Combining working from home and #homeschooling is difficult, verging on impossible. Even though I have a supportive manager and colleagues, I’m feeling under huge pressure. Having reflected on it, I realise this pressure is coming from me. #wfh
A lot of who I consider myself to be is associated with my work, my performance at it, what I achieve through it... I’m now in a situation where I’m unable to perform as well as I otherwise would have, and I can see that having a big impact on self-esteem.
And it’s not as easy as telling myself to chill out, when the demands of work and the flow of emails and meetings and deadlines are always there. Yes, I can close the laptop if I feel overwhelmed but I’m ever-conscious that work will be building up when I do.
So, as great and vital it is to be flexible and understanding as managers, don’t underestimate the impact of ‘self-pressure’ on teams. And so self-care can’t just be spoken about; we need to actively enable it.