70. FOUR Types of Boundaries to Set at Work with Prina Shah

SPEAKER_00 0:37

Why do we do spend the most time in our wasteing data that were the stuff we do with our loved ones? It has to be a good place to be. So in this podcast, you can expect a mix of interviews with amazing thought leaders and then some solo episodes from myself as well. Hello and welcome to this episode of Ways to Change the Workplace with myself Pruna Shah, and I'm really pleased to be talking to you today about the four types of boundaries that you need to consider to set at work. Now, before we begin, what is a boundary? Placing boundaries involves establishing clear communication with others about your needs, expectations, and limits, and respecting your own boundaries as well as those of others. Placing boundaries can help you to avoid feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or disrespected, and it can lead to promoting healthier relationships and a far more fulfilling work life. Lots of people recently have been asking me the question about the kind of boundaries that they can set at work, so here is an episode just for you. You see, setting boundaries at work is crucial for maintaining a healthy work-life balance and promoting your well-being. If that's not enough for you, here's some more reasons why it's really important to set boundaries at work. Number one, you avoid burnout. When you don't set boundaries, you might end up overworking yourself, which can lead to burnout, which is a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion. Setting clear limits on your workload and working hours can help you avoid burnout and maintain your energy and productivity. Reason number two to set boundaries is to enhance your productivity. When you set boundaries, you can prioritize your work tasks and focus on the most important ones rather than running around like a headless chicken. And that can enhance your productivity and therefore your efficiency as well. By saying no to less important tasks or distractions, you can make time and space for what really matters. Reason number three to set boundaries at work is to promote work-life balance. Yeah, I'm still banging on about work-life balance, but setting boundaries at work can help you create a clear separation between your work and your personal life, which is essential for achieving a healthy work-life balance. By setting limits on your working hours, for example, you can ensure that you've got enough time for self-care, for your hobbies, and for those important relationships outside of your work. Reason number four for setting boundaries within the workplace is because we end up building healthy relationships when we set boundaries. We end up building healthy relationships when we set boundaries in the workplace. You see, setting boundaries can help you communicate your needs and expectations effectively to your colleagues and your managers, which can promote healthier relationships at work. When you set clear boundaries, you can avoid misunderstandings, conflicts, and resentments, and it builds trust and respect amongst your colleagues. So overall, setting boundaries at work can help you feel more in control, it can help you feel less stressed and more fulfilled in your job. It can also enhance your overall well-being and improve your relationships at work and therefore in your personal life as well. Now, I've been researching on all things boundaries, and I read a really cool article on Atlassian's website, and they have defined four types of boundaries, four different types of boundaries, which I'll outline to you. So, boundary number one is a physical boundary. This type of boundary includes your personal space, your working hours, and your physical environment. It's important to set physical boundaries to protect your well-being and ensure that you have the time and space that you need to be productive. Another type of boundary, boundary number two, are emotional boundaries. Emotional boundaries within the workplace refer to your emotional needs, your feelings, and your expectations. It's important to set emotional boundaries to protect yourself from negative emotions within the workplace and so that you can communicate your needs effectively to your colleagues. Boundaries number three, another type of boundaries, are intellectual boundaries. Now, intellectual boundaries relate to your thoughts, your ideas, and your beliefs. It's important to set intellectual boundaries to protect your intellectual property and ensure that your ideas are respected and valued within the workplace. And the fourth type of boundary that I want to talk to you about today are time boundaries. Time boundaries refer to your availability and your ability to manage your time effectively. It's important to set time boundaries to avoid overworking yourself and to ensure that you have time that you need to prioritize all the wonderful things that you have in your personal life. So, how do we do this? You may be thinking. So let's dive into how you can implement the four types of boundaries at work. Let's begin with physical boundaries. So to set physical boundaries at work, you can clearly communicate your working hours and availability to your colleagues and to your managers. To set physical boundaries at work, you can set up a designated workspace that allows you to focus on your work and to minimize distractions. To set physical boundaries at work, please take breaks throughout the day to stretch, to move your body, and to recharge your energy. Another way to set physical boundaries at work is to use tools like noise cancelling headphones, a privacy screen, or even a do not disturb sign to signal your need for privacy and for focus. I know lots of buildings now have private meeting rooms that you can hire and go work in, thinking spaces, innovation spaces. So really consider your workplace and the kind of physical boundaries that you can place within your workplace, whether it be at home even or in an office per se. Now, emotional boundaries is what I want to talk to you about now. Emotional boundaries. So to set emotional boundaries at work, you need to be aware of your emotional triggers and learn to manage them effectively. If your workplace offers anything like psychometric tests, I'm qualified in disc advanced, I'm qualified in the human synergistic suites of psychometric tests, as well as print the unconscious motivators, finding out the why of you. If there's anything like that that you can work on from your team perspective to find out people's emotional triggers, it's really good to work out because then you can have a conversation to work out how to best manage everybody's emotional triggers within the workplace. It's a really fascinating activity to do. To set emotional boundaries in another way, you need to communicate your feelings and needs assertively and respectfully to your colleagues and your managers. You need to use your words here. If you haven't checked it out, just Google the feelings wheel, and that will give you a far wider vocabulary on all things feelings if you need to expand your vocabulary in relation to setting emotional boundaries. On the topic of emotional boundaries, avoid taking on others' emotions or conflicts and maintain a professional distance when necessary. I talk at length about emotional contagion within the workplace. And if you haven't listened to the episode with Larissa Garcia about how we need to bring emotions into the workplace, check that episode out. I also talk about toxic positivity, and you need to listen to the episode with Dr. Mikey, where we're talking about emotional boundaries from a toxic positivity perspective. So, from an emotional boundary perspective, it's really important to set limits on how much you even share about your personal life with your colleagues and avoid getting too involved in office politics. I've seen the horrible end of things, especially from the HR perspective, when I've worked internally in corporate jobs historically. When shit hits the fan, oh my gosh, from a gossip perspective, it's really, really difficult to undo the horrible things that have been done from that emotional aspect of office gossip. So it's always best just to stay out of office politics as much as possible if you really can. And then the other point I want to talk to you about is about setting intellectual boundaries at work. So here, ideally, you should clearly communicate your ownership and your authorship of your ideas, your projects, and your work products. I've heard so many times from lots of clients about someone else taking credit for their work. And while, yes, we absolutely work in a team manner, and you know, my win is the team's win, often we need to be appreciated for our individual contribution that we make to our workplace. So protect your intellectual property by using non-disclosure agreements if that's what you want to use. You can even use trademarks or team patents, logo it, brand it. You could even go using legal measures if necessary, if that's what you really need to do if you're working in a you know huge conglomerate. But the big thing here is to avoid taking credit for others' works. Don't be a dick. Don't take others' work and class it off as your own. Give credit where credit is due. Speak up if you feel that your ideas or contributions are being undervalued or overlooked. It's really important for you to verbalize that. Often, when people don't verbalize that, that's what results in resentment and then toxic team issues. So really look at how you are going to manage your intellectual boundaries at work so that you can shine. And then a really important boundary or lots of important boundaries to set in relation to time boundaries. And this is about time management for yourself. Absolutely so. Prioritize your tasks and set realistic goals and deadlines for yourself. Learn to say no to requests that don't align with your priorities or your workload. So you're really setting proper time boundaries here. Avoid multitasking, don't do it, it's just confusing. Avoid overworking yourself and take breaks when you need to use them. Use tools like time tracking apps, calendars, or reminders to manage your time effectively and avoid procrastination. So, in summary, setting boundaries at work is essential for your well-being and your productivity. By implementing physical, emotional, intellectual, and time boundaries, you can create a far more fulfilling and balanced work life and you can take control back into your hands. Remember to communicate your boundaries and clearly respect others' boundaries as well. And adjust your boundaries as needed. Remember, if you haven't communicated your boundaries, people cannot read your mind. So I hope that you've got lots of tips from this episode. Thank you for tuning in, and I will see you in the next episode. If you like this episode, check out the show notes and sign up for my newsletter. That will help your workplace to be legit. It's full of novel ideas, good food for thought. And if you like this episode, pass it on to at least two people who will benefit. That's your good deed done for the day. Also, remember to subscribe to the Way to Change Your Workplace Podcast via your podcast provider. And I will see you in the next episode.