What is Overworking Anyway?

I have a confession. I’m a human being with a human brain.

And that means that even though I’m a coach, sometimes I believe my own BS without scrutinising it.

How it’s shown up for me lately is in this story I’ve been telling myself about how I’m working too much. I started noticing how I was talking and feeling about my work, and with the help of some awesome coaching and self-coaching, I discovered a new, untested story.

I have been telling myself that I’m working too much lately, and I’ve been feeling guilty and ashamed because that’s what I coach my clients on. But when I dug a little deeper, I discovered that I wasn’t working too much based on how I defined it, and that’s the key, how we choose to define work and overworking.

It didn’t feel like work to me because I was doing something I loved and felt passionate about. I was also showing up in other areas of my life the way I like with family and friends and my health goals, which felt aligned with my values. So where did the problem come from?

I started listening to other people’s definitions. At my age, I should be doing less, not more – since when? I need to be mindful of my health and not create unnecessary stress – ironically, I created stress for myself by stressing about becoming stressed. I am working more hours now than 3 years ago – so what?

The people who offered these opinions had my best interests in their hearts, and I love them for it. However, they were just their thoughts based on their beliefs, and I always get to decide whether they are aligned with my beliefs.

I decided when I started my business that I would know when I’m doing “too much” because it will start adversely impacting my life. And it’s not. What is impacting my life is my thinking about it.

So, I want you to start thinking about how you define work in your life and maybe overworking if that’s a problem for you. Is it based on hours? And why? Where does your definition come from? You, your family, your colleagues and friends or maybe societal beliefs.

What do you think about these beliefs? Are they helping you? Do you want to hold on to them in the future, and if not, why?

Sometimes through this exploration, you may find that you are overworking and that's okay.  Now you know and can decide what you want to change.

If you want help creating your own definition of work and overworking, book your free Time Design session with me by clicking on the clock! Now I’ve cleared out the unnecessary drama about my “overworking”, I’m back to enjoying what I love to do, and everything feels easier!