I don’t usually blur the line between my hobby (blogging) and my career (behavior analysis), but I feel like this particular topic can benefit us all in this crazy culture that we are living in. For those of you that don’t know, I have another instagram (@behaviormagictherapy) where I share ABA tips + tricks, and I posed the question of sharing my thoughts on work/life balance and everyone replied with a resounding yes. So here I am.
My field (amongst others I’m sure) is renown for blurring boundaries and having severe burn out within the community. Working so closely with families day in and day out can cause you to always be “on,” and I was able to manage this pressure with relative ease for years…until I started a family. The second I became a mom and came back after maternity leave, I felt an insane amount of stress and anxiety with the task of balancing my child, my husband, my hobbies AND still being a kick ass analyst. And yes, although at times I feel bogged down and let my negative thoughts consume me, I know I am still good at my job. But that is because, although I learned to say no to others some time ago, I am just recently learning to say no to myself. And that by saying no to my overachieving, over anxious mind, I can still manage to do a good job without negatively effecting myself and other (honestly more important) areas of my life.