The Importance of Setting Boundaries At Work

Work-life often takes most of our time. We spend each of our weekdays working, and during the weekend or day off, our mind seems to cant move on from the mountainous work that we have to do. Or you experience a condition where your boss keeps contacting you even when you are on break.

If you are currently experiencing this, then it is very possible to say that your life is out of balance.

When we are working, sometimes we do not set boundaries between personal and professional life. This is not right. Not setting limits for your professional life, will risk you experiencing stress and burnout much more easily. Prolonged stress and unmanaged burnout could eventually affect your physical and mental health.

To find out why you are currently experiencing this, let’s look at the 3 main reasons below.

Lack of Time Management

Time management is an important thing because it will affect all your activities. Unfortunately, not everyone can manage their time well. 

Obsess With Their Work

People who really enjoy their work are willing to focus for hours without paying attention to their surroundings. Enjoying work is a positive thing because it will increase productivity and quality of work. But if you do this constantly without stopping, it will make you obsessed with your work. This constant work will affect your health. You might experience health problems such as high blood pressure, heart failure, and kidney problems if you push yourself too hard at work.

Too Focus To Achieve Success

Success in their line of work is almost everyone’s dream. However, you need to balance your thoughts and keep it all under control. You don’t want to be obsessed and in the end willing to do anything, including working non-stop for the company. 

Keep in mind that not only success, but your health is also important. Working non-stop is not going to make your success faster. On the other hand, your concentration and productivity will decrease because you constantly use them without having proper rest.

How To Set Boundaries At Work?

A work-life balance needs to be maintained so that you can live your life in a calm and controlled manner. If you’re not a good self-manager, learn to set boundaries.

It’s important to learn how to set clear boundaries at work. Doing this at work ensures that your busy life won’t have a negative impact on your personal life and health. Here are some ways that you can do to create healthy work boundaries.

Give yourself some time before responding to message

Always agreeing to a given project can make you experience burnout. It can also make your coworker though you as easy prey, someone to dump their work on. To avoid this, you should set your limit. Take time before responding if you are asked to work on a project or help your coworker.

Make sure that you have sufficient time and energy to work on the new project. You do not want to lose your energy and affect your health, just because you easily accept a project or work that was a dump to your place.

Saying No Is Okay

Being good at your job doesn’t mean that you have to always agree to what you’re told, especially if it’s outside your job description. This is why it’s important to practice your ability to say no at work.

For example, if your employer asks you to help to tidy up the office due to the company wanting to save money by hiring in-house office cleaners, you can politely decline the request. It is very okay to say no to some things your employer or colleague asks you, especially if it is not related to your job description. Saying no is a skill that will help you enforce healthy boundaries at work.

Set Limits

One example of setting limits for your work is by making sure that you do not check your work email outside of office hours. Say no to discussing work outside of office hours.

By setting a limit, you can focus all your time on your family or yourself after returning from home. It is also a good strategy to achieve work-life balance and prevent burnout.

After setting your limit, don’t forget to communicate clearly with coworkers and bosses about your boundaries to avoid miscommunication.