When I first started my in-house job, I promised myself that I wouldn’t be one of “those” attorneys. You know, the ones who are glued to their phone, who can’t sit through a lunch with friends without being on their phone, and even answer work calls while watching their kid’s soccer games? That. I didn’t want to become that type of person.
But somehow, just a year later, that’s exactly who I am. I downloaded our chat and shared inbox apps so I can monitor incoming messages on my phone, I refresh it constantly (even on weekends), and I find myself responding to messages over lunch with a phone in one hand, a fork in the other. It’s not that the work is particularly urgent, or even that important. But by not setting appropriate boundaries for myself and my coworkers, I reinforced the idea that I am available anytime—and that I will drop whatever project I am working on to take care of their question or issue.
Can you blame me? I love being helpful and demonstrating my worth, and it’s led to me feeling the need to go “above and beyond” all the time. Need a contract reviewed by Friday? I’ll do it today. Need a report written by the next board meeting? I’ll have it to you a week early. Need me to “hop on a quick call” about an issue you’re having while I’m on lunch? Sure, let me just put my meal back in the microwave for later! And I have to be honest, it’s exhausting. Sometimes I just want a block of time to get work done instead of being interrupted ad infinitum.
So how do you set boundaries in the hopes of tipping the work-life balance scale to something more manageable? Here are three suggestions to begin re-establishing work boundaries:
- Delete any work chat apps from your phone. I don’t care if its Google Chat, Slack, Microsoft Teams, or any other option, deleting the work chat apps on your phone will remove the immediacy you may feel to respond to others and can help prevent interruptions in your daily life. Yes, you should still chat with your coworkers about any questions they may have, but keep it on your laptop, rather than your phone—there’s a time and a place for everything.
- Schedule focus blocks. When are you most productive? Do you find you work better in the mornings after downing 4 cups of coffee? Or do you prefer to hunker down after lunch, making the rest of the day go quicker? Regardless of your what time you prefer, setting an intention and scheduling these blocks of time to truly focus on important work can make you feel in control of your schedule, and can let others know that you are busy at that time, eliminating or silencing any distractions. Going a step further, you can even turn on the “do not disturb” feature during these times.
- Develop an email and task management system. The reason I often feel compelled to respond to coworkers quickly and handle their requests in the moment is simple: I am afraid I’ll forget to do it later. Developing an email triage/task management system that works for you is essential to planning out and allocating how you spend each day. Everyone gets the research/answer they need eventually, and you can focus on what is truly important to your company rather than get lost in the smaller requests. Some suggestions to try are implementing an email classification system (“to do, waiting, to read, follow up”), using a good old-fashioned planner, or even taking advantage of your work calendar’s task management system to sort and schedule each request. Whatever option you chose, it should flow naturally with your working style and shouldn’t be a barrier to getting things done.
Setting boundaries is hard; you may feel like it’s your obligation to be available 24/7 or that you aren’t being a good employee if you don’t respond to a message within a certain timeframe. That guilt will fade. As the old saying goes, you can’t be everything to everyone. Putting up boundaries can actually help you be a better professional by making sure you are engaged at the appropriate times but also ensuring you meet your own project deadlines or deliverables. You can still help others; just make sure to help yourself first!
