Building Boundaries at Work
Boundaries are essential in any aspect of life, especially in relationships. Boundaries help us navigate our relationships, manage expectations, and protect our mental health and wellbeing. In the workplace, boundaries are essential to aid our wellbeing and minimise the risk of burnout. When you have clear boundaries at work, you can focus on your tasks, manage stress, and maintain healthy relationships with colleagues. In this blog post, we will discuss how to build boundaries at work.
Why are boundaries at work important?
Setting clear boundaries with coworkers may help you safeguard your time, energy, and overall well-being at work. Failure to do so may result in undesirable effects such as taking on other people's tasks, being involved in personal difficulties, mixing your personal and work lives, and an increase in office gossip. Boundaries benefit both you and your colleagues. Setting and maintaining clear boundaries might help to alleviate any difficult or unpleasant work situations.
Common issues which may arise due to a lack of boundaries with coworkers include:
Not saying No and taking on the workloads of others
Getting caught up in other people’s personal issues
Blurring the lines in your work hours, this can be especially difficult if you work from home
Increased stress or tension in the workplace
Setting Healthy Boundaries at Work
Identify your boundaries
The first step in building boundaries at work is identifying what your limitations are. Take some time to reflect on what makes you uncomfortable, stressed, or unhappy at work. For instance, you may not want to be disturbed during your lunch break, or you may prefer to receive emails rather than phone calls. Once you know your boundaries, you can communicate them clearly to your colleagues.
2. Communicate your boundaries
Communication is key when it comes to building boundaries at work. You need to be clear about what your boundaries are and communicate them to your colleagues. You can do this by having a conversation with them or sending an email. Be assertive but polite, and explain why you need to set these boundaries. For example, you could say, "I prefer not to receive work-related calls after 7 pm as it's my family time." Or create an automatic email reply by activating an Out of Office.
3. Stick to your boundaries
Once you have communicated your boundaries, it's important to stick to them. This can be difficult, primarily if your colleagues are used to working with you in a certain way. However, if you start making exceptions, your boundaries will become meaningless. So, be firm and consistent in enforcing your boundaries.
4. Be respectful of others' boundaries
Just as you have boundaries, your colleagues will have theirs too. It's important to respect their boundaries, just as you expect them to respect yours. For instance, if a colleague prefers not to work on weekends, don't send them work-related emails or messages during that time, save them for working hours. It’s important that everyone’s uses their downtime for themselves and self-care.
5. Take care of your mental and wellbeing
Building boundaries at work is all about taking care of your mental health and wellbeing. Make sure you take breaks, delegate tasks, and ask for help when needed (sometimes easier said than done, but will help you in the long run). Don't let work consume your entire life (the old live to work vs work to live), and make time for your hobbies and interests outside of work. Finding a hobby that gives you a sense of achievement can be remarkable for your wellbeing and self-care.
Interested in booking a course with us? We can provide you and your team with bespoke Boundaries and wellbeing workshops, as well as Mental Health First Aid courses.
Or if you’re seeking one to one coaching we can match you with the right coach too.