Self-Care: The Hidden Key To Work Productivity.
We find ourselves in a professional world where we can’t rest comfortably by merely meeting expectations.
There’s constant pressure to push harder, produce more, and “go the extra mile.”
This week’s article is written by the wonderful Katie Brenneman. Thank you Katie for writing this for me.
As a result, countless Americans struggle with burnout and work fatigue. In addition, the constant pressure to outperform yourself daily can lead many workers to push themselves beyond reasonable means.
What’s worse is when they produce results at the expense of their own health. It’s a system that taps into one’s energy reserved for personal life and transforms it into work productivity.
We must reflect on the fundamental reasons why we work in the first place and remember that our work results shouldn’t drain our health.
Having No Limits Can Limit You
The common belief is that having no boundaries can open the door to limitless creativity.
In actuality, the most concentrated creativity and productivity can come about from limited resources, time, and criteria. The same goes for a work environment.
Try thinking of the work that you do as a limited timeframe to burst out productivity. People who let their job pervade their thoughts every waking minute of the day are actually stymieing their productivity.
Consider the fact that by giving unlimited or high amounts of attention to your work, you can actually dilute your productivity. You may only be as productive with 60 hours in a week as you would have been with 40, but because you let your mind dwell on it for so long, you became more exhausted from it than you care to admit personally.
In addition, people can be afraid to admit to themselves that they’re tired when they’re tired. It’s a lie we tell ourselves when we feel the need to push a little more and bill a few more hours on the clock.
If instead, we made use of the hours we’re given, we could resist burnout and therefore refrain from attempting to render results while running on fumes.
Absenteeism
Typically, we regard absenteeism as being away from work for health or personal reasons. But there’s more to it than that. For example, when we show up to work, if we’ve not been attending to our personal health, it can yield less than desirable output.
This can lead to “Presenteeism,” which is often identified in a different way from absenteeism. In this case, workers may be physically present at work, but their minds are elsewhere, or they’re suffering from mental illness that prevents them from being fully present.
Take Care of Yourself First
Despite all the consequences of burnout, it’s an all too common occurrence. Many Americans suffer from the symptoms on a regular basis, but the secret is that it can easily be avoided by prioritising self-care through building better health habits such as exercising daily, getting the proper amount of sleep each night, and regimenting your diet.
Although these may be general guidelines, you can create more specific self-care standards for yourself if you consider your physical health and what you may be compromising for your work. Just because your boss asked you to doesn’t mean you have to turn in extra deliverables and skip out on an essential nightly or morning routine.
When in doubt, it’s best to find ways to take care of yourself that will motivate you the whole day. For example, exercising at the beginning of each day can help waken your mind early and set you up to be productive more quickly.
In addition, find some time — morning or night — for an activity that makes you happy. Maybe it’s something you know calms you, like doing the hobby you like at the end of the day, or meditating for 30 minutes in the morning. Giving your brain the space it needs to reach calmness can do wonders in setting up your day for success, or winding yourself down at the end of the day.
If you compromise your health for your work, you, your coworkers, and your higher-ups will inevitably begin to notice a decay in your productivity.
By focusing on maintaining your life outside of work and focusing on other things that matter outside of work, you’ll give your mind the break it needs to approach work cleanly.
Structuring your Day
To devote yourself to a self-care-driven lifestyle, you should identify what you want to accomplish each day. Build a routine, and stick to it. However, it’s important to not overload yourself simultaneously. Since life itself is naturally inclined towards chaos, there will inevitably be days when your routine will be thrown off, and you don’t want to throw off all aspects of your life just because you didn’t have enough time to run 10 miles. Instead, find ways to build a routine in small ways — instead of starting with 10 miles, perhaps start with running a mile.
However, once you stick to your routine, you’ll be unstoppable. A lot of people can live highly efficient lifestyles when they stick to their routines. If you can start your day off right and make it second nature, you’ll be able to remove obstacles from your life that would otherwise impede your ability to be productive when you need to be.
Establish Your Value System, Then Actually Abide By It.
Your personal values can help guide and shape how you promote self-care in your life.
Ultimately, you’ll want to identify your core values as a person — not wherever your company’s values are, but your own values. Some values associated with self-care could be founded in:
Spiritual health;
Gratitude;
Relationships and interpersonal connections;
Personal Growth;
Knowledge;
Inner Peace and Calm
Self-worth and Self-respect;
Optimism
Security.
Making your own values and sticking to them will help you make decisions in your life much easier, especially when gauging how far to push yourself at work. When faced with the option to spend a few more hours at work, ask yourself, “Is this life-giving to me in a way that helps me pursue my goals?”
You will find yourself more willing to prioritize your own mental and physical health over straining yourself over something that could probably wait.
Emergencies will still happen at your job, and you’ll want to be available when you’re needed. But don’t build a reputation where people expect you to put in ten to fifteen extra hours a week if it’s accosting your life outside of work. Instead, focus on building a reputation that’s consistent with your values.
Become a good example to your coworkers by being a worker that cares about yourself and your health. Focus on accomplishing things with the time you’re given.
Katie Brenneman is a passionate writer specialising in lifestyle, mental health, education, and fitness-related content. When she isn’t writing, you can find her with her nose buried in a book or hiking with her dog, Charlie. To connect with Katie, you can follow her on Twitter.
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