I was working with creative media students, so we focused on showcasing the breadth of different opportunities and potential career paths that exist in industries like animation, music, film, design, and games development.

One of the professionals I bought in to do a talk was primarily a graphic designer, but she handed out a piece of advice that was incredibly relevant. Not only for my students, entering an often shakey field of work built on the gig economy, but for anyone trying to grow within the modern world of careers.

She posed her advice as a question:

When it comes to your career, are you going to be a pancake or a tree?

My students laughed. A pancake? A tree? What the hell was this about? The designers and animators in the room were quick to quip that they wanted to be neither; they wanted to be creatives.

Our guest speaker took it all in her stride and went on to explain the difference between the two – and it was a real lightbulb moment for me in how we can think about our careers, skills, and abilities.

The Pancake Careerist

The more technical term for this might be a specialist. These are people who pick a niche within their chosen field and then cover it with ever-increasing expertise.

They spread themselves out evenly — like a pancake — over their chosen niche, and that’s where they stay, growing as a professional in one, maybe two, core areas.

The Tree Careerist

You might also refer to this as a generalist, but I felt it was a bit more specific.

A tree is someone who has one core pillar — a trunk — of skills and expertise. Feeding off from this pillar are a few branches that are linked to their core expertise but utilize their skills in different ways.

This creates varying income streams for the individual and means they can market themselves across different industries when they need to.

Growing as a tree

After listening to that talk, I realized I had definitely been a pancake for most of my professional career. I focused on building my experience and knowledge only within the area of careers education, and I only sought roles that aligned with this.

The truth? I was getting fidgety. I’ve written about this a number of times, about how I loved my job and industry, but I didn’t always feel like it loved me back. I struggled to feel fulfilled professionally in the ways I needed more as I grew older.

At the time, I was already doing some writing on the side and thinking about different ways I could grow as a professional, but I always got stuck back into the things that were more closely related to my professional role within careers education.

That talk actually became the catalyst that helped to begin exploring and growing more branches on the tree I’d made for myself.

I’ve never looked back.

The great thing about growing a career tree is that you get to decide what works for you. You can begin to develop a branch, change your mind, decide it’s not right for you, and change direction. And it doesn’t matter because you’ve got your core trunk of skills that you can keep relying on and coming back to, no matter what.

Turning my career pancake into a career tree helped me realize that spending more time on the other things I was becoming increasingly interested in as a professional didn’t remove all the hard work I’d already done. It would always be there, and I could always come back to it whenever I needed to.

So, are you a pancake or a tree?

It’s important to note that neither one nor the other is better or worse, but it’s a great question to reflect on.

Knowing how you want to grow as a professional can help you set the pace for your immediate and future career path, as well as determine the types of goals, aims, and values you should be setting for yourself.

Having a pancake career can be beneficial, as you’ll always know what you’re doing and where you’re heading. I find that professional fields — like medicine or law — are suited to pancake-style careers. There are set structures for the qualifications, accreditations, and steps forward that you can follow and keep growing as a professional.

Tree careers may be more suited to those pursuing freelance or gig economy-type roles, where you may need to have a few extra branches out in the foray to keep growing. For now, a tree career is suiting me well as I continue to explore the things I’m interested in and how I can make them work for me as a professional.

Each has its pros and cons and deciding which pathway will work better for you as you grow your career can help assist with a range of career planning and how you approach professional development overall.

So, ask yourself, are you a pancake or a tree? And, more importantly, which one would you like to be?

Hm. Now I’m definitely craving pancakes.

If the last eighteen months have taught us anything, things can happen and change in a flash, so you better hold on for the ride. But while the pandemic is the backdrop to my story, there is so much more to it.

Aside from all the devastation the whole world endured the last year and a half, it welcomed opportunities too.

Maybe getting laid off meant they poured all their time into their art and took it full time or that working from home gave them the flexibility to start a side hustle. I was in the latter group.

Before the pandemic, I commuted to the office every day. Without that commute (and the social life during those first several months), I had more time on my hands than I ever did before. I’d done a few freelance projects here and there until that point, but it was not something I took seriously or ever thought I could turn into a full-time business.

With my newfound “free time,” I decided to take on some more projects on top of my corporate work to see if I could build up enough work to have a viable business.

Pretty soon, I realized what I felt had been missing all this time. During my time at Nike, I told athletes’ stories and helped launch new products through digital copy to reach millions of people. It was an unbelievable experience.

But I started to ask myself, “what’s the impact I’m trying to make here?” and “who am I trying to help?” I realized that I wanted to work with and help brands making the world a better place across industries.

Before I knew it, I was waking up early to work on projects before I had to clock in, sending proposals on my lunch break, and my evenings and my weekends quickly filled up to the brim with client work. After several (probably a few too many months) of juggling the two, I decided to make the jump to full-time entrepreneurship.

Now in the online space, there is a lot of pressure to “ditch your 9-5” but not a lot of transparency around it. It’s important to note what equipped me to make that jump, even if it was a little scary. 

First off, I’ve been working in this industry for over a decade. Because of that, I had a great deal of experience and a significant portfolio behind me.

I also juggled my 9-5 and my copywriting business for several months before I quit, which gave me a safety net to fall back on.

I also have a super supportive husband, friends, and family who made it all feel possible and cheered me on along the peaks and troughs.

Because of all of that, my one-woman show grew to a team of five, and I’ve surpassed my corporate salary. Although it’s only been just under a year since taking the studio full-time, I’ve learned a great deal.

If you’re considering leaving your 9-5 to go all-in in your business, here are some tips that helped me along the way, as well as some important aspects I wish I knew when I started.

Outsource before you need to

While it might seem counterintuitive, the truth is that it takes time to get people implemented into your business. By the time you’re drowning in work and need help (like yesterday), it’s going to be several weeks, if not months, until you can find the right person and get them up to speed to your standard of work. 

Systems will save you

It doesn’t have to be overly complicated but having clear systems in place is a total game-changer. Whether that’s your onboarding and offboarding process for clients or your review process for your team, your sanity will thank you. 

Say “no” 

Sounds counterintuitive, right? The truth is that saying no is one of the most valuable things you can do as a business owner. It’s scary when you no longer have that steady paycheck but if you can, saying no to clients that aren’t the right fit or opportunities you aren’t excited about frees up your time and energy to focus on the right things. Plus, you’ll do a better job when it’s the right fit, too!

Prepare before you jump

There’s a lot of privilege in the statement “Just quit your job!” It might not be as buzzy or glamorous, but preparing before you jump all in and leave your 9-5 can ease a lot of stress. There are always unknowns in entrepreneurship, but if you know you’ll be able to pay rent and all of your expenses for a few months (even if things get sticky!), I promise you’ll be able to be more focused on growing your business. 

Lean on your support system

You will have great days, and you will have tough days and a lot in between. Through all of it, it helps to have people you can count on to cheer you on, be a shoulder to lean on or be a sounding board. For me, that’s my husband, team, mentors and coaches, family, and friends, many of which happen to be on this entrepreneurial journey, too. 

There is no “right way” to become an entrepreneur. You don’t have to quit your job. You don’t have to hire a team. You don’t have to have a monetary goal. You don’t have to do things like other people. Whatever feels right to you is the way you should run your business. 

Pre-pandemic career development and job searching looked very different. I had blinders on to thinking outside my designated career lane – especially as an entrepreneur.  

Most of us stayed on one consistent path, didn’t ask questions, and considered money over happiness.   

And now, as the dust begins to settle from an exhausting pandemic, we are waking up. We are analyzing our careers with a different lens. We are looking deeper behind the curtain of life to seek more meaning and growth – personally and professionally.

As a leading corporate recruiter and career coach, I noticed two drastic changes in the last year: 

People want more meaning in their careers. And on the contrary, there is an increase in professionals feeling stuck on figuring out how to create the actual change they are seeking. 

To break the cycle of feeling stuck and motionless in your career, you have to be willing to implement small habits instead of conquering one significant transformation in one leap. 

Here are seven career habits that I have used to help hundreds of clients since the pandemic hit in 2020 – habits that, when combined, can create transformative growth not only in your career but for personal development as well.

Let’s get started!

Take more self-assessments 

Learning about yourself is one of the most intuitive and important pieces of the career growth puzzle. And you might think, “Why would I need to take an assessment to tell me more about myself when I am with myself 24/7?” But I challenge you to think differently. Self-assessments were created to help you understand your strengths and motivators and learn what your blind spots and opportunities might be.

Try any of these self-assessments: Myers Briggs, DISC, Character Strengths Assessment, Values Assessment, or Strong Interest Assessment. You can Google and find all of them for free!

Mindset shift from fixed to abundance 

A fixed mindset means that you are fixed and narrowly focused on one area and therefore miss out on other opportunities right in front of you. For instance, you might only be fixed on a promotion or focused on getting hired at only one company during your career.

But when you start to shift to the mindset of abundance, a seismic shift can happen. Doors you were not looking to open will start to appear, and you might even turn the handle to a door you never even imagined. Abundance is about a mindset of openness to not only create but also to notice new opportunities.

Network when you do not need to network

Networking is a life-long habit, not just meant for when you need something from your friend in college because they just got a job at Google. Networking is a habit fueled by curiosity, patience, and authenticity. 

Make time, at least 1-2 hours a week, to reconnect and grow your network. We have an immense amount of social platforms in the palm of our hand – Slack, LinkedIn, Facebook Groups, and Instagram, to name a few. Start building your community now, and the seeds of networking will naturally grow your career for years to come.

Create a yearly passion project

You do not have to leave your job (just yet) to create career growth. Implement at least one passion project yearly. This could include public speaking, volunteering, philanthropy, or making your own product.

At my corporate job, I pitched a podcast for a company of 90,000 employees worldwide and 11,000 in the US. Guess what? It worked. Bring your passion to life, and I guarantee you will see so much growth quickly. 

Create a self-brand vision board 

We often create vision boards for our future – pictures of distant cities, motivational sayings, or photos of dream homes. But I want you to create a vision board for your PRESENT self. What are your values, mission in your career, best strengths, and even the colors and vibe you represent? This exercise can be super helpful for pitching yourself for interviews, too!

Calculate a risk

Growth is non-existent when you’re at a standstill. A small risk might be taking time off to acquire a new skill to build your capabilities for the future. A risk could be emailing a leader asking for a coffee chat. A risk could be pitching an idea or new role to your manager. Growth comes from movement – so take some small jumps!

One hour to inspire

Whether your career is in finance, marketing, software development, or engineering, you need time and space to create, imagine and learn. We cannot do 100% actions 100% of the time. Just like when you are training for a marathon, you need days off too.

The same goes for your career. You need time to create, read, attend workshops, listen to leaders speak, be coached, be inspired. I see my clients grow immensely by dedicating one hour a week. Within one year, you could spend approximately 52 hours cultivating inspiration for your career or business – this small habit can create a huge transformation!

Remember, career growth starts within you. Your mindset, curiosity, ambition, and dedication can drastically shift your career path and cultivate long-term growth. 

Make sure to try at least two of these habits – whichever speaks to you most – and dedicate at least 3-6 months to see the change! If you hit obstacles along the way, keep going! Resilience is key to transformative, long-term growth.

Cheers!

My beliefs became my story.

Coming from a country like India, which has a rich history of slavery and colonization, mine was “Work Hard”. The harder I work, the bigger the prize would be there for me waiting in the end. 

In retrospect, I recognize that my dad believed it so much because he got it from his dad. I saw him actually building a pretty fine life with all his hard work and sacrifices. I saw him sacrificing his sleep, health, hobbies, family time and so much more in exchange for this beautiful life I enjoyed growing up. And off I went to the grind with this belief system attracting evidence after evidence which justified my belief system again and again. 

So, of course, my mind gladly accepted the story. Little did I know that one day, I would grow up to dedicate myself to learning all about how my beliefs create my reality and my mind would blow away! 

Psychology at play

Indians are known to be extremely hard-working, so much so that the entire West hires laborers and employees from India and China. But that’s not the only reason, right? The reason they do that is because of extremely cheaper rates.

If hard work makes you super-rich, why does a laborer who sweats 10x more than you a day and works probably two shifts a day earn not even a quarter of what you earn?

This is no guilt trip. This is psychology in plain sight. This explains how our belief systems can go on to enslave us and our entire generations to come.

Some of you might be familiar with the new age mindset and manifestation, but oh, let me tell you, it is so much more than magical journals and woo-woo TikTok videos! Yes, there’s real psychology and neural science at play when we talk about “our beliefs creating our reality.” 

Where it all starts

When you were a child, precisely between the age of 0-7, you were a sponge. You looked around and you absorbed every single thing you heard, saw, smelled, felt, tasted. Your senses were super-active and sensitive creating stories.

These stories created the foundation of your beliefs. Now, these belief systems were ingrained and automated fully. This means they’d simply play on loop and just repeat the pattern over and over again instead of wasting energy to create new ones again and again.

If the stories you absorbed were healthy, you created healthy belief systems. If they weren’t, they resulted in some toxic, unhealthy belief systems. Just one of the many examples – you slog off and sacrifice yourself to be successful! 

The problem

Because of our wounded inner child, we can grow up to really doubt ourselves, our abilities, and our talents.

We end up questioning our every move because we don’t know how to trust ourselves. We grow up believing that we are not enough and that we have to continuously prove our worth – which is really a very toxic pattern normalized in our modern societies. 

With our inner child being wounded, we are always afraid to express ourselves fully. Naturally, our creativity is blocked. More so, so many of us are supremely talented but so shy and uncomfortable around sharing our talents, simply because we are living with that scared inner child who was perhaps told once that he or she is not good enough.

This not only blocks our action space where we could share our energy freely but also blocks any opportunity which might want to come our way because we repel it. We’re subconsciously whispering, “not me!”

And so, instead of diving deep into our subconscious, we are stuck in our conscious minds pushing more, pushing harder because we think perhaps if we push more, it will work out.

But in full honesty, is it?

What’s happening

It’s like saying “nothing works out for me” when subconsciously you are sending out a vibration saying “nothing should work out for me because I am not worthy.” We all have different stories we have picked up growing up and there is a part of us still stuck in that timeline, reacting out of hurt and woundedness. 

I want to let you know that it’s not really okay to feel overwhelmed or anxious or nervous or doubt yourself and burn away all your efforts in a second with self-criticism. It might be common, which is why it is normalized, but it is not really okay.

We are worthy of feeling joy and excitement when we create or express or share in whichever environment that may be. This is what normal should look like. 

These feelings of overwhelm, anxiety, self-doubt are simply symptoms of that fear which is stuck in your system and subconscious mind from your childhood. 

Sometimes the story goes: it’s too good to be true to follow what you love to do – and so no matter what you do, every time you reach toward following your passions, that story pops up its head and takes you down on a self-sabotaging road.

Another way your inner child’s wounds can hold you back and block you is when you want to do something out of your comfort zone – perhaps start a business, or ask for a raise, or even expect a promotion.

Either that wounded inner child unworthiness will not let you take any action (you know those spiral thoughts and stories- what’s even the point? It never works out! Wait one more year! Look at other candidates! Why me? Amongst so many others!) or even if you do take an action, your vibration, aka vibe, will speak of your unworthiness and repel those opportunities. 

People see us how we see ourselves. 

Mmm, I want you to get into this space of – why not me?

At any given point, we are enough. 

We are worthy.

And it’s not enough to just say that to yourself – I wish it was. But until your mind truly believes it, it will keep playing out the patterns in a loop.

Healing our inner child

There is a continuous future looping with these fears. What is your mind protecting you from? Is there a real danger if you ask for a raise or messed up a presentation? Most likely not. But because there is an unhealed past story, your mind keeps playing a broken record of that wounded belief system again and again. 

“If you break the rules, you will be punished.”

“If you do what you love, you will be scolded”

These are just a few of the examples but really powerful stories that will get your mind to prioritize safety above everything and hold you back. 

Your mind wants to keep you safe, not happy. 

As conscious and aware spiritual beings, we understand that our wound was not our fault but our healing is definitely our responsibility. 

And so you start your healing journey through: 

Awareness,

Empathy,

Compassion, 

Forgiveness, 

Acceptance,

Re-parenting and 

Finally giving yourself the permission slips your inner child is still waiting on. 

I love affirmations like: I give myself permission to play. I give myself permission to relax. I give myself permission to believe in myself. You can write your own affirmations, or pick these up and write them down on sticky notes or in your journal as a humble reminder and a way to reprogram your mind. 

The magic

When you heal that particular story or belief by taking on that inner child healing journey, you unblock an aspect of you that is primarily responsible for fun, play, creation, receiving and so much more that we truly desire. 

A woman or a man with a healed inner child is confident because she has embraced all aspects of herself. There is no shame hiding anywhere, anymore. The fragments of you have been reclaimed. Your power is restored. Inner child healing heals your self-esteem to the core. 

Once a woman heals her inner child, she is unstoppable! Her energy is truly magnetic because she has tapped into an aspect of herself she held so much shame or guilt against. Her energy is vibrant and she’s ready to express herself unapologetically. She owns her place on this planet and will no more doubt if she is worthy to take space or not. She knows who she is, who she always was.

The fun part is how not just inner child healing propels you to take bold, vibrant actions unlike ever before, but also how you start magnetizing the right opportunities and the people. If you’ve ever heard slightly about manifestation being magic, know that this is the magic!

Because you have deeply gone down that space, healed it, you energetically speak your worth. The right people now start seeing you and your great work, simply because you have given yourself the permission to be seen. You aren’t chasing illusions like perfectionism before you can allow yourself to receive that abundance and success you have always been worthy of.

This is what propels quantum leaps. Launching that right program at the right time, raising your prices finally, your one Instagram post goes viral, your LinkedIn catches the eye of your dream employer, someone recommending your name – the possibilities are endless.

So you’ve polished your resume and locked in the interview. It’s now time to prepare for the big show where one way or another, interviewers will say: “Tell me about your strengths.”

Are you ready to crush the strengths question with confidence?

After interviewing hundreds of emerging leaders throughout my career, I cannot tell you how often candidates stumble on the strengths question.

If you applied with a massive applicant pool and made it this far, then yes, I know you are likely a good communicator and a “people-person.” Show me those qualities with how you conduct yourself over the course of the interview, but tell me something I cannot see in action right now.

So, I want you to steer clear of traditional interviewee-jargon and use this question to tell your potential employer something meaningful about why your style of leadership is different from anyone else.

How do you tactically show up on a team project? What can I expect from the way you approach your role here at Company X? 

Here is the quickest way to planning out a thoughtfully curated response to the stereotypical strengths question:

Step 1: Know yourself as a leader by knowing your strengths

You have an internal compass that guides your decision-making and behaviors — it’s how you are able to lead yourself at work, at home, and in your purchasing decisions at Trader Joe’s. These responses to external stimuli come so naturally, we often don’t realize we are doing them.

Knowing your strengths well allows you to communicate the meaning behind your approach to work/life when you likely know it inside and out based on instinct.

A strength is anything you are talented at — but curating strengths language means getting specific about how you call on those instincts to lead in everyday moments. 

It’s one thing to say you are strategic because you feel it in your gut when solving problems at work, but how do you define that to an interviewer in a clear and concise way that gives them insight into your leadership style?

I recommend purchasing the Top 5 from CliftonStrengths by Gallup for $20— you will complete a quick assessment and receive your personalized feedback report with your top 5 strengths/themes (out of a well-researched list of 34) and have a clear springboard for how you bring these into your interview. Or you can self-identify with additional resources.

Read through the definitions of those strengths, memorize them, edit them to a definition that you feel is authentic to describe the way you work.

Step 2: Operationalize those strengths

In short, prove it. 

Once you know your top strengths and have the language to describe them, you need to navigate HOW you actually utilize them in your life and work.

Look at each strength and decide how you have seen that play out in your role in the past.

Do you have a specific story that showcases the way you utilized that strength to complete a task or goal that was directly tied to your job?

Come up with two short stories or examples for each of your top 5 strengths. Write them down, practice those stories, and know which strengths are best to call on for the specific job you want.

Is it a client-facing role? Then get ready to lean into your strengths that fall into the relationship-building category.

If you are wanting to highlight effectiveness in problem-solving or analytics, then highlight a strength in the area of strategic thinking. 

Research shows that when we use our strengths to complete a task or challenge, we experience greater feelings of accomplishment, success, and even find “flow”  in our role. So tee it up and let them know you’re ready to put those specific strengths to work for the mutual benefit of you and the organization.

Step 3: Everyone loves a comeback story

How have your strengths helped you out of a difficult situation?

Characteristic organizations are searching for in the interview is your ability to show up as a critical thinker in the workplace.

Will you respond to a situation in alignment with organizational values AND be motivated to find the answers and connect the dots when a problem arises? Show them you can be innovative with your knowledge and resources.

Look through your past stories that highlight moments where you had to tangibly learn something new in order to overcome an obstacle in the workplace. What did you learn moving forward from that experience and how does that growth help you solve future challenges that may arise?

We all love a good comeback story, so show them how your resilience and tenacity allowed you to rise to the challenge and conquer.

Remember, the job interview is a two-way street and it should be a fit for both the employer and the employee. Have your examples hot and ready for the interview so you can show your potential colleague or coworker that you not only bring certain strengths to the table as a competent leader but also can connect those strengths to action from day one.

Read next: How To Save Money While Job Hunting

Our technology is designed to keep us scrolling, tapping and engaging – but we have goals we want to achieve, and that requires us to find a way to steer away from the distractions and find some focus.

I’ve been personally working through this, so I crafted a checklist for myself with the seven action steps to ‘set the mood’ for the workday – and wanted to share the list with you because I’ve found these steps to be a productivity gamechanger.

When I start my workday with these simple action steps, I am so much more likely to stay productive and in a focused flow zone.

1. Select three main tasks for the workday

I’ve come to realize that when I had too much on my plate, I’d go into the day feeling overwhelmed and unclear on where to start. When I focus on making sure I definitely check off three main tasks, I am far more focused. It feels both slightly challenging (depending on the tasks) and also achievable – so I feel inspired to tackle them.

If at the end of the day, these are the only three tasks checked off my list, I’ll still feel satisfied.

This also helps me to get clear on my priorities about what actually needs to get done – and making room to make it happen.

2. Go on ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode while working

Notifications are always trying to beg for our attention, so when I’m doing computer work – I’m far better off if I hit ‘Do Not Disturb’ so that I don’t get incoming messages, phone calls popping up. 

You can set this up for an everyday automated schedule during your work hours, if you’re using a Mac, by going to System Preferences > Notifications > Do Not Disturb. 

See this post for more iPhone productivity habits.

3. Turn on light background music

I will kickstart my workday by putting on some light background tunes – or Binaural beats. It helps me to get into the zone – without getting distracted. My current favorite is my ‘fall chill vibes‘ playlist.

4. Light candle or diffuser

I feel like the act of lighting the candle or starting the essential oil diffuser is the signal for starting my focused workday. I love P.F. Candle Co. candles made with 100% soy wax. And my essential oil go-to is Aura Cacia’s “Mind Guide”. I also love rollerball essential oils for rubbing against my wrists as needed.

5. Make coffee in your favorite mug

I know, coffee (or insert your morning beverage of choice) is obvious and not one that really needs to be on a checklist, but it’s a big part of setting my work mood. Make yourself a cuppa your favorite coffee to kickstart your cozy, good vibe workday. My Nespresso has been the best investment for my productivity, as I’m saving money on coffees out and saving time by getting into my work zone before 9 am. 

6. Put phone out of view

It sounds ridiculous, but I am always tempted to check the ‘gram and emails anytime I’m waiting for a page to load or feel stuck with what I’m working on. And if I’m being super honest about it, that’s probably almost every 10 minutes. So, I’ve resorted to having to put my phone across the room. It’s so freeing, and it’s so much more fun to check your social media apps when there’s actually plenty of notifications to go through at one time.

7. Use only the tabs you need

This is one of the most essential actions that I need to consistently train myself to do. I feel like the tabs on my browser represent how my brain feels. More tabs = more mental chaos. As the day goes on, I typically find that I forget, and have to go through and shut down all the excess tabs. Every time I clear them out, I feel the difference in my ability to focus.

8. Create theme days

I like to batch my tasks and create a theme for the day. For example, I use Mondays to focus solely on Life Goals Collective, where I’m not doing any client work. And on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have my meetings and video days – so I know that I’ll spend more time on camera and want to spend more time getting ready on those days.

Being able to create a day to get ahead on certain tasks is helpful for staying focused, because you’re not hopping around from task to task all day long. If you can divide your tasks by the day, or even by morning vs afternoon, it’ll be easier to stay in the zone. You can also create space in your day where you do all the small tasks too – so that you don’t need to do them in the middle of your focused work time.

See this post for tech-free evening routine ideas.

How do you set the mood for your workday? Gimme all your tips over at Life Goals Collective Club!

I’m a therapist and a burnout coach, so I love these questions! I have helped clients through these conversations many times, and over time developed a step-by-step based on what has most consistently helped my clients get what they need out of these conversations.

If your burnout is causing you to take sick days, miss deadlines, or not get your work done, it’s time to talk to your boss about it. This can be an honest and really helpful conversation, and your first step toward healing from burnout. It’s a really big first step! Even if your boss isn’t as understanding as you would want, thinking through these steps will help you advocate for yourself, your mental health, and your career. 

Step 1: Ask yourself, what’s the goal of the conversation?

Think about the end goal. Are you hoping for your workload to change? Your schedule? Something to get taken off your plate? That’s what you want to tailor the conversation around. “I’m overwhelmed” is a start, but no boss will be able to know exactly what you need if that’s all you say. Don’t make her read your mind! 

Let’s say that I’m really burned out, and I know it got worse when I started a particular Project. It’s difficult and time-consuming, and it’s keeping me from doing other tasks. My goal for my conversation with my boss is to take the Project off my plate.

Step 2: Make it concrete – how is burnout affecting your work?

Give your boss evidence. What are your burnout symptoms?

Burnout is typically categorized by these three factors: exhaustion and overwhelm, a sense of ineffectiveness, and cynicism. 

You probably know if you’re exhausted and overwhelmed. No amount of sleep is enough, you can barely get out of bed, you’re not as social or active as you used to be. 

If you’re feeling more ineffective, that could look like doubting yourself, feeling discouraged, believing that your work is meaningless, and being less productive than usual. 

If you’re feeling cynical, you may be more irritable, more sarcastic, impatient, unable to deal with difficult people at work, and feeling like nothing is going to get better. 

Tell your boss these three research-based factors of burnout and how they’re affecting you. Think about both your mental and physical health. It’s okay to be honest and human about how you’re feeling. Then, explain how this is affecting your work. 

Again, give evidence! What tasks are more difficult? What is taking longer to get done? How has your performance changed? How has your attendance changed?

The reason it’s important to acknowledge how burnout has affected your work is because that’s where your boss can get invested. She likely wants you to perform your best, and therefore may be more motivated to help you address your burnout. 

So for me and The Project, I would tell my boss how I’m experiencing exhaustion, overwhelm, cynicism, and a sense of ineffectiveness in both my work life and personal life. Then I would show her how it’s affecting my work: I’m unable to get Task X, Y, and Z done because of my Project overwhelm. I’m taking three days to get back to clients when I usually call them back in 24 hours. I had to take two sick days last month for burnout. Give as many concrete examples as you can. 

Step 3: Ask for what you want

This is where you get to advocate for yourself! But just asking for stuff often doesn’t work. Here’s how to ask. 

• Bring data. 

If you want to take an extra training and want your employer to pay for it, show why it will help you do your job better. If you want a different shift, show why you should get that shift (seniority, performance numbers, etc.). 

Remember that my goal with my boss is to get The Project dropped. So I might show data like examples of how this Project isn’t in my skill set and was just assigned to me, and why a different department could do it better. I might track my time spent on each project for a couple weeks to show that 80% of my time is going to The Project when I have 10 other projects to work on. These kinds of examples will help you get a lot further with your boss. 

• Ask often. 

Don’t give up asking! Sometimes supervisors are just busy, and stuff falls through the cracks. Make it your responsibility to keep bringing it up. If your boss pushes it off and says, “let’s talk about it Monday,” send her a calendar invite for Monday morning and remind her on Friday afternoon. 

• Ask for data in return. 

Don’t take a “no” without a “why” for an answer. Your boss may legitimately not be able to grant your request, but you deserve to know why. Ask what the barriers are and see if there’s an alternate way around them. Ask about “next best” solutions. But don’t take a vague no.  

Step 4: Bring solutions to the table 

Don’t just complain; offer solutions! If I were to go into my boss’s office and say that I just wanted to drop my Thursday shift, she’d say no. Someone has to cover Thursday. But if I were to go in and say that I want to drop Thursday, pick up Friday, and have someone who has agreed to switch with me, my boss is much more likely to say yes. Why? Because I already have a solution. My boss no longer has to do the legwork. 

Always brainstorm solutions for the thing you’re asking for. If it’s getting extra training, think about where the educational money could come from and who will cover your responsibilities while you’re at the training. Trying to switch a shift? Ask around to see who might switch with you before talking to your boss. 

If I want my boss to take The Project off my plate, I might want to talk to my team and see if The Project fits into one of their skill sets better, and offer to trade something with them. I might show that The Project can be done at a later time after Tasks X and Y are completed, because those deadlines are first. 

Whatever it is, be willing to contribute to a solution. 

Step 5: Thank your boss and follow up 

Thank your boss for taking the time to meet with you, and follow up a week or so later. Remember to stay focused on the goal you identified in Step 1, and the solutions you’ve offered in Step 4. 

If you know that it’s time to talk to your boss about burnout, I hope these steps help you get through that conversation as smoothly as possible, and help you walk away with some practical solutions that can make your work life a little easier. 

The Holy Grail of most working professionals’ annual earning aspirations. The pinnacle of achievement. A sum that we equate with wealth, success, and even happiness. Something most Americans desire but only 9% of us will ever achieve. An amount a person may spend her entire career working toward… Except for me.

With my $10k signing bonus, my $70k annual salary, and my $55k end-of-year bonus, I earned a total of $135,000 my first year out of college.

I was 23-years-old.

A PSA on the value of money

Now, before you start swearing at me under your breath or rolling your eyes and assuming this is just another “money doesn’t buy happiness” piece, just breathe. The truth about money, as with most things in life, is that its value is relative. If you’re making $30k per year and living comfortably, then a higher salary is a nice-to-have. If you’re making $30k per year and living below the poverty line, then a higher salary is a necessity.

The greatest truth of all? There is almost no way to convince a person who has never made six-figures that more money is not the sustainable route to liking your job, feeling less stressed, or enjoying your life. This is especially true if you don’t already like your job, feel good, and enjoy life currently. That’s why I’m not even going to try.

I’m also not going to sit here and tell you that money is evil and loving your job will make up for financial instability. In fact, it is my humble opinion that having money is better than being broke. The problem with money is not that we think we need it when we don’t. The problem is that we heavily and misguided outweigh the impact that more money will have on our overall happiness and wellbeing.

The startling reality is that other factors that are inherently less flashy than dollar signs are the true indicators and predictors of long-term, sustainable success and stability. Does a raise feel good? Yes! But is a raise going to feel as good as you believe? And will this feeling last as long as you expect? Unfortunately, no.

But while I had to learn these lessons firsthand, it’s my hope that by sharing my experiences you can dodge these bullets altogether. Remember, money is not the enemy. It’s just not exactly what it’s cracked up to be.

My early career journey 

In the fall of 2012, I was a shell of myself. Two and a half years in sales on a Wall Street trading floor had taken its toll. Stressful days gave way to wine-soaked happy hours. Anxiety-ridden evenings at the beck and call of a Blackberry (remember those?) led to insomnia or my personal favorite secret weapon, self-medicating with NyQuil.

I had many frustrations at this early point in my career, but two of them stood well above the others:

1. I had ZERO idea what I really wanted to do with my career and,
2. I felt completely and irrevocably STUCK in my soul-sucking job.

Thus, my unhealthy and ineffective cycle continued. If I carved out even an hour to think about my ideal career, I always ended that time more anxious and confused than when I started. After all, you can’t simply force clarity on yourself. Attempting to do so is the mental equivalent of a cardiothoracic surgeon performing her own open-heart procedure—messy, lacking in perspective, and ultimately, disastrous.

My professional epiphany

One of my favorite concepts in psychology is cognitive dissonance. It’s the idea that our thoughts and beliefs cannot exist in opposition to our behaviors and actions without causing distress. In layman’s terms: we’re not good at being divided. You can’t stay in a job you tolerate (much less hate!) for very long without either losing your mind or accepting your reality as an inescapable truth.

One day I was walking on the 8th floor balcony with one of my colleagues. I noticed that several men were working repairing the bridge next to the building. Before I could even finish drawing his attention in that direction, he started gushing to me about how he had studied engineering in college and loved construction. Once he had wrapped up his bridge soliloquy, he confided in me that the only reason he was working in finance is because that’s “what successful people do” and he thought it was the best way to make money.

I don’t think many of us realize that these are the real stakes of our career decisions. We put off finding purpose and fulfilling our potential for the next promotion or raise in salary. I mean, what’s five more years, right? Or three? Or two?

This is where cognitive dissonance becomes key. Change your behavior or change your belief. One has to give. Stay in the wrong place long enough, and you begin to accept your situation as fate. You may even forget about that purpose or passion that once fueled your beliefs.

My favorite lessons for career clarity seekers

The irony of pursuing success is that you have to experience unsustainable success to really know what’s going to make you happy long term. As someone who experienced one of our well-accepted societal definitions of career “success” — I can tell you, unequivocally, this one truth about your career:

No amount of success on paper will ever make an unsustainable career a better fit for you.

If you’re not already on the path of pursuing purposeful and meaningful work, you’re on the path to burnout, self-medication, anxiety, and stress. No change in salary, status, or any other shiny object is going to alleviate the fundamental fact that you were made for something else—something better for you, something more impactful, and ultimately, something more sustainable.

I didn’t experience a true career fit and the satisfaction (and salary!) that comes with it until I was 29 years old. While that felt really late to me, I know I’m one of the lucky ones. Every day in my career clarity program we see clients who are 30… 40… 50… even 60… who have never experienced work they love. But what they lack in clarity is something we can fix.

Something that’s harder to fix is disbelief.

So, what will you choose to believe? That you have to accept your fate and work in misery? Or that you can fight for and achieve clarity? That you can actually have work you love that pays what you’re worth or that the only route to “success” is one that will require you to make significant concessions in happiness and wellbeing?

I’ve lived on both branches of this decision tree. I know in my heart we all have a purpose in this world and I believe we can fulfill that purpose professionally. If you need to borrow my confidence, do it! That nagging feeling you’re made for more is there for a reason.

Ultimately, I quit my job on Wall Street armed only with the belief that I could find my true career clarity. What will you choose to believe?

No matter how much you love your morning routine, you can always make it better. Try incorporating one or all of the five tips into your practice, and watch your productivity soar.

1. Positivity meditation

What is the first thing you do when your alarm rouses you? If you grab your cell phone and automatically check emails and the news, you miss out on prime time for programming your brain for success in the day ahead. During the twilight zone between sleep and full wakefulness, your mind is like a sponge, ready to absorb suggestions.

If you want to improve your mood and gear yourself up to tackle anything, make your first act each day to tune into a brief positivity meditation. You can find these for free on YouTube, and many videos last as few as five minutes. When you program your brain to see the opportunity in any challenge, you develop the confidence you need to build your dreams.

2. A healthy breakfast

While some experts no longer consider breakfast the most important meal of the day, you can find yourself distracted by hunger well before lunch if you try to run on java alone. Even though you’re at home, you can still prepare healthy grab-and-go freezer meals, like breakfast burritos made with vegetables. If you have a bit more time, why not sit down with the family while you enjoy your avocado toast and orange juice?

3. A rev-me-up workout

If can’t get to a gym right now, that doesn’t mean you have to abandon your fitness goals. You can do plenty of workouts in the privacy of your home. Start your day with a few minutes of jumping rope, followed by some calisthenics and perhaps a yoga flow or two.

Regular exercise offers a host of health benefits and prevents many chronic diseases. Research even shows that regular exercise can help your mind and body recover from stressful or traumatic events. If you struggle to motivate yourself, you can find many popular workout apps, such as Nike Training Club, Aaptiv and Zwift, some of which offer exclusive deals.

4. A to-do list

Part of your end-of-day routine should be to compose a to-do list for the following day. When you sit down to work in the morning, review this list and prioritize the most challenging item on it first. Once you manage the most intensive task of the day, the rest of your work hours feel like strolling downhill.

Plus, to maximize your productivity, you need to tackle the things that weigh on your mind the most first. Until you do, they will haunt you with whispers from the corners of your brain, and you won’t be able to maintain complete focus on any other tasks.

5. A colleague check-in

When you work in an office, you exchange pleasantries with colleagues every morning. One of the most challenging aspects of remote work is loneliness and a sense of disconnection from your team. If your workplace uses apps such as Mango or Slack to maintain communication, make checking in one of the items on your to-do list. Even a brief, “Hi gang, how is everyone today?” can make you feel less alone.

Also, it’s a wise idea to check in with your manager periodically. Set a reminder on your calendar to touch base with your immediate supervisor. Ask questions like, “Is there anything you would like me to do differently or improve?” to demonstrate your commitment to career growth despite the changing environment.

Add these five items to your work-from-home routine today

Even if you feel at home with your current telecommuting routine, you can always make it better. Employ these five methods to supercharge your productivity and feel better about your entire day.

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So, when it comes to being intentional about your working style, try out some techniques that help you find your workflow.

Every day is certainly not going to have a perfect balance, but there are ways to strategically get stuff done like a total boss – without being in hustle mode 24/7. That’s exhausting and we don’t have time for that, boo.

Work isn’t all we have going on, so we gotta start thinking about working like the intentional badasses we are.

So here are 25 small changes you can make to have the most productive workdays this week.

Choose one to try out this week.

1. Find one organization system that works

I use the ClickUp app* to organize my life because it allows me to have an all-in-one organization system finally. It integrates easily with Google Calendar and it was an easy switch from Trello. I can now create trackable goals, have customized views for my tasks, look at my tasks due today and a week ahead, it has a Chrome extension that allows me to add screenshots and track my time. It also allows me to add notes and to-dos directly within Gmail. 

Whether it’s ClickUp or any of the fantastic organization tools out there, choose one to go all-in on. Maybe spend a couple of weeks testing out a few different platforms – and then just decide. If you’re like me, you’ve spent too much time dabbling in multiple organization platforms. Choose one and commit!

2. Use the time blocking method

When you want to figure out how to be more strategic with your time, time blocking is a great method. Essentially you assign each hour of the day a job. Whether you use a tool like Google Cal or simply use a paper planner, start giving yourself chucks of time to get tasks done. That way, you always know what you should be working on.

3. Create a work uniform

We make so many decisions throughout a day, so it’s nice to eliminate them wherever we can. You can create a work “uniform” that is basically your go-to look (that you love) that simplifies your getting-ready routine. 

4. Listen to binaural beats

When I really need to get in the zone, binaural beats do the trick.

Here’s a playlist to listen to when you need some extra focus.

5. Get blue light blocking glasses

If you’re on your computer or phone all day long, it might be time for some blue light blocking glasses. I love the Lovelace ones from Felix Gray, or you can find some nice ones on Amazon.

6. Use an app to block off social media

Can’t stop navigating to social media the second that a page is taking too long to load or your inspiration isn’t flowing? Moment, Freedom, and Focus (for macOS) are all options for blocking your social media time.

7. Use the Pomodoro method

Instead of procrastinating, try the Pomodoro method, aka the tomato timer technique. This productivity method allows you to set a timer to work in short, typically 25-minute, increments. Once that timer goes off, you spend the next five minutes getting up and do something else before diving back in again. 

8. Plan your day the night before

Like with creating a work uniform, we experience decision fatigue with the number of things we have to decide, so if you can get ahead of those decisions the night before – why not? It makes it easier to get up in the morning and check off all your to-dos. 

9. Track your time

You can use ClickUp, or Now Then to start tracking your time on projects. That way you can start figuring out how long tasks take in order to make your days more productive.

(Read this: How To Use Time Tracking To Make The Most Out Of Your Day)

10. Keep lists that’ll be useful in the future

If there’s anything that makes your life easier to be able to refer back to, create a list for it. There are always those things that come up, where we’re scrambling to figure out where we put it. Create easily searchable lists in ClickUp, Google Docs, your Notes app, or whatever your preferred organization system is.

11. Use the two-minute rule

If it takes less than two minutes, do the task right away. If it takes longer than that, create a system where you know to come back to it by the end of the day or week.

12. Set working hours

You don’t need to be available to work 24/7 if that’s not the kind of balance you want for yourself. If you are your own boss or have the ability, create working hours. Tell yourself that you don’t answer emails or messages after 6 pm or whatever boundary you feel comfortable with.You can even include your working hours on your email signature.

13. Put your computer and phone on “do not disturb” mode

Adding the do not disturb mode on my computer during your workday hours has been a gamechanger because I no longer have notifications popping up on my computer every time a message comes in or a phone call. It would be so distracting. I turn notifications on altogether, and I find that has been amazing.

14. Batch your work

Create themed days, or sections of time, to devote to getting ahead of schedule in one area of your life or business. If you have a side hustle, batching is going to be so helpful for you. Basically, if you want to create a bulk of content at one time, dedicate a few hours or days to one project. You could batch work for recording podcasts, blogging, emailing and even chores!

Read this: 28 Time Batching Ideas for Getting Stuff Done

15. Try to minimize your phone time

Try to beat your score from the last week in phone time. I use an iPhone, and I get alerts each week for how long I was on my phone – with a notification on how much it is up or down from last week. Make it a game, and see if you can get a lower amount this week.

16. Decide on a “work shut down” routine

Do you have a bad habit of taking work at home with you? It might be time for a shutdown ritual to close out your workday. You deserve the time to unwind, so create some strategies for leaving work at work.

17. Create a bedtime alarm

One of the reasons why waking up early can be challenging is because we’re not going to sleep early enough. If this is the case for you, it might be helpful to set a bedtime alarm.

18. Organize your emails

I try to keep my inbox at inbox zero by sorting emails into certain categories like “ASAP reply” and “follow up” so that I can keep up with my inbox without the clutter. Anything that comes in that I don’t need will get deleted, or it’ll get sorted. 

19. Figure out your tendency

According to author Gretchen Rubin, we all have a core tendency when it comes to how we get things done. There are obligers, rebels, upholders, and questioners. Take the Four Tendencies quiz to find out which one you are. According to her community group called “Better“, a majority of people fall into the Obliger category – which is the type that finds it difficult to get things done unless someone is holding them accountable.

Read this: How To Say No If You Have An Obliger Tendency

20. Visualize your day

How do you want the day to flow? It helps if the night before your productive workday, you visualize how productive you’ll be, and everything that you are going to get done. That way, when the following morning comes you already know what to do to have an insanely productive day.

21. Create a planning day

Sometimes we get caught up in overplanning and under-doing. If you find this is you – dedicate a couple of hours to planning a week and make sure the rest of your days are for taking action. That way, you still get your fix for planning without letting it consume your work hours.

22. Start habit stacking

According to James Clear, author of “Atomic Habits“, one of the best ways to create long-term habits is through a process called habit stacking. The idea is that you associate a new habit with an old habit that is already a part of your routine. So if you always drink coffee first thing in the morning, you can pair that action with drinking a glass of water before your morning coffee. That association is basically a call-to-action to start this new habit.

23. Have separate spaces for different tasks

When it comes to working from home, you might find it super tempting to get your work done in the coziness of your bed. But because your bed is where sleeping happens, and so you associate it that way, it’s going to be difficult to have a productive workday. The same goes for meditating in bed. Where you can, try to designate a spot where you do work, and where it is only for play.

24. Create a not-to-do list

You have a to-do list – check! But what about a not-to-do list? What will you NOT do while you’re working? Will you answer incoming personal messages? How often will you check your email? Create a list of things you don’t do during your productive workday – and this can include tasks that you choose to delegate because it’s not where your time is best served.

25. Create timelines

According to Parkinson’s Law, “work expands to fill the time available for its completion.” So when it comes to getting things done, if you believe that you have an entire day to do something, you might use up that entire time to do it. But in reality, the tasks might only take a couple of hours.

So, where you can, try to fill up time so that you have time restrictions. If you want to finish a blog post in the morning, tell yourself that you only have that time available to complete it and create a lunch meeting that requires you to leave your home, office or coffee shop.

Use the time blocking strategy to make sure you have other tasks scheduled for the rest of the day. Even if that meeting is with yourself, create barriers so that you have urgency around completing tasks.

While there are endless distractions in our world that make staying focused challenging, we can totally create systems that make getting work done feel a little easier.

Will you let us know if you decide to try out one of these tools this week for a more productive workday?

*We use affiliate links in this post for ClickUp, which means we get a small percentage if you decide to get a paid plan. We only recommend what we love.