These Phrases Will Help You Put Your Job Back In Its Place

The importance of putting work in its place

Work stress is something I have experienced very often. I was always afraid of not being good enough, of doing things wrong, of disappointing people… For years, I even suffered from ergophobia, I was afraid of the working world 😅. I felt that by entering this world, I wouldn't find my place there.

Things eventually got better, but I always had the feeling of working with a sword of Damocles hanging over my head. Until that day, which I mentioned in the introduction, when a colleague reminded me that we weren't saving lives. It brought me back to reality in an instant, and I realized that what I was doing wasn't that important and that I wouldn't end up at the end of a rope if I did something wrong (yes, it's harsh 💀).

Overinvestment in work takes forms we don't necessarily think about. It's not just about working extra hours, but being completely overwhelmed by the situation, especially with the pressure of goals. It can take on huge proportions, as our anxiety takes over. That's why it's more necessary than ever to put work in its place, because it's not worth sacrificing our health 😐.

Quotes to keep in mind

Again, I know this might sound ridiculous, but I think it's important to keep a few phrases in mind to remind ourselves that it's not that important. I, for one, keep them in mind for the day when I feel like I'm about to lose it at work due to pressure 🤯.

👉 "We’re not saving dolphins (or humanity!)."

👉 "We work to live, we don't live to work."

👉 "Will this matter in 6 months? 4 years? 20 years?"

👉 "To err is human."

👉 "Rome wasn't built in a day."

👉 "There are no problems, only solutions."

👉 "We’re not inventing penicillin, either!"

👉 "My work doesn't define me."

👉 "No point in sprinting, it's a marathon we need to endure."

👉 "At worst, what?"

👉 "Our boss isn't a flesh-eating monster, they won't eat us!"

👉 "We do what we can with what we have."

👉 "It would be silly to drown in a glass of water."

👉 "The work as we know it is an invention less than 100 years old."

👉 "Next week, we'll laugh about this!"

👉 "Work is health. Doing nothing preserves it!"

👉 "Marx said that the scourge of humanity was work. And capitalism. But let's focus on work."

👉 "We're better off here than in a mine / in prison."

👉 "Tomorrow is another day."

👉 "We're not managing Chernobyl, either."

👉 "What will matter on my deathbed? Certainly not this."

👋 This article might interest you: 'My work is my reason for being': Beware of imbalance!

What If We Do Save Lives?

I know I emphasized throughout this article that it wasn't a matter of life and death. I also know there are people working in the medical field (or in a nuclear plant 😳). However, I think most of these people, who truly have huge responsibilities, manage better by taking twice as many precautions because they are aware of the weight of their decisions.

It's often when we do rather insignificant things, in the end, that we get all worked up and experience the "cover your ass" syndrome. Because we forget that we're just spinning our wheels, unlike others who have responsibilities that far exceed ours. And even in their situation, they know that to err is human 🤐.

But also:

• 5 Signs you are going through a burnout
• Why are millennials so unhappy at work?
• Why are we so obsessed with performance?