Are you telling coworkers that you “have an open door policy”
or that they can “make a request any time?”
There’s nothing wrong with you or that statement.
But I bet it’s leading to a vicious cycle.
When I am overly accessible and “trying to be helpful,”
I’m only making decisions from one spot in time.
I’m imagining my best self with no stress and without multiple deadlines.
I’m forgetting that sometimes I do need to close my door.
Sometimes I do need to focus for several hours without interruption.
Sometimes I can’t respond as quickly as I did in another season.
But when I’m stressed, it’s easy to blame others and say, “Why are they making so many requests of me? Don’t they see I’m busy?!”
Well, I did tell them I had an open door.
They are just people responding to those earlier statements.
Instead of trying to get the other people to change, I can change my own statements.
I can imagine myself stressed with multiple deadlines and decide what I need from that space.
Then I can set boundaries and be consistent about them throughout the year.
It’s way easier in the long run when we can catch these patterns.
Also way easier for me to point it out to you today.
Enacting it within my own life, making mistakes, and learning along the way.
What about you?
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