"Setting boundaries is difficult when you are reluctant to engage in conflict. Instead of advocating for yourself, you feel more comfortable carrying the majority of the responsibilities at home or at work to keep the peace. The problem with this approach is that other people become accustomed to you carrying the workload and are taken aback when you ask for a fairer redistribution of responsibilities."
"Much has been written about the importance of setting healthy boundaries for one's emotional well-being. Boundary setting is an essential skill for protecting yourself from burnout and maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Saying no to unwanted requests and asking for help when feeling overwhelmed are effective ways to advocate for yourself. Though simple in theory, setting boundaries is hard due to a number of underlying emotional barriers."
Boundary setting protects against burnout and supports a healthy work-life balance. Saying no to unwanted requests and asking for help when overwhelmed are effective self-advocacy strategies. Emotional barriers make boundary setting difficult; seven common barriers include conflict avoidance, people-pleasing, and assuming responsibility for others' happiness. Conflict avoidance leads to carrying disproportionate responsibilities until others expect it. Healthy conflict, practiced with active listening, "I" statements, and validation, can deepen understanding and redistribute responsibilities fairly. Challenging people-pleasing patterns and reframing asking for help as strength support sustainable boundaries and reduce emotional exhaustion.
Read at Psychology Today
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]