How to Set a Time Boundary with Work
Do you ever feel like some people can just walk away from work when their shift or the workday is over? Do you struggle with telling yourself, “5 more minutes,” or, “let me just answer this email so that I can stop thinking about it and not have to deal with it tomorrow”? Juggling work can be a real struggle for some. Ensuring you are doing your job and making time for your personal life without feeling exhausted is necessary to create overall balance and satisfaction in multiple areas of your life. It is important to set time boundaries with work to maintain this balance.
Boundaries are these imaginary lines that we use to tell others how we are to be treated because it’s how we treat ourselves. The problem with boundaries is that sometimes we aren’t clear about what they are, we expect others to know what our boundaries are, or we make excuses when we break our own boundaries. When we do this in a work setting, we might feel burnout quicker, feel overworked, underappreciated, and even struggle with our personal time because we blur the lines between work and home. We can get stuck in our thoughts, worrying that if we don’t perform, there will be consequences, which creates a loop of overworking ourselves. This is why it is important to set time boundaries with work.
Here are some tips for setting time boundaries at work:
- First and foremost, set and keep your schedule. If you are an hourly employee, work your set hours. If you are a salaried employee, work your set hours. This comes down to you and your boundaries. Of course, if your boss asks you to work extra, you might want to cave. You want to be a team player, but being healthy and keeping your boundaries helps you be a good team player. You can say, “I’d love to help, but I’m only set to work until 5 p.m. I can put that task at the top of my list to manage tomorrow when I return for my next shift.” You can still be a team player and leave work at work.
- Take your breaks. No, really, take your breaks; they are there for a reason. We can make all the excuses in the world as to why we don’t take breaks. I’ve heard and told them all myself: “I don’t want to lose my motivation,” “I’m on a roll,” “If I just keep going, I’ll be more productive,” etc. These are all excuses to ignore my boundaries. And if I ignore my boundaries, those around me will follow suit and ignore my boundaries too.
- Use your breaks to take care of your needs. Use the bathroom, eat, take a walk, do desk yoga, practice breathing exercises, call your mom, make plans for the weekend. Do anything but work during your breaks.
- Don’t make excuses to stay longer and get a few more tasks done. I promise, even if you do those tasks, there will still be things to do tomorrow. This action just gives more reason to stay later tomorrow, and the day after that, and then the day after that. The company you work for won’t fold if you don’t answer that email right now. It is important to set time boundaries with work to ensure you don’t fall into this cycle.
- Remind yourself that you are important. Your peace and being able to let things go when the workday is done is important. You have a whole life outside of your job and career. Live it.
Time is an important resource, and you should be able to invest it wisely. Spending all your time working and feeling burnt out leads to anxiety, depression, and isolation. Being able to set some boundaries at work can lead to more job satisfaction and satisfaction in other areas of your life because you’re making decisions to do things you want to do rather than feeling obligated to work more. Boundaries can be difficult, but starting somewhere is important and is a start to taking control back in a small but powerful way. It is important to set time boundaries with work to create a sustainable and fulfilling work-life balance.