I am a subject matter expert at a research institution. I love my job and the people I work with but have recently realized that I put an unnecessary amount of pressure on myself to perform well in my job. This has caused me to develop a lot of anxiety and is starting to impact my sleep and overall health. I imagine there are many other people who feel the same way at times.
My question to the group is:
How do you change your mentality around work and stop putting unnecessary pressure on yourself about your work and/or work products?
I sometimes put false beliefs into my head about what will happen if I do not do great work because of how important the work I do is for population health and safety. I’m sure there are many of us that sometimes feel this way. What can one do to develop a healthier outlook on work?
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I remind myself that even if I happen to like my work and my co-workers, I’m still a replaceable cog in a machine that doesn’t know or care about me, and I’m still an employee in a wage economy that pays me to fulfill a job description for a certain number of hours a week. Nowhere in that job description is my soul, my family time, my privacy, or anything else employers often feel entitled to these days.
I don’t give free rides — with my time, with my attention, my emotional investment, anything.