You can't pour from an empty cup
It can be easy to conflate hours worked with productivity (I know this firsthand from my years as a brick and mortar gym owner). This is a fallacy. Long hours DON’T always equal success, and more often leads to burnout.
We can prioritize personal well-being without compromising your professional growth by focusing on our highest impact actions in work and health in the following ways;
Brain dump;
There will always be more work to do. Boundaries is one of those words that is now synonymous with online psychobabble and popularized self help books which is unfortunate, because they are still relevant and have never been more necessary. Since there will always be more work, if we allow endless hours for it, it will simply spill over into every waking minute. Have a cut off time and take a few minutes at the end of the day to write out your agenda, tasks, to-do list items, so that they have a place to live for the evening. Now you can confidently disconnect without concern of forgetting or stressing that things are piling up.
Say “no”;
I wrote about this in a recent article, but it is helpful to say “no” to things that don’t align with your values or priorities. You can likely do more good by focusing your efforts on your objectives, than pleasing people and staying out late for drinks with the team, helping someone with something outside your role, or answering a question via email that could be googled or found on the company intranet. I talk about “protecting our time” a lot in the builtXyou™ Transformation Program.
Design your environment;
Environment plays a huge part in our behaviors and we can either be victims or creators of it. Becoming more intentional about the specific places you do your work and which ones you reserve for relaxation and relationships helps create clear lines between professional you and personal you. This will help you thrive in both.
Double down on your “best sellers”;
You have limited time and resources. I wrote about THIS in a recent article too. You can’t do everything, so focus on your highest impact actions (think of them as your biggest selling products/services). This likely means refocusing on at least one of the following;
Eating more nutritious food
Getting more/better sleep
Increasing daily activity (walking/strength training)
Lowering/managing stressors
These are your highest impact actions, focus your efforts and resources there to make the most change. If we spread ourselves too thin by saying yes to everything and trying to do it all, we will eventually burnout and minimize our impact in business and in our health and fitness.