How Boundaries Setting Can Help You Achieve Work-Life Balance

by nukhba khan

I'll start with a personal story about how I chose to set workplace boundaries for a better work-life balance.

When I got promoted, the number of meetings I had to attend increased significantly. In the beginning, I was ecstatic about my new role and determined to prove that I was the right fit for it. So, I ignored the fact that I had very little time left to do any actual work in the 9 to the 5-time frame with all the extra meetings. I ended up staying back after office hours to catch up with all the work that needed to be done. And my workday quickly became 8 to 8.

At first, it was doable because, as I said, the excitement of a pay raise and prestige that came with my promotion fueled the motivation and energy to work endlessly. But over time, I think it was around 2 - 3 months, I started feeling completely drained and burned out. My work hours were simply not sustainable. The harder I tried to push through, the more defeated I felt.

And so, I set one of my first workplace boundaries.

I started blocking off 2-hour time slots every day in my calendar and titled it time to work-on-desk. This was the time slot for me to get actual work done. It was not 30 minutes between meetings but a solid chunk of time to get things done.

And if my coworkers persisted in trying to schedule a meeting during that time frame, I would politely explain to them my reasoning behind the blocked time and request them to reschedule. In most cases, they respected my request. Some even admired it and started implementing similar calendar blocks to manage their work-time better. But there were some odd cases where the meeting was urgent and no other time suited everyone. And in that case, my boundary was flexible enough to make room for only the necessary adjustments.

And that is how I stopped working 8 - 8 workdays. and brought a little sanity back in my life. And this would not have been possible without creating this healthy workplace boundary.

Why Boundaries Are Important

The answer is simple: TO STAY SANE.

Firm boundaries that help you make smart choices about how you spend your time and energy have become a necessity for working professionals these days. Don't ask me why, but work demands and expectations have become insanely impossible. While you might think you need to do it all and do it all perfectly for you to be successful, the truth is that it will cause you to feel like you have lost control of your time and, in the end, your career goals.

Healthy workplace boundaries are becoming a standard prerequisite for professional success and career aspirations. On the surface, you might think setting boundaries make you look weak or incompetent. But it's quite the contrary. The sooner you realize, the easier it will be on you. Workplace boundaries allow you to be productive to do your best work and achieve the success you expect of yourself while keeping your well-being intact.

Work Boundaries Examples

Understanding the importance of work boundaries is step one. Step two is learning how to create healthy boundaries that help you show up at work feeling good and energized. But before we talk about the steps for creating personal boundaries, let's first talk about some common work boundaries that have helped professionals create better work-life balance. The purpose here is to get your creative juices flowing on what boundaries you might need to make your work-life more productive and a little saner.

Some examples of work boundaries would be:

Have time blocks in your calendar that are your "no meeting zones."
Not answer work calls after a specific time.
Unplug and not check work emails after a decided time of day.
Only work late a certain number of nights per month or week.
Have other team members send you their work contributions that impact your tasks on time.
Decline superfluous meetings.
Say no to working on weekends.
Communicate up front how you like to give and receive feedback.
Never compromise your vacation time by ensuring you fully unplug during your time off.
Give yourself permission to say no to job opportunities that, while monetarily enticing, don't suit your lifestyle needs.

Boundaries Setting at Work

Work boundaries' primary objective is to help you have a well-rounded life. A life where work does not compromise your personal (self-care, family) and social (friends, your life outside work and family) commitments.

Keeping that in mind, let us begin.

Step 1: What part of your job drains you, irks you, or irritates you?

For example: Having meetings all day long drains me

Step 2: Ask yourself why this bothers me?

For example, it does not leave much time for me to get actual work done during office hours, and I end up having to work longer days.

Step 3: Brainstorm boundary ideas that will help combat this problem.

Be realistic and remember that your boundaries need to have some wiggle room to succeed in the long run.

For example:

Creating time blocks in my calendar where I will not accept meeting invites but instead be on my desk to get through my to-do list
Politely declining meetings that are superfluous, redundant, or unnecessary.
Clearly communicate that you will need to leave if the meeting goes overtime.
Stick to working late only one day a week, if required.

Okay, if you are laughing at these and thinking that these would never work for you, brainstorm different ones that will work. There are multiple ways to solve your problem, and you need to find the workplace boundary that can work for you. Get creative, there is a way, and you will find it.

You can also discuss your' work boundary' ideas with your manager or a work mentor to get their feedback on how realistic these boundaries are with the work culture.

Step 4: Clearly understand and define a motive for your workplace boundary.

Creating boundaries for the sake of having boundaries is never good enough. Knowing why this boundary is essential will help you face pushback from others when implementing it.

Step 5: Communicate your workplace boundary to your team and the people you work with.

This part is the scariest for many. You wonder how you will be perceived by others. You worry if you will be judged or if there will be push back.

This is the time to keep your motive behind your workplace boundary top of mind. Remind yourself that you are doing this to increase your personal productivity at work, which will ultimately help the team's productivity. When communicating your boundaries, make it less about yourself and more about how it will impact your work, the projects, and ultimately the team. This way, the team is more likely to see and understand your point of view.

Also, when setting and communicating boundaries, you have to choose the right words and tone of voice. It cannot sound like you are pointing fingers or shifting blame. That will only make your coworkers defensive and less accepting of the cooperation you are looking for from them.

For example, team meetings make you fall behind on your work tasks and cause you to stay late at work. The boundary you are proposing is that your manager/colleagues respect your 2-hour time block in your calendar for you to get your job done on time.

One option is to say: "You guys set up too many meetings all the time, and I end up having to stay late at work to get my work completed, and it's starting to take a toll on my personal life.

But how about if you say: "I've noticed that I have a significant number of meetings in a day. This results in me having to stay after office hours to complete my work assignments, which is also starting to affect the quality of my work on our projects. I am thinking of implementing time blocks in my calendar to help me create quality work on time for all our projects. I hope I can get your help to make this work for me.

Do you see the difference between the two approaches? By making it less about you and more about the team, your team will be more likely to understand your point of view.

Step 6: Sticking to your work boundaries.

Once you have come up with your work boundary and communicated it to your team, you have to implement it and stand by it. You have to learn to say no.

For example: If someone persistently sets a meeting during your blocked off time, you have to push back and reply with a restatement of your boundary. Yes, it can feel scary to say no to our coworkers and managers. After all, we all want to be liked and seen as team players. But this is the time to remember your motive behind the boundary you set. And it is also a time to remind yourself that if your boundary is reasonable, it deserves to be respected. It's as simple as that. If you are not going to fight for it, no one else will.

Step 7: Knowing the exceptions to your work boundaries

There will be times when you will have to make an exception for your boundary; it's inevitable. Because at some point, emergencies will occur and tight deadlines will need to be met, and you will have to break your boundary for it. That is okay, as long as it does not become a norm or a habit of constantly breaking your word boundary.

Remember that every rule has exceptions. But this exception is only your choice, and no one gets to decide that for you but you.

So take the time to consider what exceptions to your work boundary you will be willing to tolerate.

For example (continuing from the previous examples): the exception to my 2-hour time block rule for working on my desk may have to be put on hold during the annual business planning season when a gazillion meetings are inevitable.

Final Thoughts: Setting Work Boundaries

With so many of us working remotely, work and personal lives have become more intertwined than ever before.

If you feel like your work has taken over your life and you don't know how to maintain any form of sanity in your life, then building boundaries is the best solution for you.

I cannot emphasize how important and essential work boundaries are for creating ease, keeping work stress in check, and preventing burnout. There is no other way around it. You have to find the courage and determination to do what's right for you and your well-being. And the best way to do that is by keeping work boundaries that help you be more efficient and create a better balance in your life.

I hope I have inspired you to think about what boundaries you need to create to make your work and life a little bit easier for you.

P.S. Want to learn a really cool step-by-step method to better control your feelings and emotions at work? And finally, stop letting external things, people, events, situations dictate how you feel?

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