Last week, we reminded you of The Power of Breathing as a simple way to help you get some more space and calm into your body and brain so that you can start to put burnout and overwhelm in the rearview mirror.
This week, we’re talking about The Power of Boundaries to help lighten your load.
We’ve found that people are typically burned out and overwhelmed because they have too much on their plate. Makes sense, right?
We want to remind you that you don’t have to take on all the things for all of the people.
By building healthy boundaries,
you’re signaling to yourself and to others,
that you matter.
We’ve found a simple yet effective way to set healthy boundaries, which in turn, can help with burnout.
The goal is to find the space in between YES and NO.
We suggest thinking about the possibility of saying Yes, and… or No, and…, the next time someone asks you to add something to your already overflowing plate.
These options can look something like this:
Yes, and…
Saying something like, “Yes, I’d love to work on that, and I’m overwhelmed right now. Is this something that can be done at a later date? If so, could you reach out to me again in a month or so?”
No, and…
Saying something like, “No, I’m overwhelmed and don’t see any end in sight, and I’d be happy to hop on a quick call with you to walk you through how to do it, or to brainstorm someone else who might be available.”
Both of these answers let people know that you care about them, the work/project/task they’re asking you to do, AND that you care about yourself as well. It’s important to keep yourself part of the equation. Your health and wellbeing are important!
There are, of course, many ways to word these sentences. Try out some phrases that work for you and let us know how it goes.
We’re here if you need us.
If you’d like support setting healthy boundaries, contact us today.