In the upcoming time, it will be important for you to make sure you are both devoted to your work as well as your well-being. It is so easy to fall into the trap of working long hours, as there is always more you can do, or you feel selfish towards your colleagues, or other people. But do realize that perpetually working too many hours eventually starts taking a toll on multiple life areas.
To counteract this tendency to work overtime, or to work until late in the evening, it is important that you learn to set specific goals for yourself that are not given to you by the external world, and that you pet yourself on the back every now and then even if there is no external approval. Remind yourself of the deadlines you managed to reach, how you were an essential contribution to a project's success,...
Simply staying late out of obligation or out of anxiety for future job security, even if this is in a freelance career or in your own business, will eventually lead to diminished productivity. It is also very important that you learn to compartmentalize work from your personal life, these two should stay seperated or wonderfully integrated with eachother. Either way, make sure you work on creating a good work-life balance.
Take some time to actually consider which responsibilities actually lead to long-term value for the company you work for, or for the eventual income you will have at the end of the month. If you never learn to say no, you will feel like you are permanently behind things. So maybe you can reclarify for yourself what actually is worth your time and energy and what just fills up too much space in your agenda but doesn't lead to much in terms of end result. Even if this an end result for the company you work for.
If you are noticing that your schedule is taken up by so called urgent tasks that just waste valuable time on the job and don't lead to income for the company, you may want to talk to your superiors about it. This way your schedule can open to what matters most both professionally and personally. It is very likely that you don't have to work this many hours.
Allow leaving your work on time to become an achievement in and of itself for you. This is not a selfish choice that should take you off-track, but rather it should be a realignment towards better focus that will recharge your motivation levels. You can be just as committed to your work as ever, but with boundaries that actually assess if you are actually doing purposeful work and there is actual progress being made.
Your mind, body, and your loved ones will thank you for it!
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