5 Ways To Replenish Your Professional-Self
Did you give yourself some return to work credit? It’s so easy to discount the sheer level of adjustment that returning to work requires of us. Having been too unwell to engage in paid employment for a couple of years in my thirties, in my mid-forties I find myself in a polar opposite situation.
“My world is also full other’s needs”
Where there was once isolation, now, my world is full of layers and layers of fascinating people. My world is also full other’s needs. There are the needs of the boy and the business. The needs of the marriage and of the clients. The needs of the home and the marketing strategy. There are the needs of the book I am writing and the needs of The Second Curve…. and, what I really need is more hours in the day…. I used to say that I felt I needed a wife and now I feel gender-conflicted. I do however need another entity who can attend to all the multiplicity of threads of all the tasks that need it…
Because what I do not get now is time to ‘notice’. There are no pauses in which to take account of and celebrate successes. No time to reflect and to actively choose the next step forward.
5 Ways to give yourself some return to work credit
When we refuse to carve out the time to reflect then we risk the insanity of keeping on doing the same thing again and again. When we refuse to celebrate we begin each new task ahead undernourished. Eventually, we can become so chronically under-resourced that where once there was excitement and creativity; now there is the sense of every new thing being a chore.
Addressing this chronic fatigue takes discipline. Firstly: Practice recognising those things that perhaps nobody else will even notice all you did. This means that it is worth affirming yourself! When you get under the duvet of a night, list 5 things every day that you did well. This might seem minor but it has a cumulative effect and is sometimes surprising to see what you did actually achieve in one 24 hour period.
“try telling people about what you are achieving”
Secondly, If you are therapeutically employed then invest in some excellent Clinical Supervision. I always underestimate the value of being supervised and I am ALWAYS so grateful for the sense of relief, clarity and affirmation that follows. invaluable! If you are involved in other kinds of work then consider Peer Mentoring as a nurturing possibility. find someone who holds you in good heart and whose opinion you respect and do an hour-swap. Bring work problems and solutions to this mix and firstly have access to a whole other perspective as a creative resource. You also have a witness for all you have achieved. someone to celebrate with and the reciprocity is SO nourishing.
Thirdly, try telling people about what you are achieving: Now this is a hard one. We have been told that ‘pride comes before a fall’ and thus it is terrifying to celebrate achievements.It’ss time to get over yourself on that one and begin to share. This gives others permission to do celebrate too – consider it as a random act of kindness to others. See just what comes back.. you might be surprised by the nourishment feedback brings your way.
“Be responsible and nourish yourself”
Fourth, Setting goals and giving rewards: literally. if you like a tick-list then use it. if you like new shoes when you have completed a project then grab yourself a pair. If you love a bottle of Prosecco then invest in a bottle and consciously use it to reward yourself. After all, you can always turn to it if things go t*ts up too.
Fifth: Do “Celebrating…. “ Do really, proper big events that are real tangible things. Book a theatre slot. Organise dinner for your supporters. Take a day out for yourself to spend it in the way that pleases you.
Be responsible and nourish yourself. Give yourself some return to work credit and then if any other credit comes your way its a bonus.