As our careers and lives get busier by the minute, self-care is becoming a priority for most of us. Constant work demands, fast-paced environments, and distracting social media leave us perpetually frazzled and stressed.
Yet, one of the biggest obstacles to practicing self-care is finding the time to actually do it. Since most of us spend the majority of our time at work, here are 7 steps to practice self-care right in our work environment:
Give yourself a break
We tend to be our harshest critics, which takes a toll on our mental and emotional well-being. Instead of constantly criticizing yourself, start seeing the positives. Would you be as hard with your fellow co-workers as you are with yourself? Refrain from judging yourself or your work harshly. It will boost your confidence and lessen the weight of self-doubt on you.
Change your workspace
It’s no surprise that your work environment has a huge impact on your productivity. Instead of being surrounded by clutter, consider cleaning your desk periodically. It will help you gain more clarity while eliminating unwelcome distractions.
Get inspired by putting up pictures, images and artwork representing people and things that matter to you. Overall, if your workspace is not a reflection of yourself, it may be time for an update.
Surround yourself with the right people
A crucial component of self-care is being around the right people. You must surround yourself with healthy, supportive and positive relationships that push you to reach higher.
Is your team supportive of your goals? Who around you at work drains you? Who, on the other hand, motivates and feeds you? Spend more time with those co-workers and colleagues who inspire and support you. The same goes for your relationships outside of work as well. Nurture these relationships by taking time to check on your loved ones.
Manage your emotions
One of the biggest mistakes so many of us make at work is to repress our emotions. Instead of avoiding the reality of your feelings, acknowledge and learn to manage them. Emotions are here to guide us to better understand ourselves. The more authentic you can be, the more fulfilled and successful you’re likely to be.
Honor your value
In any given workday, other people will make demands on us. Whether they require our time, energy or resources, frequent external requests will leave us distracted and frazzled. As a result, we end up not taking care of ourselves or tending to our priorities.
Take some time at the beginning of each day to set out and write down your goals for the day. Make a decision throughout the day as to which requests from others you can afford to attend to. If they go against your priorities and goals for the day, you may want to start saying no!
Recharge!
You simply cannot function on empty. Your cup has to be filled in order to contribute to your life, career and other responsibilities to the best of your potential.
Refill your tank by getting the adequate amount of sleep every night. Consider taking frequent breaks during the day. If possible, take lunch breaks away from your desk.
Learn to celebrate yourself
Many of us fail to celebrate our accomplishments and victories, in life and at work. We’re simply too busy to stop and ask ourselves: “What did I do well today, last week, last month, or even last quarter?” Consider asking your team and colleagues at work the same question.
Celebrate the positives, and learn from the areas in which you can improve.
Have you attended a meeting at work and felt like somehow, you didn’t quite belong? Or landed a promotion that you didn’t feel you deserve? I know I have, and you may have as well as a working woman who’s ever experienced the Impostor Syndrome at work. This is an issue that has always affected women, and also does racial minorities as well as minority groups.
It doesn’t matter how competent, qualified or driven you are. We’ve all felt this way, at one point or another in our careers. According to this Behavioral Science Research Institute’s study, around 70 percent of people have experienced the Impostor Syndrome at work.
Impostor syndrome, also known as “fraud syndrome”, occurs when we don’t feel like our successes are deserved. Instead, we tend to attribute our achievements to external circumstances, like timing, coincidence or sheer luck. Most people affected by it worry they’ll be exposed as a fraud, and are likely to experience strong anxiety, fear and distress as a result.
I started feeling the Imposter Syndrome as early as my college years. I never quite could shake the feeling that I didn’t deserve to be in those upper-level Accounting and Finance classes, or that I could actually graduate as an honor student. Even as I walked across the stage on Graduation Day after completing my Master’s degree, there was a sense that I had only been fortunate to have gotten that far. This sense of sheer luck rather than deserving accomplishment followed me in my career as I would unconsciously sabotage my progress at times for fear to be discovered as a fraud.
Ridding yourself of the Impostor Syndromeis hard! After all, it’s a mindset buried under years of faulty self-belief about who you are, what you’re able to accomplish, and what you really deserve in life. Yet, you can fight it and use it instead as fuel to succeed at work again, this time on your own terms and with a smile on your face. As women, we carry so many societal and social expectations that it can easy for us to succumb to the pressures of feeling like a fraud in and outside of work.
Here are five ways you can fight it at work, and even beyond your career:
Acknowledge the problem
You’ve heard it before. You can’t solve a problem unless you acknowledge it first. Many of us have a hard time taking an honest look at ourselves, and recognizing that we do suffer from Impostor Syndrome. Instead, we use excuses to make ourselves feel better.
Where are you undervaluing yourself? Which of your successes are you attributing to luck or favorable circumstances? Do you think you’ve only gotten the promotion because the boss likes you? Or that you’ve been invited to this high-visibility infrastructure project at random? Do you feel like you don’t deserve to manage that project because you’re not experienced enough?
Pinpoint those areas where doubt is creeping in and your confidence is crumbling. Be honest about them, and write them down on paper to really identify the problem at hand.
Get Your Success Box Out!
One of the most powerful lessons that one of my mentors taught me is to always remember to get your Success Box out! You may be wondering: “What is this Success Box?” It’s made out of all your past accomplishments, everything you have ever done successfully in your life.
There’s something about reminding yourself of how far you’ve come, and how much you’ve done, that restores your confidence back. Whether it’s the college degrees, the certifications, the positive feedback, the personal journey, whatever it is that shows that you’ve done it before, is proof that you can do it again! I suggest keeping an actual box where you write down on pieces of paper your recent successes and take it out every time you need that confidence boost!
Sharing is Caring!
Sharing your expertise and journey is also a great way to remind yourself of your competence and ability! Find someone who needs help in an area that you’re knowledgeable about, and engage them to see if you can help or mentor them. It may be a more junior employee, a family member or a friend in need.
I find that every time I can help someone else by sharing my expertise, I end up realizing how much I know and am capable of. I also learn through the process about myself, my strengths and other areas I can develop.
Consider also sharing your experience with the Impostor Syndrome with trusted friends, family members and colleagues. It’s also an empowering way to recognize the problem, and courageously face it by talking about it.
Ask yourself: What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid?
The biggest culprit with the Impostor Syndrome is the resulting fear. Try reversing this angst by asking yourself this question: “What would I do if I weren’t afraid?” I actually have a Post-It note on my desk with this question on it. Every time I feel the fear creeping up in me, I look at it and loudly ask myself the question, over and over again.
What would you do? Would you go for this exciting career opportunity abroad? Would you apply for the promotion or ask for that raise? Would you create that business? Ask yourself the question, and let the answers lead you towards the success you deserve!
Change your words!
A mentor of mine once told me: “Your words are your life!” In other terms, your language is a preview of who you are! It also tells others about how much you trust yourself. Phrases like “I think”, or “I feel” indicate a lack of assurance in your ow potential.
Instead, change your words to reflect a more confident personality. Use language that conveys the fact that you believe in yourself, your competence and your ideas.
Watch this YouTube video as a recap:
Now your turn: How do you fight Impostor Syndrome at work?
Welcome to our weekly career, entrepreneurship, lifestyle and fashion news roundup! Think of it as your online watercooler/work gossip station/coffee break spot for now…Want to add anything to our list? Email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
Work It Daily shares how to dominate the job market after graduation;
Workology shares what we can learn from Starbucks closing its US pay gaps;
Glassdoor shares how to get a promotion when you’re an introvert;
Recruiter shares 20+ skills that will look great on your resume;
Summer is coming! Making Sense of Cents explains how to save thousands for your next vacation;
The Daily Muse tips us off on the stupid easy way to make your phone less distracting at work;
Our Workwear feature presents various pieces of work-appropriate attire at different price ranges and sizes.
This fun yet professional shirtdress from Ann Taylor is perfect to transition from winter to spring. The romantic ruffle front adds a great touch of femininity to this number. The long sleeves are weather-appropriate, while the classic cut effortlessly takes you from desk to dinner. It’s available at Ann Taylor.
Whether you have a side hustle or a full-blown business, you may be running into challenges when it comes to managing your small business finances. From keeping track of your expenses to deciding how much to pay yourself, dealing with money in your small business can be quite the challenge.
It’s well-known that one of the major obstacles to succeeding in business for anyone is money. This is even worse for women, who face significant challenges ranging from not being taken seriously to the lack of access to investors.
Learning to manage my own business finances has been a process. Even as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), I had to set up some new financial habits and processes in order to effectively manage the money in my small business.
Track your business expenses by separating them from your personal expenses
Managing your business finances starts with tracking them properly. As working women, we handle so many responsibilities at once that we can be tempted to mix our personal and business expenses. In order to understand where your money is going, you must sort out which expenses are associated with your business.
What to do: Instead of dipping into your personal bank account, open a business account. Pay all your business bills from this account, as this will allow you to effectively track your expenses.
Pay your business bills on time
As you do with your personal bills, take care of your business expenses as readily as possible. This is especially important if you’re just starting a business and you, like many other women, don’t have access to large sources of funding. Don’t allow credit card late fees and tax penalties to ruin your business’ financial stability.
What to do: Set reminders to pay your bills on time and avoid late fees. Set aside some time to go over your finances on a weekly basis to ensure that you’re staying on top of your expenses.
Set money aside for your taxes
One question that many women entrepreneurs ask is how to manage their money, once they start making a profit. One of the first priorities when it comes to utilizing the profit you make in your business is to set money aside for your taxes.
What to do: Take into account your marginal tax rate and tentatively calculate the tax you may owe. Set money aside towards these tax payments as soon as you can. This will eliminate the stress many business owners face at tax time.
Decide what you will reinvest in your business
Another concern of women entrepreneurs is how much to re-invest in their businesses, especially when they do not have access to large sources of funding.
What to do: Depending on the extent of your expenses as well as the money you set aside for taxes, determine how much you will need to re-invest in your business.
Don’t forget to pay yourself!
While you should set money aside for taxes, business expenses as well as to re-invest in your business, you should also not forget yourself. Consider paying yourself out of the profits that your business is making as well. How much you should pay yourself will depend on your outstanding expenses as well as your current needs.
What to do: Carefully evaluate how much you need to set aside for taxes, expenses as well as business re-investment. Based on this, decide how much you can afford to pay yourself.
Learn more about small business accounting
One of your greatest business powers is in understanding your business’ accounting. Whether you choose to take classes, or hire an accountant, commit to learning more about how your money works for you in your business.
What to do: Make the commitment to understand the basics of accounting as related to your business. Start by taking available classes or consult with accountants and bookkeepers, for instance.
Minimize your expenses
It costs money to start and run a business. It took me a few months into my business to realize that some expenses were unnecessary or could be combined. As a result, I saved a large amount of money, which I was able to put back in the business and pay myself too in the process.
What to do: Comb through your expenses periodically and assess whether they are necessary.
