If you're like me, you may often wonder: are we living the values we encourage our students and colleagues to live? When we are in career coaching sessions, workshops, and meetings charging others to show up with intention, work hard, and also integrate strategies into daily practice to promote wellness... are we living examples of what that looks like? Part of my role in the career center includes managing an awesome group of student staff who assist with the front-of-house office operations and client engagement strategy. For some, this is their first job, and they are constantly juggling academic and co-curricular expectations alongside it. It's important to me that they each show up with intention each day—but also have a safe space to explore what it means to develop professional competencies and balance multiple expectations even when their days are full, knowing that it will not always work out perfectly, but the goal is to learn and grow along the way.
When one of them asked me recently if I ever "unplug," I was taken aback by the question. As a recovering "workaholic" or someone who takes a great deal of ownership and responsibility in seeing projects through (whether for pay, volunteer, or fun!) while being a quality teammate—the concept of self-care seemed a selfish one earlier in my career. Over time, I learned that not actively addressing it could impact professional outcomes and have negative health implications as well. Particularly in a profession where interpersonal engagement is a large part of the work, taking care of self ensures your ability to adequately and healthily support others. As a relatively new mom, I have also been forced to recalibrate how I use literally every hour of the day to ensure that I am fully engaged both professionally and personally. I have thought a lot about what balance could or should look like in the next phase of my career as I continue to take on more leadership. It's imperative to take time to consider these things, or burnout is inevitable. For many, that may be easier said that done if you have always been successful juggling many different priorities without a tiny human, partner, or aging parent depending on you at the same time. As I seek to continue to lead and inspire, how I show up and live my values is critical to how I create space for others to do the same.
Practicing self-care at work is crucial to maximizing productivity, focus, and promoting a culture of overall wellness. Here are a few strategies that I employ in my day to day to actively practice self-care at work:
Water, Water, Everywhere. I love water. I have found, though, that if i'm not careful—I could go hours or even a whole day without drinking enough of it! When my calendar is stacked with back-to-back meetings and no built-in breaks, I have even been known to forget to eat. Terrible, right? One trick I've found is to find a large water bottle or cup (24-36 oz.) and fill it up at the beginning of the day. That way, even if I have limited transition time between coaching sessions or other meetings, my water is handy to sip throughout the day and i'm less likely to dehydrate. I especially love bottles with visible measurements so I can track my overall intake, too.
Take a Lap. What professional hasn't seen articles on how awful sitting down for hours is for your body? A quick Internet search can provide you with a wealth of knowledge on the health implications of not getting enough movement throughout the day. I have some colleagues who take advantage of walking meetings (meetings on foot while walking around campus), but I have been known to take a quick lap around the main floor of the student union where I work in between meetings as time permits. It provides a quick energy boost, a change of scenery, and a chance to see more friendly faces that I could go days or even weeks without seeing!
Peaceful Tunes. Prior to sharing an office space with another colleague, I regularly used an Internet radio platform like Pandora or Spotify to play "focus music." Upbeat, but generally instrumental playlists were great for certain projects or work tasks when I wanted to focus in but still have ambient noise. Now I pop out into flexible spaces if I need to focus in on a project or e-mail management with music sans headphones, and typically have a white noise machine blowing at all times to eliminate background noise or interruptions.
Phone a Friend. Lunch time is a great time to connect with friends or mentors you don't have a chance to talk with during peak times in your life when time is simply limited. Scheduling phone or Skype time during lunch break is one way I try to be intentional about staying connected to those close to me, but also hold myself accountable for actually taking a lunch break away from my desk or work. This doesn't happen often, but it's always something to look forward to when planned ahead of time.
One and Done. Prioritizing tasks is vital when you want to accomplish a lot with limited time. Typically, I am very good at this—especially when I have the opportunity to manage my workflow and time as needed. I am also aware that if i'm not careful, e-mail management could quickly become an all day thing! Rather than multitasking on 500 different individual things, I create action lists and prioritize by what's most important that day, week, or month. If a project or meeting requires full attention, I have learned to shut my e-mail down until I'm done working so that I'm not tempted by new message notifications! I find that this increases efficiency and presence in the moment with individuals and projects at hand.
I would love to know what you do to actively practice self-care!