Working in high-pressure environments or jobs that require long hours can be stressful and take their toll on your health and well-being, even if you love what you do.
At times, we’re told that the only way to be successful is by working all the time and giving everything you have to your employer or your clients, but there are other ways to accomplish success without becoming completely overwhelmed and burned out.
In order to increase daily productivity, creating boundaries is important (at work and at home, if you are working from home) so you’re not working more than the average 40-hour workweek, so you can have time to relax after work, and your relationships with coworkers and family don’t suffer because of your job.
In this article, I’ll show you how to increase your productivity by setting boundaries so you can avoid burnout and give yourself more time to focus on what really matters – your health and your happiness!
What are Boundaries?
Boundaries are the cornerstone of maintaining productivity.
Set up clear boundaries in your life, with yourself and with others, and your number of distractions will dramatically decrease.
And as a result, you can complete the tasks you’ve set out to complete with the free time and space you’ve been given.
Let’s explore a little more about the benefits of healthy boundaries and how to maintain them within yourself and others.
Benefits of Creating Boundaries
Along with increasing your productivity, there are a number of benefits that healthy boundaries can create. The following are some benefits of creating healthy boundaries.
1. Creating boundaries can reduce your stress levels in both your work and home life: It’s no secret that work-life balance is difficult to achieve. However, creating boundaries between your professional and personal lives can help you find balance.
For example, creating a boundary with a chatty coworker gives you more time to complete a task which then keeps you from stressing out over deadlines.
At home, this benefit may stem from limiting time with negative people.
Other benefits of creating boundaries include maintaining a reasonable workload, reducing the possibility of burnout, and setting a good example to maintain a healthy work or home environment.
2. Creating Boundaries allows you to prioritize your time better: By creating realistic boundaries for yourself, you’ll be able to focus on what’s important
3. You’ll Feel More Motivated and Less Burnout: When you feel you have more control over how much time you spend on tasks or projects, it will motivate you more.
And will also result in reducing your risk of burning out because you will no longer be working long hours and feeling like you’re constantly stressed.
4. You’ll Be More Effective: By having better control over how much time is spent on different tasks or projects, you’ll be able to get more done in less time.
It will also enable you to have time for yourself by creating more space between different tasks or projects.
5. You can maintain a reasonable workload by creating boundaries: If you’re working long hours and feeling like you’re constantly stressed, then it may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your workload
6. Creating Boundaries will help you feel more appreciated and improve your relationship: When you create boundaries for yourself, it will show that you value yourself as well as others.
It will also improve your relationships with your coworkers or employees especially if there are people in your life who don’t respect your personal time, then creating boundaries can help change that behavior.
7. Creating boundaries will give you more time for self-care: When you’re constantly working, it’s difficult to find time for self-care activities such as exercising or taking a break from technology
Creating Boundaries With Yourself
Sometimes it is hard to separate work and leisure, but by creating boundaries within yourself, you are able to separate them. Too much of either results in leakage into one another, therefore throwing off your work-life balance.
During designated work time, try to limit social media usage or worry about different things in your home life, so that you can focus on getting tasks done and not be distracted by your phone or other thoughts. This self-boundary may look like creating smaller, more attainable goals at home.
Other examples of self-boundaries at work or at home may look like.
1. Setting a budget for yourself and sticking to it
2. Setting up times to go out with friends and family, so that you can spend time with them without feeling guilty about not doing something else;
3. Make sure you are getting enough sleep so that you can wake up refreshed and ready to tackle your day;
4. Make sure you are eating regularly throughout your day, so that your body is fueled properly, which will help you be more productive at work;
5. Sticking to what is on your to-do list
6. Refraining from working past the workday, etc.
Creating Boundaries With Others
Creating and maintaining boundaries with others looks a lot like creating boundaries for yourself. However, the practice of creating boundaries with others is specific to each person you have a boundary with.
One of the most important habits for successful people is also one of the most difficult ones: Setting and respecting personal boundaries.
If you want to get organized or maintain a good work-life balance, setting proper limits is crucial.
As Gretchen Rubin writes in her recent book “too many people allow others (family members, co-workers and total strangers) to impose on them. But boundaries aren’t just about saying no; they’re about claiming your space and defending it.”
When you create a boundary around yourself, you’ll find it easier to do things like eat right and get enough sleep.
Creating boundaries with others may look like limiting contact with certain people or delegating work tasks to different coworkers.
When creating a boundary with another person, either at work or in your home life, it’s important to be direct and firm.
If you aren’t clear about your expectations from them, how are they supposed to understand the boundary you’re trying to put into place?
It’s very possible you may run into situations where the person in question still doesn’t understand or respect your boundary.
