting so you can prepare accordingly and understand your contribution. This is about getting into the habit of respecting your own time and politely being able to decline if you’re not the right person. If you sit in a meeting for an hour feeling like it was a waste of time you will leave feeling resentful and annoyed and will be playing catch-up on other priorities.
5. Be clear on your objectives  A lack of clarity will leave you feeling overwhelmed, particularly when you have a busy workload. Knowing where you need to focus will give you much more structure. It’s understandably the biggest challenge in comms with so many competing priorities and demands, don’t forget to use 121s with your line manager to help. And taking 15 minutes at the start of each day to plan your day is a great healthy habit to keep focus.
6. Shut down the laptop – every night! It’s healthy for the laptop and healthy for you, helping mentally switch off from the day. This is still my biggest fail with the promise of shutting down once my daughter is asleep – it’s a guaranteed extra hour of work that I shouldn’t be doing.
7. Rome wasn’t built in a day … Reflect on your achievements daily, weekly, monthly and reward yourself as you move closer to your goal. This is one of the best healthy habits you can practice and it’s important to acknowledge your progress towards a big goal that feels unachievable.
8. Be kind, be kind, be kind– I can’t say it enough. Being kind to yourself is so important. Sometimes just getting to the end of a really crazy day deserves a big pat on the back so do something that makes you feel good. That kindness will go a long way to nurturing your own self-care.