And that’s a leading cause of anxiety amongst working adults. Your inability to draw a line is taking a toll on you more than you think. If you don’t address it, you might suffer severe consequences.
What Are Healthy Boundaries at Work?
Healthy work boundaries are the physical, emotional, mental, and professional limits you create to protect yourself from the excesses of your employers, fellow employees, and even the work itself. These red lines allow you to exercise control over what you accept around your personal and mental space.
Why You Need to Set Boundaries at Work
It’s key to note that setting healthy boundaries isn’t about being defensive or aggressive, but establishing order. It helps you develop and maintain meaningful work relationships while preserving your sanity.
Here are some reasons why you need to set healthy boundaries:
1. Prevent Work Overload
Thanks to technological advancements over the years, the idea of the workplace has evolved from being rigidly close-model structured to being more liberal, fluid, and open modeled.
Now, you can work remotely and carry out official assignments from anywhere in the world outside the confines of the official office space. All you need is a laptop or phone and access to the internet. However, this sets you up to be accessible and available for work 24/7. There are no clear-cut work boundaries or barriers.
Undefined work boundaries lead to work overload, which breeds stress, affects your mental health, and negatively impacts your productivity.
2. Establish Acceptable and Unacceptable Behaviors
Setting healthy boundaries at work is very necessary, as it ensures everyone around you is aware of what you consider acceptable and unacceptable behavior.
Boundaries at work ensure everyone co-exists and thrives with less friction. Without clear-cut limits, you end up being drained, mentally and physically fatigued, angry, confused, and unproductive to both yourself and the organization where you work.
3. Avoid Burnout
Setting healthy boundaries at work can make the difference between professional fulfillment and burnout because these boundaries protect you from overcompensating, over-committing, being used, or being taken advantage of. When you go through all these, you are bound to feel burned out.
Types of Boundaries at Work
It’s one thing to set up healthy boundaries at work and another thing to communicate these boundaries to others. Your boundaries need to be made known to your employer and colleagues.
To communicate your dealbreakers effectively, you have to be able to identify when someone has stepped out of line. Let’s look at the types of boundaries.
1. Physical Boundaries
Physical boundaries have to do with your personal space and effects. These are the most basic forms of boundaries, and they are very important to be established by you in the workplace.
Everyone has different physical activities they can tolerate, and these limits need to be communicated at all times. If you prefer a simple handshake over a hug, let it be established.
2. Mental and Emotional Boundaries
Mental and emotional boundaries are intangible but are equally very important boundaries that you need to have in place.
Applicable to your thoughts, values, and opinions on work-related matters, emotional boundaries help define and distinguish your emotions from everyone else’s. Most importantly, they protect your mental health.
3. Professional Boundaries
Establishing professional boundaries at work can’t be over-emphasized. This is necessary as it defines your role in your job description and prevents you from overlapping at work.
4. Time Boundaries
You need to understand that your time is of immense value to you—how you utilize it is yours to decide.
Don’t invest your time in things that are contrary to your originally assigned role and job description. Setting time boundaries protects you from overcompensating and over-committing yourself at work.
7 Ways to Set Healthy Boundaries at Work
You’ll be amazed at how your work life will transform once you establish the right boundaries. Humans like to push their luck. And once you take it, they’ll push it even further.
The overarching question now is, how do you achieve it?
1. Determine Acceptable Behavior
The first step to establishing healthy boundaries at work is to outline what accounts for acceptable and unacceptable behaviors to you.
What boundaries do you need to thrive? You have to know yourself what you like, what you don’t like, what you can tolerate, and know what you can’t.
2. Be Logical
Since you are in a work environment that comprises people of different backgrounds and values, you need to set your boundaries from a logical perspective rather than an emotional perspective.
The essence of having boundaries is for people to coexist peacefully. Your boundaries shouldn’t affect the well-being of others.
3. Prioritize
After identifying your boundaries, make them a part of your work life.
The boundaries you set need to be of utmost priority to you and shouldn’t be easily compromised. Prioritizing your boundaries makes them known to everyone in your space.
4. Communicate
After establishing your boundaries and prioritizing them, the next important thing to do is communicate these boundaries to your fellow employees and employers at all times.
Be very clear in your communication. Don’t assume they should know. When you change your boundaries, communicate it to them too. Make it a continuous process.
5. Be Firm
Don’t allow yourself to be seen as one that can be easily persuaded or compelled. Be firm in your dealings with people. When you want to say no, say it confidently. Your wellness comes first. If saying no is in your best interest, don’t be shy about it.
6. Hold People Accountable
Hold your fellow employees and employers accountable anytime they cross your boundaries. It shouldn’t be swept under the carpet, as that will breed resentment and contempt in you.
7. Be Respectful
Knowing and establishing healthy work boundaries at work is a two-way street. As you want your boundaries respected, you must respect the boundaries of others as well.
You also need to abide by the rules and regulations that govern your place of work.
Everyone Needs Healthy Boundaries
Setting healthy boundaries at work is beneficial to not just you, but others as well. Everyone thrives when there’s mutual respect. Your job is a part of your life and not your entire life. For you to excel, it has to align with your values and wellbeing. If you feel uncomfortable where you work, you are in the wrong place.
A healthy work environment upholds the rights and freedom of every employee. You saying “no” to people and things that violate your boundaries shouldn’t affect your work. If it does, you are better off somewhere else.
