The first Monday of every September marks the celebration of Labor Day. The history behind Labor Day really isn’t all that familiar to most people. The one thing that everyone does know about Labor Day is that it is (for most) a day off of work. Year to year we look forward to such holidays. After all, who doesn’t enjoy a day off from work? I know that I am certainly amongst that number. However, even though I look forward to a day off from work, I have come to realize that my day-to-day work activity has to yield me th e same benefits as a “real” day off (even though I work an 8 hour day). To explain, I have to make sure that even though I am working everyday, I find ways to feel as if I’m not. Have you e
ver heard the expression, “work smart not hard”? In order to protect my mental health, this is what I have learned to do. Not everyone has mastered the art of working smart not hard, and I’m not quite sure if I would call myself a master of the philosophy. Even still, I am going to share with you what I do to help make an everyday work day feel like Labor Day.
I stay in my lane!
Sometimes we cause ourselves unwanted misery and distress by trying to do someone else’s job. There is nothing more frustrating than knowing that you have a solution to a problem that you don’t have the power to change. I’ve had many conversations with disgruntled employees and many of them start off like this, “I just don’t understand why they don’t….” or “if they would only…” or “here’s what they need to do…” The key word in each of these complaints is they. You don’t get paid for what they do, so stop trying to think for them. The best thing to do is to do what you get paid to do. Whenever an issue comes up at work that frustrates me because I know the higher-ups are handling it wrong, I say these words, “that’s not my problem” and get back to doing my job. Staying in your lane is hard work but I promise once you release yourself from attempting to control a problem that is not yours to control, you will feel better. Seriously, even if the entire operation crashes and burns, and you had the answer that would have extinguished the fire at its onset, the fire is not your responsibility. If nothing is right, it’s not your fault. Trust me, when I got this epiphany, I felt like a ten ton boulder had been lifted off of my shoulders. And to add, stop doing what you aren’t getting paid to do! For example, if you get paid to file documents, it is not your job to make changes to the documents in the files. You are adding an unnecessary stress to your day. Sure you want things right and you want things to be done with excellence. However, the problem with your helpfulness and sense of duty is this: you are making the company better by doing something they didn’t ask you to do at the cost of your peace of mind and pocketbook. Stop it! Stay in your lane! You cannot have authority over matters in which you have no responsibility. To put it another way, you aren’t getting paid to do what you are thinking will help others. Some of us have been overworking because we’ve been over thinking pass our responsibilities. You can’t do two jobs at once. Say it with me, “I’m going to stay in my lane!”
I break up my day by doing what I enjoy!
As quiet as it’s kept, I enjoy going to my “real” job because I get to leave once a day and do what I was born to do, teach. I am a teacher. Teaching students fulfills me in a way that nothing else does. It is the one thing I would do everyday for free. I know this because that one semester (in 12 years) when I didn’t teach, it was like the wind got knocked out of my chest. It was a struggle for me to go to work because I was not only doing something I didn’t want to do (we’ll save that for another blog) but I was also doing something I wasn’t purposed to do. While I know I can make a difference in the lives of people wherever I am, I also know that there is a difference between being somewhere for a purpose and doing something because it’s your purpose. And this is most certainly my current situation. I know I am purposed to be where I am. I enjoy the people I work with. I even enjoy what I do (as much as one can enjoy a job), but it is not what I am purposed to do. I want to challenge you to do what I have done. Find something you can do to break up your daily work routine. You might not be as fortunate as I am as to be able to leave and work in your purpose, but you most certainly can break up your day by doing something you love. Go for a walk during lunch, volunteer in your community, establish a book club with your co-workers. There are a number of things that you can do to break up the monotony of your day. Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. Try something you might not normally do, but definitely do something. Your day will go by so much faster. At the beginning of the day you will have something to look forward to, and when you get back to work you can bask in how great that activity made you feel. And then, voilà….it’s 5:00pm.
I have a support team
My support team is the most important component of my day. I absolutely need them to make it through the day. We all have co-workers we have water cooler conversations with, but do you have co-workers you can really lean on? I am happy to say that I have a group of phenomenal co-workers that I can go to for support of any kind, whether it be work related, spiritual or mental, they are always there for me. Here is how you can weed out the water cooler co-worker from the supportive co-worker you need. Ask yourself this, “can I share my dreams with this person?” Let’s all admit it. We are not trying to stay where we are. We should all want to go further in life, to accomplish bigger and better goals. Your work support team is made up of the people who know what those goals are. These people know your dreams because they themselves are dreamers. It’s a give and take relationship of constant encouragement. When times get hard at home (and they will), it is a good feeling to be able to go into work the next day knowing that there is someone who can encourage you to keep going. When the stress of the work day starts to rear its ugly head, a member of that support team can remind you, “This is not your ending, and something better is on the horizon.” Shout out to my team (you know who you are) who will walk by my office and give me an encouraging smile, or stop in to chat, or make me laugh uncontrollably, or give me my favorite treat to snack on. Thank you all so much for helping my work day not feel so much like work.
There you have it. This is what I do to make my work day feel less like a work day. I mind my own business, I do what I love during the day and I dream with my friends. I want to encourage you to find things that will help alleviate the stress from your work day. Things that I suggested might not work for you, but please find other options that will. Please share your stress free work strategies to the I Press On Movement Facebook page so we can continue this conversation. Work doesn’t have to be so hard. Let’s continue to make the best of our work day and press on together!