Creating healthy boundaries at work can help you avoid burnout, reduce resentment, increase connections, and lead to a happier experience overall.
How To Set Boundaries At Work
Boundaries are the metaphorical lines you draw in order to establish healthy limits that protect something you care about, such as your time or mental health.
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There are many different types of boundaries, including physical boundaries, emotional boundaries, and time boundaries.
Setting different types of boundaries at work can have a positive impact on your life, helping improve your relationships with coworkers, reducing your stress levels, and boosting your on-the-job satisfaction.
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With work boundaries, you develop guidelines that determine how you perform your work and how you expect others to interact with you.
In this article, we’ll go over several strategies for setting boundaries at work.
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However, once you know where you need to focus your efforts, you can follow the tips below to begin establishing better boundaries at work.
1. Start With Small Boundaries
If you’re not used to setting boundaries in the workplace, it helps to start small and build from there.
Rather than make sweeping changes, you can begin with a few small steps to protect your time or environment at work.
When you need quiet time, close your door or wear noise-canceling headphones.
Move any flexible weekly meetings to biweekly.
Set clear agendas for meetings and stick to them to respect everyone’s time.
Focus on a project’s objectives when you’re working alongside difficult coworkers.
Rather than say what you think people want to hear, offer genuine preferences to work-related or project questions.
2. Build Breaks Into Your Schedule
It’s easy to sit down at your computer and get caught up in a task.
But breaks can help energise you.
If you use a digital calendar, add a lunch break so your colleagues can’t schedule meetings during that time.
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If possible, block out time on your calendar throughout the day or week to get your work done.
A hold on your digital calendar lets your team and others know you’re unavailable at those times and gives you uninterrupted time to focus on your tasks.
3. Prioritise Your Work Tasks
When you have a heavy workload, you may need to prioritize your tasks.
Also, when you have too many tasks and not enough time to complete them, start by deciding which tasks are most urgent.
Then, if possible, determine which tasks you can delegate to others on your team or seek more time to complete.
However, if prioritizing and delegating tasks is not enough, speak with your manager about your workload and see if there’s room to set aside a certain project while you focus on the most important priorities.
4. Use Digital Tools To Help
A good deal of office work relies on digital tools to help foster productivity.
Think about ways you can use the tools your company already offers to establish boundaries.
For example, if you’re working on an important task and don’t wish to be disturbed, put up an away message on Slack and turn off notifications.
There are also a number of apps that help you minimize distractions, such as Freedom or KeepMeOut, that may help you block out your time while you work.
5. Delay Your Response Time
Thanks to email and other virtual tools, you may feel pressure to be available or respond to communication quickly during—and even after—work hours.
But, unless a message is extremely urgent, that demand may interrupt the structure you’re attempting to create—and can distract you from more important tasks.
Where possible, delay how quickly you respond to emails and other requests.
Dedicate time throughout the day to checking your email, but avoid responding outside of those blocks.
If you work in a different time zone than others on your team, add a note to your email setting expectations about your availability or response time, such as I am sending you this email at a time that works for me.
Please respond at a time that works for you.
6. Only Say “Yes” When You Mean It
Without boundaries, it’s easy to grow resentful. Saying “no” is important because you may be asked to participate in tasks that you do not have time for, such as attending an extra meeting, taking on a last-minute project, or heading a new committee.
When you feel pressure to say “yes,” but would rather say “no,” consider these questions:
Are you the only person who can complete the task?
Is there a way to re-prioritize your task list to take on this work?
What will taking on this work cost you?
When you do say “no,” start on a positive note.
For example: “I would really be interested in handling the Johnson account, but I’m wondering if I could pass the Holt Industries file on to Jim to make time for it?”
7. Avoid Gossip
If you feel drained when your colleagues complain about some aspect of work, then it may be useful to set a boundary with them.
You get to decide what that looks like.
Perhaps you enjoy venting a little bit, but your coworkers often go too far.
Or perhaps you’d rather focus on the positive aspects of your work rather than the negative.
Either way, you can tell your colleagues about your preferences:
“I know it’s been especially frustrating lately, but I’d really like to focus on what’s been going well” or “Venting without a solution doesn’t feel helpful right now.
“I’d rather not talk about our frustrations unless we can identify ways to address them.”
8. Communicate Your Boundaries
Make sure your coworkers and manager know about your boundaries, whether that’s not responding to emails over the weekend or leaving work early to pick up your child from school.
That will make it easier to set and keep your boundaries because you’ve proactively communicated what you need and what you’re doing to protect it.
9. Leave Work At Work
In order to maintain a healthy work-life balance, you need to set boundaries when you’re not at work, especially when you’re working remotely.
At night or on the weekend, try to refrain from taking work calls or answering emails.
Let calls go to voicemail and encourage people to call only in case of an emergency, though you may have to clarify with your manager or coworkers what that constitutes.
Put text and email notifications on silent when you’re not at work.
Take time off when it’s offered—and when you need it.
A long weekend here and there or a week away with loved ones can help you recharge.
10. Reassert Your Boundaries When People Cross Them
Setting boundaries isn’t a one-time occurrence.
Chances are, someone at work will cross your boundaries (or ignore them), so it’s important to reassert them, reminding people about your needs and expectations.
Work-life balance is typically the amount of time you spend doing your job versus the amount of time you spend doing what’s important to you outside of work, whether that is with loved ones or pursuing personal interests and hobbies.
Work-Life Balance: 5 Ways To Improve Yours
When work demands more of your time or attention, you’ll have less time to handle your other responsibilities or passions.
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Many people want to achieve a greater balance between their work life and their personal life.
But in practice, it can be difficult to achieve.
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Sometimes a demanding job means more money to support a family.
Sometimes a job contributes to deteriorating your mental health, which then leaves you drained in personal relationships.
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Improving your work-life balance can improve your overall well-being, including your physical, emotional, and mental health.
Studies have found that working long hours can lead to such serious health issues as “impaired sleep, depression, heavy drinking, diabetes, impaired memory, and heart disease”.
Unfortunately, as these conditions arise, they can also exacerbate our work-life issues, leading to burnout and other negative repercussions.
While employers and employees might associate long working hours with increased productivity, many researchers say otherwise.
A 2014 study, for example, found that after workers hit a certain number of hours, their productivity began to decrease as the potential for mistakes and injuries increased.
Achieving a healthy work-life balance can reduce stress and increase overall productivity.
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Below are compiled tips for improving your work-life balance. You can begin trying out one at a time or implementing a few at once.
Remember that finding an approach that works for you is a process and will take time.
1. Pause And Evaluate
Take the time to understand how the various parts of your life are impacting one another.
Pause and consider your current work-life situation; ask yourself how you feel. Some questions you might reflect on include:
Am I spending enough quality time doing what I really want?
Am I committing enough time and energy to people or things that are meaningful to me?
Do I still feel aligned with my professional or personal goals? Why or why not?
Where do I feel the most stuck? What is it about this situation that makes me feel that way?
As you think through these complex personal questions, journaling your thoughts and feelings can be a good way to identify the areas you feel need the biggest adjustments.
Ultimately, these questions should help you gain greater clarity on your current situation.
2. Assess Your Priorities
Once you have a better sense of what you’d like to adjust, you’ll want to begin identifying what you want to prioritize. Some questions you might ask yourself include:
What really matters to me and am I doing enough of it?
Where can I make compromises? Where have I been making too many compromises?
What can I do to ensure I am devoting enough time to my goals and relationships?
Where can I integrate my responsibilities so I honor more than one at the same time?
3. Manage Your Time
Now that you know what your priorities are whether that’s spending more time at work to aim for a promotion or cutting back on after-hours emails by establishing boundaries it’s important to figure out how to better manage your time.
Review how you currently spend your time and look for ways to adjust your schedule where possible.
You can “block” your time as a way to focus on one area at a time or use a matrix system to establish your priorities when new tasks pop up unexpectedly.
Learn more about how to manage your time to boost your productivity and well-being.
4. Establish Boundaries
Establishing boundaries is a crucial part of time management.
And communicating those boundaries will be equally important.
If you can no longer respond to emails promptly after hours because you’re with your family, your team will need to know.
Work boundaries fall into one of three categories—physical, emotional, or time.
Start by setting small boundaries and expand from there.
Learn more about how to set better boundaries at work.
5. Reflect, Refine, Repeat.
Whatever actions you decide are needed to create a good work-life balance, though, you should be conscious of the fact that you will likely need to continue to refine it over time.
Big life changes can take time, so reflecting on your approach and refining it periodically will likely be integral parts of the process.
The unique nature of each of our lives and our fluctuating responsibilities means that work-life balance and work-life integration look different for everyone.
It’s a constant negotiation about how and where you spend your time.
In striving for greater work-life balance, you get to determine your priorities, whether they’re related to your work or personal life.
Nigerians are known to have resilient spirit irrespective of any challenge. This applies to Pelumi Nubi, the content creator who undertook a solo road trip from London to Lagos. Are you willing to take up this challenge at anytime .
Pelumi Nubi
Here are some essential tips if you want to travel across countries by road.
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Plan Your Route
In advance, to ensure you visit all desired sights and avoid road closures or construction, use apps like Roadtrippers or Google Map.
There are many apps available that can help make your road trip more enjoyable, such as GasBuddy (find cheap gas), Waze (avoid traffic), and Exit (find rest stops and restaurants).
Carry Essential Kits
Keep a roadside emergency kit with essentials like a spare tire, jumper cables, spanners and first-aid kit for unexpected situations.
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Take Breaks
Regular breaks, such as stretching, snacking, and eye rest, are essential for preventing fatigue and maintaining alertness while driving.
In Conclusion, Remember to stay safe, enjoy the journey, and take in all the amazing sights and experiences along the way.
World War 3 is just around the corner and the planet is teetering on the brink of all-out conflict – according to people in major Western nations, at least.
World War 3 Is On Its Way, Says Poll Of Western Countries
People think global war is much more likely than world peace and predict more terror attacks in Europe in 2017
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A new poll shows the public are somewhat gloomy about the future, fearing a “worldwide conflict” is looming.
With superpowers backing different sides in the bloody conflict in Syria, Isis continuing to fight in the Middle East, a spate of terrorist attacks across the globe and Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump both talking a tough game, the YouGov survey of 9,000 people across nine countries found popular opinion thinks world peace has rarely been further away.
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People in the US were most likely to predict a world war, while French, German and British people were also pessimistic.
Some 64 per cent of Americans think the world is close to a major war, compared to just 15 who think world peace is likely.
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Britons are only slightly more hopeful: 19 per cent believe peace is possible but 61 per cent say war is a distinct possibility.
In contrast, people in Nordic countries including Sweden, Finland and Norway were much less inclined to believe the world is on the brink of war.
Denmark had the population most cheerful about the prospects of peace: 39 per cent of Danes predicted world peace compared to 45 per cent forecasting the opposite.
Fear
Anthony Wells, YouGov’s director of political and social research, said: “Fear seems the highest in the US and France, but for different reasons.
“American fears perhaps reflect some people’s uncertainly about the impending Trump Presidency.
“For France, I suspect fears are linked more to the threat of terrorism.
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“The French public were the least likely to see Russia as a hostile threat to the EU, but by far the most likely to think that there would be another major terrorist attack on their country in the year ahead.”
Threats
The same survey revealed people in Europe and America tended to see Russia as a major military threat, with British people the most fearful of Moscow even though other countries polled, such as Finland and Germany, are much closer geographically to the former Soviet Union.
Some 71 per cent of Britons feel threatened by Russia, compared to 59 per cent of Americans – the lowest of all the countries polled.
In every nation except Finland, those surveyed thought a terrorist attack in their country was more likely than unlikely in the next year.
French people were most concerned about terrorism, with 81 per cent believing an attack would happen compared to just 11 per cent predicting there would be none.
Liverpool legend Fernando Torres shared a heartfelt note on social media which confirmed the death of his father.
Fernando Torres
Known for his close relationship with his father, Torres often spoke fondly of him and the influence he had on his life and career.
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His father played a significant role in shaping Torres’ journey in football and was prominently featured in an Amazon Prime documentary released in 2020, offering fans a glimpse into their bond.
In a message on X, Torres wrote: “I couldn’t end this sad day without thanking everyone from the bottom of my heart on behalf of my family and myself for so many expressions of affection and respect towards the death of my father.
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“Dad, I will always keep you present, I love you. D.E.P.”
RIP
The acronym “D.E.P.” stands for “Descanse en Paz” in Spanish, translating to “Rest in Peace”.
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In a previous post dedicated to his father, Torres wrote: “To my father for his example, for not missing a match, for teaching me the values that Atlético later also taught me Thank you for always letting me choose and make mistakes so I can learn from my mistakes.
“Thank you dad.”
Torres, a revered figure in football, enjoyed a distinguished playing career spanning various clubs and leagues.
He notably graced the English Premier League with Liverpool and Chelsea between 2007 and 2014, leaving an indelible mark on both clubs and their supporters.
Emiliano Martinez was shown a second yellow card against Lille during their penalty shootout against Lille but was not sent off.
Martinez
Martinez broke French hearts once again as he made two saves during Aston Villa’s penalty shootout against Lille.
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The Argentine saved Lille’s first penalty taken by Nabil Bentaleb and immediately turned to the fans in a mocking fashion.
Then, while stood off to the side watching Ollie Watkins prepare to take a spot-kick, he appeared to motion to fans, and his actions saw referee Ivan Kruzliak show him a yellow card, his second of the night after he was shown one in the first half for time wasting.
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Despite the second booking, Martinez was allowed to stay on as he saved another penalty to lead Unai Emery’s side to the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League.
Martinez survived his second booking of the night thanks to a special and rather unheard-of rule provided in the rules book.
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As per the guidelines followed by UEFA, the players are given a clean slate during the penalty shootout in regards to their card count.
As such, it counted as the Argentine’s first yellow card.
This isn’t the first time that Martinez has been in the limelight for his acumen at penalty shootout as he was also the hero for Argentina on two occasions in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Roma have confirmed that club legend Daniele De Rossi will remain as the manager beyond the end of this season.
Roma Confirms De Rossi To Remain As Manager
In February, I Giallorossi signed De Rossi to a contract until the end of the season, and they have now confirmed that they have handed an extension to the 40-year-old as they want him to stay with the club for next season and for the ‘foreseeable future’.
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De Rossi replaced Jose Mourinho and took over a team that was ninth in the league rankings.
Following a seven-game league unbeaten streak, Roma has risen to fifth place in the standings under the former Italy international.
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They have also advanced to the Europa League semi-final after beating AC Milan in the quarter-final.
Speaking ahead of the clash against Milan, De Rossi said [via RomaPress]: “The announcement?
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“It means that I am here to stay and continue serving as Roma’s head coach.
“It’s also a way of saying that not everything depends on tonight.
“For me it’s a huge confidence boost.
“My staff and I convinced the President in 3 months and doing so before this match is a gigantic demonstration of trust.
“I haven’t had time to celebrate this announcement because my mind is only focused on Milan.”
Roma will now be in action when they host the in-form Bologna side in Serie A action on Monday, April 22 as they look to hunt down Thiago Motta’s side for the last Champions League spots.
See These Top Trending Stories Happening Around The Nation
Yet the businesses of the producers of these eggs, chickens and other things we enjoy so much are in danger.
The government can partner or support Poultry Farmers businesses.
This will bring growth and prosperity as they continue to produce more while Nigerians will keep eating healthy meals.
While the poultry farmers are struggling to keep businesses afloat, Nigerian workers are asking government to announce a new minimum wage on May 1, workers day.
You May want to watch this video to know the reasons for their decision
Stock market investors will never pray for a repeat of the past eight trading days witnessed in the market.
The decline at the stock market section of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) is so bad that both the market capitalisation and All-share index dipped.
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At the moment they will be worried and looking for a way to get back what they’ve lost.
An image of the Nigerian Stock Market building located in Lagos State, Nigeria
You see the best time to make investment decisions is not often after recording losses.
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Research has it that most people make rash investment decisions at such points and wind up regretting it.
In the last eight trading days at the stock market, trade have been ending in the negative.
Investors have tried several techniques but ended up with the same results.
The losses recorded by investors on April 17, 2024 was the highest, as the market closed negative with ₦1.1 trillion loss.
To help investors manage the situation here are some things investors can do after losses in the stock market:
Take a break
Investors can rethink their strategy and take a short break from trading.
Diversify
Diversifying can help offset losses and underperformance. Investors can spread their investments across different asset classes, sectors, and geographies.
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Rebalance
Rebalancing involves selling or buying assets in a portfolio periodically to maintain a desired level of risk.
Consider dollar cost averaging
Dollar-cost averaging involves buying the same dollar amount of stock at specific intervals.
In a bear market, it can lower an investor’s average cost, providing them with an opportunity to recoup losses more quickly if prices rebound.
Cut losses short
Exit early while you’re running into loss and have patience while you’re incurring profits. This way you’ll lose less and earn more.
Meanwhile trouble may have knocked on the doors of Dynamics Church, after Pastor Paul Enenche accused member of giving faking testimony.
Netizens have critiqued Enenche over his comments. Should he have kept quiet or just let the testimony be, since only God knows the truth about all matters
