How to Care Less About Work
Caring Less About Work
Work is, for the majority of us, an essential part of life. We need it to pay the bills and do the things that we do. We shouldn’t not care about our work. Taking pride in what we do can bring us satisfaction and a purpose in life. However caring too much can have a detrimental effect on our lives from the stress it can bring to not spending the quality time that we should with our family and friends. Caring a little less can help bring a balance and calm to life.
9 Reasons to Care Less About Work & 35 Ways to Care Less About Work below
9 Reasons to Care Less About Work
- Less Stress: Work can be stressful. Starting to care less can alleviate the stress and pressure we put on ourselves on a daily basis.
- Spend More Quality Time: Caring less can mean a reduction in working time which can allow us to spend more time doing the things we enjoy and quality time with the people we choose to spend our time with.
- You’ll Most Likely Regret Caring Too Much: No one lies on their death bed wishing that they had worked more.
- Means to an End: We are paid money for our time. After that, leave the caring at the door.
- It’s Counterproductive: Caring too much can have a detrimental affect on our stress and concentrations levels which in turn can impact our productivity and output.
- You Won’t Get Upset As Much: If colleagues are negative about you or your work, you can brush it off more easily.
- Stop being So Demanding of Yourself: Take your foot off gas.
- Realising What’s Important: Caring less can help us see what (and who) is truly important in life.
- Look After Number One: Start caring about yourself and you life rather than the little things at work.
35 Ways to Care Less About Work
- Take It For What It Is: A means to an end. It is important but do you really need to care or worry about it that much?
- Make a Clean Break Between Work & Personal Life: Don’t take work home with you. Have a ritual in place that signals the end of work and start of personal life. Switch off and leave it
- What Do You Want? Do you want to look back and have been an amazing friend/partner/parent or a workaholic who rarely spent the quality time they should have done. Wake up, it’s your choice.
- Avoid pointless meetings and conference calls: Those meetings where you have no input and gain nothing from them. Stop going to them.
- If There’s Nothing You Can Do About a Problem at Work: Stop worrying about it, there is nothing you can do
- Block Time: Block time to get stuff done. It will alleviate stress and help you to care a little less.
- Have Caring Time: If you find it impossible to care less, put some time aside in the day to care and worry about things. After that, ease off.
- Let the Senior Leaders Worry: Chances are there are more senior people than you who get paid more than you. Let them do the worrying, they’re paid for it.
- Meditate: Very good for clearing the mind and helping us focus on what is important, try some meditation (here).
- Put Across Your Ideas Once: If you tell people your opinions, ideas and thoughts, that’s enough. If they want it, they’ll go with it. If they don’t want to take it onboard, let them get on with it. Just to note, this works in a job scenario but is certainly not the case for entrepreneurs / self-employed people!
- Work Less: Do you get paid overtime? If not, why are you working more and what will you get out of it? Time is precious and you’ll never get it back.
- Be More Than Your Job: Don’t let your identity revolve around your job. Ensure your personal life is at least important as your professional life.
- Leave on Time: Simple. Leave when you finish. What are you gaining by staying?
- Is Caring Benefiting You or the World Around You: If not, let it go.
- You Can’t Give 100% All of the Time: No one can. So don’t put pressure on yourself to do so.
- Redefine What Success Means: Is success getting to that next level at work? What happens when you get there? Or is success having loving and lasting meaningful relationships and time to do what you want to do?
- Don’t Cater to Other People’s Egos: People who shout the loudest can be a pain to keep up with. Let them shout and do their thing, Don’t get caught up in it. Leave them to it.
- You Can’t Get Everything Done and Everything Right: So don’t put pressure on yourself to do so.
- Care About What’s Important at Work: Look at your work, what are the important .things that need to be done? Don’t get bogged down in the stuff that doesn’t matter.
- Care About What’s Important in Life: Where or who would you rather be spending your time with? Put your efforts there.
- Does the Company Care About You: Could they easily replace you? Would they care if you were replaced? Do they care about you? Ask yourself these questions.
- Think About What You’re Paid For: Most likely somewhere in the region of 40 hours per week. Do you get paid for any additional time? What happens to that time? You lose it, forever.
- You Will Get Results Quicker: When you stop caring about the little things, you will get things done faster and most likely, more efficiently.
- Take Breaks: Sitting in the same place for 8 hours a days grinding out work is not good for anyone. Take breaks, talk to colleagues, add a little time for peace and being social into your day.
- Look After Number One: Look after yourself, no one else will.
- Don’t Suck Up: It’s hard work and generally is annoying to the people that you work with. If you’re good, people will know that from your work.
- Your Boss Probably Won’t Notice: Caring less is not about not caring at all. It’s about caring about the important things. Get the important things done and no one (including your boss) will notice the other things.
- Don’t Read Every Email: Put a filter on so you can read the first line and then decide if it’s worth your time.
- Where is Caring a Lot Going to Get you: Do you want a raise? Do you want to get to the next “Level”? If that’s important to you, then maybe you should care a lot. If not, then tone the caring down a little.
- Work Smarter, Not Harder: A cliche but it works. Look at how you work, cut out the unnecessary faff, care less about the little things.
- Don’t Constantly Check Email: Set time/s in the day to check it and be done with it.
- The Rough with the Smooth: There are times when we are up against it and have to go all out. Don’t be scared to take those time back and take it easy when the going is smoother.
- Set an Example to Others: If colleagues see that you are still able to get your work done without caring as much, they will follow. Share the wealth.
- Know There Are Options: If you are over stressed or worry too much about work, consider a different job or even a different career. You only live once, don’t spend it caring about work too much.
- Talk About It: If you’re work is getting too much, talk to a friend, family or a professional (therapist or counsellor) to get the help that you need.
Further Exploration - Articles & Media
Article: Is it time to stop giving so much of a damn at work?
Lauren Bravo's article in The Guardian discussing how the happiest people at work are most often the ones who don't care as much (and that they might be on to something)
Article: Here's Why You Should Care Less About Your Work
Article from Glamour magazine looking at the 7 work deadly stressors, afflictions of the modern workplace and 4 ways to care about work less
Book: Working Hard, Hardly Working
Working Hard, Hardly Working, entrepreneur and self-proclaimed 'lazy workaholic' Grace Beverley offers a fresh take on how to create your own balance, be more productive and feel fulfilled.
***This is one of the few affiliate links on Peaceful Soul***
Article: Why not giving a damn won’t stand in your way of success
Lucy Kellaway article in the Financial Times discussing how caring about our work has become a weird status symbol but it can make us mad and unproductive
Podcast: The Importance of Caring Less About Your Job
The Highly Sensitive Person Podcast on Youtube talking about how caring less can make your job more bearable….and won’t hurt you as much as you might think
Forum: Caring less at work/putting in 90%
Forum on Mr Money Mustache discussing how to care less at work and how to only put in 90% effort
Article: Caring less about your work is healthy. Here’s how to do it right.
Article on The Ladders looking at 3 ways to care less the right way; recognising that you are more than your job, setting boundaries with your energy and protecting your time off
Forum: How to care less about work?
Reddit thread discussing how and why to care less about work
Article: Caring less made me better at my job
Anton Strömberg Sindemark article on Medium talking about how things started to change at work when he cared less about his job and how it made him better at it
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