As we wrap up the year, many of us are winding down on work for a few days and spending time with people we care about. We will try to shelve our work focus – and rightly so. However, you may find yourself thinking about your job while you have some distance from it. Not the day-to-day tasks hopefully, but the bigger questions: Is it the right job for me? Do I want to change careers? What priorities does this role fill? Time with family and friends offers a more holistic picture about what matters to each of us. Work is inevitably a large part of how you live, but is it a reflection of who you are? And why do you do the work you do? The world has become much more complicated over the last few years, and our work lives reflect that.
Now might be a good time to take stock of what you really want from your job, and what you’re willing to give to it.
We have seen our work lives swing from one extreme to another in recent years. Many of us dealt with unprecedented disruptions in how and where we worked during the pandemic. For some it was the first time working remotely; others changed jobs altogether as part of the Great Resignation. We might also be wrestling with the rising prices and supply-chain issues that have emerged post-pandemic and further complicated our financial decisions. But we also have faced political and social decisions, engaging in a complicated dialogue about our values and our expectations of others. That includes who we work for, and work with. We desire certain actions from the companies that employ us, and we’re more aware of our relationships with colleagues. The pressure of work extends beyond our day-to-day responsibilities, more than ever.
And yet, if you want to be a strong performer, you need to recognize these demands and be ready to meet them. More and more, employers and employees recognize how important – and difficult – efficient communication, empathy, and productivity are to overall success. If you are very experienced, you might find yourself frequently challenged by new ways of doing things and the rapid evolution of workplace culture. If you are new to the workforce, you may feel more isolated than prior generations of workers who reaped the benefits (while managing the disadvantages) of fully on-site workplaces.
So much of the meaning of work has changed as we increasingly meld our work lives and non-work lives. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing: Perhaps we will become better off as we have a life that integrates all of our needs. But this requires a reckoning with ourselves about whether the job we signed up for is still the one we want. If so, we may need to double down on our efforts to achieve, reinventing ourselves or at least reimagining our way of working.
We may need new and different attitudes about work and the self-care it requires.
If we are going to spend less time in traditional office spaces, and we are reconsidering what we want from our employers, our teammates, and ourselves, then it’s important to also think about how we care for ourselves now. If we don’t have a daily commute, how do we create mental boundaries between the workday and personal time? If we’re working remotely, that doesn’t have to mean we work at home; maybe we find a co-working space or other solution. If we are going into the office on a hybrid schedule, perhaps we need to have transparent conversations about how to reframe the way we work within that model. How do you set boundaries around work hours when you don’t enter or leave a physical workplace? The convenience of technology doesn’t come without disadvantages.
Having a healthy lifestyle is often a focus in the new year. Now is a good time to think about goals – maybe not resolutions – that reflect a healthy workday. Are you accepting back-to-back Zoom calls without a break to stretch your legs? Some of my clients have become creative: One uses a putting mat for a few minutes between meetings; another chops wood (with an axe) at the end of the day. For you, it might be yoga or meditation. But we need to take those workday self-care solutions as seriously as we prepare for a presentation or a client meeting. The most resilient employees are those who find a way to fit in the “non-work” activities that help them stay balanced and productive.
Stop and rest over the holidays. Step back and think about how you want to return to work.
Ultimately, some of us may decide that the answer is not about how to work differently where we are, but to go somewhere else. That’s a healthy consideration. We have all learned over the last few years that life is unpredictable and challenging in ways we have not faced before. It might require a much more dramatic change to meet the new normal. That could reveal an exciting professional opportunity or other non-work priorities. Or it could be a series of smaller changes and greater awareness of the challenges we now face. The important point is that we recognize the change around us and consider some changes within.
Work Has Changed. Have You?
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21.12.2023
As we wrap up the year, many of us are winding down on work for a few days and spending time with people we care about. We will try to shelve our work focus – and rightly so. However, you may find yourself thinking about your job while you have some distance from it. Not the day-to-day tasks hopefully, but the bigger questions: Is it the right job for me? Do I want to change careers? What priorities does this role fill? Time with family and friends offers a more holistic picture about what matters to each of us. Work is inevitably a large part of how you live, but is it a reflection of who you are? And why do you do the work you do? The world has become much more complicated over the last few years, and our work lives reflect that.
Now might be a good time to take stock of what you really want from your job, and what you’re willing to give to it.
We have seen our work lives swing from one extreme to another in recent years. Many of us dealt with unprecedented disruptions in how and where we worked during the pandemic. For some it was the first time working remotely; others changed jobs altogether as part of the Great Resignation. We might also be wrestling with the rising prices and supply-chain issues that have emerged post-pandemic and further........
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