You Don't Have to Move to France
Hey you. 👋
You don’t have to live in France to get your life back.
(But we’ll circle back to France, promise. 🇫🇷)
Here’s the truth:
⚡ The idea of "work/life balance" is recent.
⚡ The modern workweek? Engineered for someone else’s success, not yours.
⚡ The pressure you're feeling? A trap. And traps can be escaped.
Option 1️⃣: Move to France, where it’s illegal for your boss to contact you off-hours.
Option 2️⃣: Set some damn boundaries. 💥
✨ Remember: Boundaries are about YOUR behavior, not controlling others.
First, affirmations to armor up:
💬 I am a whole person.
💬 I am worth more than my labor.
💬 I am bigger than my career.
And some tough love:
👊 It’s not going to be easy.
👊 You're re-training decades of people-pleasing.
👊 Stay the course. It's so worth it.
Here are 5 work boundaries to set, how to set them, and how to maintain them:
1. Set clear working hours.
🌿 How to set it: Decide what time you will begin and end your workday, and gently let your team or clients know. Try, “I’ll be available from 9 AM to 5 PM Eastern, and I’ll get back to messages received outside that time the next day.”
🌿 How to maintain it: Add your working hours to your email signature or calendar availability. Use an auto-responder for after-hours messages. Most importantly, resist the urge to "just check" your inbox after hours—it’s okay to rest.
2. Take real breaks throughout the day.
🌿 How to set it: Add short breaks to your calendar—15 minutes mid-morning, 30–60 minutes for lunch, a stretch break mid-afternoon. These aren’t luxuries; they’re essential.
🌿 How to maintain it: Honor that time by stepping away from your desk completely. Set a reminder on your phone to walk around the block, make a cup of tea, read a few pages of a book, or lie down with your eyes closed. You don’t have to earn rest—you already deserve it.
3. Make space for focused work.
🌿 How to set it: Choose a time in your day when your energy is steady and reserve it for work that needs your full attention. Block it off on your calendar and label it "Do Not Schedule."
🌿 How to maintain it: Silence notifications, close extra browser tabs, and consider using a timer (like Pomodoro method) to structure deep work in short, focused sprints. Let your coworkers know you’ll check messages after this focused time is done.
4. Practice pausing before saying yes.
🌿 How to set it: Instead of agreeing to every request right away, say something like, “Thanks for thinking of me—can I check my bandwidth and get back to you?”
🌿 How to maintain it: Give yourself a moment to review your schedule, workload, and energy before responding. You’re allowed to say no, or to say “not right now.” That pause is a gift of care you give yourself.
5. Communicate boundaries with kindness and clarity.
🌿 How to set it: When you share a boundary, keep it short and kind. “I’m not available for meetings after 4, but I’m happy to connect tomorrow.”
🌿 How to maintain it: If someone forgets or pushes back, calmly restate the boundary without overexplaining. Remind yourself that you’re not being difficult—you’re being deliberate about your wellness.
Coming up in May:
💥 We’re diving into the Occupational Self + launching the Tough Love Passive-Aggression Challenge for paying subscribers.
👉 Upgrade your subscription — first 30 days free, then just $5/month!
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