Sometimes we forget that the balance between work and personal life is so important. Hence, some boundaries must be created in the workplace in order to achieve this balance.
By creating boundaries doesn’t mean you’re lazy nor will it affect your productivity. On the other hand, this boundary is a way that you do, to ensure you can always work optimally at all times.
Keep on reading to know what you can do to create boundaries at work, and thus be able to achieve the work-life balance.
1. Know your limits
The first thing that you should do is to understand and know what kind of boundaries you want to establish. These boundaries come from the values that you believe in and are a priority in your life.
Some of the things you can do to know your limitations are as follows;
- Know your own physical and mental limits
- Feel and understand the feelings that are being experienced
- Allow yourself to set boundaries
- Taking into account the environment in which it is inhabited
2. Create a clear structure
Structure in the workplace is very important, both organizationally and personally. You can create clear work patterns for yourself that are easy for other colleagues to follow. For this you can get many work schedule templates online. For example, tell co-workers or superiors that you need notification in advance if there will be a business trip in the future.
3. Communicate your boundaries with others
After determining your limits, communicate it to your co-workers and superiors. This can be as easy as telling them that you can’t answer phone calls after office hours, or when the best time to call you is.
4. Maintain relationships in the professional setting
Maybe you are a sociable person so you can make friends at work. However, you should not let this close relationship interfere with the boundaries you have made. You need to remember, even though you are close with your co-worker, a professional working relationship must still exist and boundaries must also be applied.
5. Delegate work whenever possible
Delegating work might be easier if you already have a relatively high position. But even if you haven’t reached that position, you can delegate work to your co-workers if you feel that you are currently on the brink of toppling over due to other tasks. Communicate clearly about your current task and its deadline, and why you need help from them.
6. Be brave to say no
Stopping being a people pleaser and dare to say “no” is one of the best ways to set boundaries at work.
For example, if you are given the office cleaning task by your senior because the office does not have a janitorial team, you can communicate your worry to the HR department and ask them to instead hire a professional cleaner. There are lots of Singapore office cleaning services available at an affordable cost. Rather than you have to be the one who cleans it up and ends up losing time to work optimally.
Don’t be afraid to say no to an assignment that is not under your work scope.
7. Take leave vacation
Take advantage of the time off that the company has given you. By taking time off, you can get away from the stress due to work.
During your leave, don’t forget to emphasize that you won’t be able to be disturbed during your leave at all costs.
8. Utilizing technology to inform your availability
Utilizing technology is one way of setting boundaries in the workplace. If you use Slack, you can set a clear status when you’re focused and can’t be disturbed, or when you are out for lunch. You can also use apps like Google Calendar to manage your working hours. This way, your co-workers and superiors will know when you start and finish work every day.
These are the best ways you can applied, to set boundaries in a professional setting. It might be hard to do it at first, because as an employee we often want to showcase our commitment to work by doing more. But keep in mind doing too much for your work will eventually take a toll on you. It can affect your physical and mental health, along with your productivity. Thus, establishing boundaries is a great way to help you achieve a work-life balance.
About The Author
Nicole Hinton
Nicole is a freelancer & passionate blogger. She has 4+ years of experience in digital marketing and specialize in content writing, content marketing and organic search engine optimization. She has worked with many brands from Canada as well as the USA. Currently, she manages content marketing team of freelancers and doing their business efficiently.
