How I Use Boundaries to Prevent Burnout and Grow my Career

I experienced background hum of anxiety when I had Slack on my phone.

Slack channels and DMs seduced me to check my phone constantly to make sure I wasn't missing anything important.

I wasn't actually missing anything, but I couldn't convince myself otherwise.

This habit plus our fast paced careers, increased responsibilities, and 24/7 internet connect lead people to burnout.

But I've never experienced burnout, and you shouldn't either.

How do we avoid it and continue to grow our careers?

Boundaries.

Here are the boundaries I use to stay sane at work and have time for the rest of my life.

No Slack on my phone

This is the biggest unlock.

I used to think I needed Slack on my phone to reply to urgent messages.

Who else would hop on in case of a work emergency? Me. I would show my boss I was dedicated to the team and company. I was the person they should call on when shit hit the fan.

The irony is that nothing ever hit the fan.

Instead, I constantly checked my DMs, whether or not there were new inquires. I responded to new messages thinking this would build my reputation (it didn't).

All it did was build my anxiety.

One day I took Slack off my phone and something amazing happened.

Nothing.

I didn't miss out on important messages. I didn't miss work emergencies. I didn't harm my reputation. I didn't hurt my chances of getting a promotion.

But I did get something critically important.

Peace of mind.

Call/text for work emergencies

But if I don't have Slack on my phone, how will I help with work emergencies?

Easy.

Let people know to call or text you and give them your phone number.

Won't you constantly get texts about work? No.

People think twice about texting someone about work. They have no problem sending Slack messages at 8pm, but they won't text you.

In the last 4 years I've done this, I've NEVER gotten a call or text about a work emergency.

You'll learn that 99.9999% of things can wait until you sign on tomorrow.

Meaningful hobbies or pursuits

You will get pulled towards burnout if you have nothing else going on in your life.

Without meaningful hobbies, interests, or pursuits, you have nothing left to do but work more or binge Netflix.

When I dedicate myself to non-work related pursuits, I naturally want to work less.

Every hour I spend working is an hour I can't spend on other things that are important to me.

Here are my hobbies and pursuits:

• Spending time with my wife and two daughters
• Building an online career coaching business (email anthony@anthonysoltero.com if you're interested)
• Strength training with calisthenics
• Learning Spanish
• Reading books

In many ways, these hobbies are more important than my job.

Yes, I need a job and career to make a living and support my family. But I don't need to burn myself out to do it.

Instead of trying to run away from work, I'm running towards my hobbies and pursuits.

This keeps me balanced.

It keeps burnout a foreign concept.

It keeps me happy.