3 Types Of Boundaries You Need To Set (And How)
Boundaries help us to feel safe, supported, and protect our energy.
The last two years, our social norms have been turned on their heads. Guidelines seem to swing back and forth like a pendulum and we have all come to realize that not everyone assesses and responds to risk in the same way.
Now more than ever, we need to be clear about our boundaries, and know how to communicate them in order to feel safe, supported, and protect our energy.
Setting and communicating clear boundaries is not always easy, but it is the key to establishing how you want to be treated by others at work and in your personal life.
Physical Boundaries
From how you greet people to where you will and won’t go, physical boundaries are more important than ever before. It helps to decide in advance of confrontation what your physical boundaries are, so that you are not put in a situation where you feel uncomfortable.
Elbow dabs over handshakes
Always stay in Friday nights
Protect your lunch breaks and eat sitting down
Only one weeknight out per week
Decide what you will and won’t do on your ‘reset days’
Mental
Preserving your mental energy can be a daunting task when you are managing multiple projects. Everyone has times of the day when they have the best mental clarity. If you have the ability to protect that time, you will be that much more productive.
Observe when you have the most mental clarity
Block your calendar to protect time for focused work
Set your working hours and stick to them
Turn off notifications and distractions
Take mini-breaks through your day to reset
Emotional
Our mood, energy, and physical feelings are all affected by those around us. Emotional energy is defined as “how we feel about what is going on in our lives: our work, our relationships, ourselves, and our general situation.” (Source: WorkingWell Ltd). While we cannot control the behaviors of others, we can improve how we respond to their actions.
Observe which activities give you energy and which depletes you
Do not engage in gossip or negative discussions
Limit the time spent on social media and engaging with news outlets
Give yourself space to process disappointments
Resist letting others’ negative energy affect you
