Your work email is the last thing you check at night and the first thing you look at in the morning.
You can’t sleep.
The only thing that makes you happy are weekends.
When asked how you are, your default answer is “busy.”
You wish you could get sick so you could take a break.
You’re always treating yourself to something new—a pedicure, a new top from Zara, a Krispy Kreme donut, a sundae from Farmacy—so you can feel good.
After working 50 hours a week, you still bring home work on weekends.
You’re prone to snapping easily—at the Uber driver, your kid, husband, boyfriend, the waitress who got your order wrong.
Does this sound familiar? These are just some signs that your career is taking over your life, that it feels like the only thing in your world. You feel it affecting your mood (you’re always irritated), your health (you can’t sleep or you find yourself eating more), even the way you breathe (short and fast instead of slow and mindful).
When you’re feeling this way, the usual advice that everyone gives is “find work-life balance.” You’re encouraged to make time for your life, to not take work so seriously, to think of “good vibes.” All of this is sound advice but it’s frustrating when you’re drowning in work and can’t see your way out of stress.
Here are two practical ideas that can help you:
1. Remember your why.
Step back from your desk, breathe and connect with why you’re doing what you’re doing.
Ask yourself:
Why did I join this company?
Why am I doing this?
Is it because you see yourself as the leader of this company eventually?
Is the money helping you live a better life, allowing you to travel, to save up for a business or your future home, to help your family?
Is this the stepping stone to a bigger dream?
Is it because you believe in your company’s vision to better other’s lives?
Whatever the reason is, remember why. If your why means a lot to you, then that will give you the love, courage and strength to continue. If it doesn’t, then maybe more soul-searching is needed.
2. You are not your work.
Now there’s a thought. Feel the words in your head, feel it in your body. Feel how true it is.
Once you believe this, ask yourself:
If I am not my work, what else am I?
If I am not my work, what other parts of my life deserve my attention?
If I am not my work, then how can I make space for the other things that are important to me?
If I am not my work, what three small things can I do this week to make that space happen?
If I am not my work, who am I?
These two practices are valuable in taking a deeper look at your life and making choices that are more aligned with what you value. They go beyond just positive thinking or powering through or venting to your friends on Facebook. As Mother Teresa wisely pointed out, “work without love is slavery.”
This article first appeared on Urbanyogi.ph, a site I also contribute to.
Photo by Tran Mau Tri Tam, Unsplash.com.
