How is that for a question? I bet you are all saying ‘yes please!’ out there. I did find out a way to make things easier for myself at work, and it wasn’t intentional. It kind of just happened. So I’m sharing my experience here, hoping you can take some of those nuggets to make your own work life a bit more flowy and simple. Not to mention more enjoyable. It’s possible, wherever you are at!
As you may now, I have a part-time job on the side of my business. The transition from a full-time major role to a ‘side step’ was pretty tough, I must admit. Because my attitude took a while to adjust. But now that it has, I am witnessing how much more positive I feel at work. And looking back, I realise that I feel a lot happier at my job now than I did for the last decade. So what changed? Me. Not where I worked.
As my career goals changed, so did my priorities. My job became a way to build my business, no longer the ultimate job. After years of the same habits around performance, managing relationships and growing my career, I had to totally shift my views about this job. Think like re-programming one’s mind at work.
Let’s talk about all the habits I had that I have relegated behind by way of circumstances… First up, my tendency to want to get everything done. I was always a high achiever, and considered every request or task as needing to be done within the right timeframe (or my self-imposed timeframe). That made me stay back at work for years of my own accord. I was all about ‘tick, tick, tick’ in order to feel job satisfaction.
Secondly I used to get pretty annoyed by other colleagues or managers’ behaviours. For instance people being complacent, incompetent, making what I considered stupid decisions or abusing their influence. It would get under my skin and affect my enjoyment levels whatever company I was in. Those people are in every business, even in mine today; but I’ve changed the way I react to them.
The next big one was that I spent countless time worrying about how I was perceived, how good my work was and the opinion of managers. Did I say the right thing? Should I speak in that meeting? What will my boss say at the performance review? Is it OK if I take holidays? I bet most of us are in that boat – that’s pretty normal.
So what is it like now?… Thanks to not having the pressure of my job being that top-success, I have lowered some of those internal expectations that probably kept me unsatisfied for years. Now I’m totally comfortable with the fact that there will always be work left to do, full stop. So it’s about feeling like I’ve done enough, and I’ve done the right things that day. Yes to prioritisation, no to cramming. And guess what, nothing crumbles – ever. Most of what I believed to be ‘urgent’ wasn’t really. And I manage others’ expectations much better regarding delivery times.
These days when I see someone out of their place at work, or making stupid decisions – I just shrug off internally. That’s it. It no longer gets to me, because I decided that way. I actually even try to laugh about it, seeing it from a high distance above ground. ‘Whatever’ is a really good motto to not get sucked into things that waste your energy at work. And I like to reflect on it, observe people, try to understand why it’s happening and learn a thing or two at the same occasion. We can all do this, it’s just a willingness to see things differently.
Finally I’m a lot more relaxed about what others will think. I’m sitting very comfortably in my integrity (it helps that I have a role totally within my capabilities) and I’m seeing the benefits. My weeks pass by with a higher sense of enjoyment than they did in the past. I’m also coming up with more creative ways to solve a problem or a situation (that even surprised me!). Could we be better workers that way? Because I don’t worry so much about others, I can just focus on what I know and how I can contribute. That may sound simple, and it is once you get rid of your own ‘what will others think’ filter. We often judge ourselves way too hard, and don’t give ourself enough credit.
So I’m sitting here now thinking I could have spared myself lots of unnecessary stress or frustration in my past work life. Work feels so much easier to be at now. I’m not advocating for a ‘don’t care attitude’ either. You need to tick the basics: know your job and do what’s expected, be nice to people and show up with a professional attitude. But the rest that we add in to ‘perfect’ ourselves at work can sometimes tip us the other way. We start enjoying our roles less, and looking for other things.
So how can you apply any of these learning to your situation? Who stresses you out and what can you do to create some mindful distance? How would that look like if you lowered your own expectations? Can you make peace with not getting everything done? I hope these thought starters will open new ways for you to ease the pressure at work, and find more enjoyment in your days. You might be surprised by what a difference it makes in your life overall.
