When WORK Becomes Life

You need to reset

Stop.

Take a break and go back to the reason we work in the first place. 

It is so easy to let work devour you and forget the whole point of labor in the first place.

Organizational Change and New Responsibilities:

Work ate up almost every waking hour of the last 5 or so months.  

I know life has seasons. Seasons of business and seasons of rest. Reasons racing against the clock and season when seconds feel like eternities. 

In March 2024, my season of a balanced work-life routine crashed and burned. And I denied my injuries.  

The Realization, the Reflection and Rest

Here are a few things that happened over the past months that took me too long to learn and realize:

1. Don’t Act Like You Have Everything Under Control

With the new studies on my plate and the new role juggling 2 positions, I thought  I was only suffering from the learning curve. The long hours,  the back-to-back calls, and the never-ending tasks felt like mountains to climb over each day. 

Different outlooks from my manager and the team lead left me feeling torn over the new situation. The former, with a glass-half-full mindset, reassured me that I was not at the maximum capacity for the role. While the latter, worried over the growing load each week. 

And it was true, I was dying. I just didn’t know it yet.

A trial month turned into 2 and all I did was work, work, and then work. Stepping out to get dinner with friends or family or to exercise felt more like a burden than relief. I now knew that the line was crossed.

I had to raise my voice.

Hearing the excuses for the situation from those above me, I laughed it off. But that was when I needed to acknowledge that the learning curve was over and accept the fact that I was actually drowning.

It took weeks of running dangerously close to the edge before I knew. 

2. Stand Firm On Your Capacity and Work-Life Balance

The compromise I made in the last few months made me realize that I need to keep that boundary between work and life strict. And mean it when I say that I am drowning.

Crossed boundaries and the beginning of burnout (see my tips on catching the early signs of burnout here) should ring alarm bells as soon as possible. 

I looked at my plate and compared it to the rest. I took note of how emotionally drained I was and what needed to change.  Communicating in some form of complaint is not easy—especially if you are some kind of people pleaser like me.

Some people only care about numbers so do your homework (check out number 3 below). What does a practical 8-hour workday look like for this role? What would be the best capacity? And what would help you maintain that work-life balance to stay sane?

I don’t like complaining. I am one of those people who suffer in silence at a restaurant and vow to never return. Based on experience, I know that these kinds of conversations with supervisors and managers that are supposed to help usually end on a bad note.  And so, have courage, take a stand, and speak up.

When these things happen, maybe it is time to re-evaluate the chapter you are in and see where it is one can be off to next. 

3. Measure the Data and Get Assurance

I downloaded a focus app (see my blog post here) to help ensure that I only work 8 hours each day.  If you want to stay sane as some remote worker who is not paid by the hour, download one too! 

I haven’t been using that recently as our organization shifted to Monday.com which has a time tracker for all the tasks on your plate.

Time tracking opened my eyes to how much time I dedicated to work. I needed a strict 8-hour workday to get everything done.

There was no allowance for bathroom breaks, snacks, and mental health breaks. There was no time for chill work, everything needed deep thinking. No wonder I was so exhausted! 

For months, I ended the workday with hands that felt like noodles! I looked at the reports and learned I sent the most emails. I also started missing replies to certain people due to the sheer volume of transactions and the quality of my work was slipping through the cracks. 

Because I was too tired, all I did was sleep and repeat. My noodle hands made me hate the idea of writing.

4. Know When It’s Time To Move On

All new workplaces start in 2 ways, this is my dream job or work environment, Yey! Or this is a hell hole I need to get out of here ASAP. Before we move on to other places, we have to hit the brim of ‘fed up ‘and then throw in the towel. 

I may not be fed up yet, but I experienced days that pointed down a path of destruction.

Right now, I write with optimism for better days. Thankfully, I am no longer a lone ranger as a whole team is stepping in for the client pool I am handling. There are better days ahead (and hopefully better pay)! 

Having expressed and seen my limits in the past few months, I now have a means to measure improvement or deterioration of my condition and workload, of my contentment or suffering, and of my peace and agony.

I have a due date in mind to help me measure how things are going. I cannot stand down when personal goals and hobbies are stifled under work demands.

Now that I reminded myself of the point of all this work, I have a goal in mind and I plan to work on it as SMART as I can (check out my post on goal setting here). 

I hope you get to measure this out yourself in a timeframe of patience and grace given your circumstances.  

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Work was never meant to be easy, an aftereffect of the fall. But work was never meant to be your life either. Unlike the former, you can do something about that. 

Good luck to all of us!