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This digital bowl is beat
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Remind yourself of your value. Set clear boundaries. Stick to them. Don’t fall for the farce of “well, Lenny is working 60 hours, so I guess I have to.” People who have no backbones (and people who for some hellish reason like to spend their entire lives working) unfortunately tend to (consciously or unconsciously) set a standard that everyone else around them should work as much as they do. This just isn’t true. If they want to be miserable, chronically stressed, and burnt out, they have every right to be. However you have a choice not to be.
It can get awkward sometimes. However a simple “I can’t work late tonight, I have plans.” can go a long way. Doesn’t matter if you have plans with friends, with your family, with your dog, or with yourself. Until your company is paying you overtime, your time is your time.
I know every agency is nuanced and has different expectations but this is what I now live by and it will not change regardless of anywhere I work. Work’s purpose it to make money so you can support your real life. Your real life’s purpose is not to support your company.
I try to break up my day into tasks, with certain set times for undivided attention on whatever needs to get done. Then, making a hard stop time. I make a tomorrow to-do list if I have a lot still. I could work all day, every day, and still not be finished.
Weirdly comforting that I’m not alone in the struggle. I’ll start small :) truly thank you so much!
It often comes down to just getting serious about determining what's important and doing some significant prioritizing. If you're able to delegate some tasks, start working on that. And if some tasks don't have much return for the effort you put in, start working on winding them down. And I find that sometimes it's helpful to just really focus during the times I am working. It's amazing how much I can accomplish when I'm not letting myself be distracted, especially by my phone.
My company loves to do this too. Lay people off when we lose a client, then not hire new people when we win one. Suddenly, shocker, everyone is spread too thin and rapidly getting burnt out. I know I’m valuable enough to them that they would only fire me in the absolute worst case scenario, and I maintain that value for them, however I refuse to work overtime so they can rake more in to inflate their bottom line. Fuuuuck that.
My work is really hectic here lately as well. I'm exhausted. Unfortunately it isn't seeming like the solve can be being more strict about logging off right at 5pm. But what I do is protect a few nights a week where I don't touch work at all. That time of protected peace where I don't think about work makes a world of a difference when I was just working late every night.
I actually love that as a starting point! A few nights a week where I have to log off on time and enjoy a night off. Feels more realistic for my schedule right now