Boundaries and energy at work

This week at work has left me in a state of complete exhaustion and I am asking myself why. If I could describe it using the spoons analogy, I am in minus spoons right now. I could feel myself being close to running out of spoons early in the week, but things are so demanding of me at work that I ignored the signs that I need to slow down. Eventually I was running on empty by Thursday but I couldn’t find the belief that it would be okay for me to stop and go home even when I was crashing and couldn’t really communicate with others- not a good state to be in at work. It felt like dorsal vagal, like I was shutting down. My body was shouting at me to go to bed, with overwhelming headache, brain fog and feeling muddled and disassociation too, but I didn’t go home. And then I went in on Friday and didn’t leave early like my boss said I could. My thought was that I have so much to do that getting some of it done would make me feel better than going home and worrying. Now Saturday and Sunday have both been rock bottom energy days and I’m supposed to be in the Spring of my cycle. My bad day protocols have been helpful and I have been kind and caring to myself in this fragile state. But what I want coaching on is the mindset that put me here and how to figure out my boundaries so I stop showing up at work at any cost.

C: Entering a collapsed state , whilst at work
T: If I go home there is no one else who can do my job, which will create stress for others
F: Anxious
A: Hustle/white knuckle it through the day
A: Ignore my body
A: Focus on getting the important things done
A: Visibly don’t feel myself, attracting worried attention from my boss
A: Struggle to see things that I could ask for help with or pass on
R: I don’t go home

 

Answer:

One of my FAVORITE questions to ask when I see people (myself included) having regular human thoughts is, “Is that true?” When you think a thought like, “If I go home there is no one else who can do my jobs, which will create stress for others,” what do you think would happen if you were able to ask yourself, “Is that true?” before you dove headfirst into default feelings and actions? What does the answer to this question allow for you to think, feel or do differently? Why? Come back to us when you’re ready for more coaching, and we are here rooting for you. We hope that you can carve out the time you need to rest and recover.