Photo: Sebastian Hermann/ Unsplash.com

“Toxic ba ang trabaho mo?” (Is your job toxic?)

This was the question that caught my attention while I was browsing through my Instagram feed a couple of days ago when I came across the post of one of my favorite authors, Catholic preacher Bo Sanchez. While I have been through a career hiatus for some time now due to the pandemic, I thought, maybe, there’s something to get from it since I am considering on taking a different career route anyway.

While it was just a 6-minute video, it contained four powerful advice and guide questions on how someone can detoxify from a toxic job. Despite the job loss due to our ongoing situation, there still are people who are lucky to have retained their jobs. But admit it, working from home can sometimes leave one with that “exhausted from everything” feeling.

So what are those four ways on how to detoxify if your job starts to get toxic? Brother Bo has these “antidotes” that are actually simple but can be really helpful in detoxifying ourselves when our job is taking its toll on us.

Give time for personal restoration. Sometimes, the toxic feeling stems from one reason: You start the day empty. Brother Bo shares that the best way to restore yourself is by starting the day right. Incorporating activities such as exercise, saying a prayer and even a few minutes of quiet time before you start your workday will help you set your day right. When I was still working as a paralegal, I make it a point to arrive in the office at least an hour early whenever possible. I didn’t mind if some say it’s a bit of an OC behavior, but for me, by getting to the office early, I get to set aside time to establish routines that can help my productivity. May it be spending a good 15 minutes inside the church across the office building, getting some quiet time at the nearby open park, or stopping by the coffee shop next to our office to get my morning fuel-- coffee! You need to restore yourself in order to give productively. And unless you know your “productivity tank” is full, you simply cannot give what you do not have. 

Give time for relationship restoration. It’s a fact that at a certain point, our jobs will tend to be toxic -- to the point that we simply want to quit just to get it over and done with. However, most of us fail to realize that jobs tend to be toxic not because of the workload, but because of conflicts we encounter with the people we work with. It is imperative to establish clarity. Clarity is powerful if it is attained well. And the way to do it is to communicate gently. Speak your mind, but try to be polite in doing so. Communicating effectively lessens conflict in the workplace. It also gives you a chance to ascertain whether or not you can work with a certain person within the organization for the long term and what adjustment steps will be necessary in order to retain a positive relationship in the workplace.

Give time for short term planning. By short term, this puts focus on the importance of planning  for other things ahead of time. The millennial line “advance ako mag-isip” may often be taken as a funny joke to many, but there’s actually truth in those words. And such applies when you have a job that tends to have hectic days filled with a lot of activities. When I learned utilizing a daily planner at the start of my career as a paralegal 8 years ago, I confess to learning and incorporating this advice in my daily routine. I plan events even if the deadline is a few days, weeks or even months away. From work-related daily tasks, doctor’s appointments, date nights or even a well-deserved time for rest and relaxation, to plan ahead of time really works wonders. Not only does that prevent cramming and forgetting things the last minute, but it can also lessen the stress and toxicity of the workload because things get organized and done on time.

Give time for long-term planning.  In this part, it’s more of conducting a reality check on yourself from time-to-time. Much like being asked the question “where do you see yourself, say five years from now?” when you were just applying for your dream job. This advice of thinking about your long-term plans. Brother Bo shares four questions that can serve as a useful guide on this part.

Are you blessing people? 

It’s true that monetary reward associated with our jobs is a good motivator to come to the office everyday and to strive to do well with our jobs. Who wouldn’t love the idea of earning every 15th and 30th of the month and being able to “add to cart” that item you’ve always wanted when you do online shopping, right? But when you think of it, the main purpose of our jobs is to be of service to others. During my time as a paralegal, one of the things I would ask myself about at the end of the day was “how did I fair at work today?” And whenever I felt that I was able to serve people in the manner that they deserved, it was more than enough to compensate me emotionally and make me want to continue to come to work the next day no matter how crazy some days tend to be in the office. When one is happy to have served in the right purpose, other things (including the happiness with how much you earn) will eventually follow.

Are you using your core gifts? 

Our God-given talents are with us for a reason. Serve in your job while using the skills and talent that God blessed you with. In my case, becoming a contributing writer for the office’s internal magazine while working primarily as a paralegal allowed me to happily put into practice the craft that I loved the most -- writing. By doing what you love, it also contributes to your ability to perform productively in the position that you are designated first and foremost. 

Are you growing in your job? 

Lucky are those who can give a resounding “YES” to this question. But what if the answer is a “NO”? Brother Bo shares one advice: Find ways to grow. Learn new things. Develop your craft and core gifts. It is here that I see the significance of those free courses that one can take online during their spare time to be useful. And one can even do it without the need to quit their day job. 

Are you happy? 

The question about happiness in our jobs would surface from time-to-time and that’s normal. Most of the time, a lot of us blame our jobs as the reason to be unhappy. But in reality, it’s just a matter of tweaking our mindset. Rather than pronouncing that you are no longer happy, why not try asking yourself “how can I be happier?” in that case, you’ll try to let your mind do the work and look for options. If you try to work on ways to look for ways to be happy, you are diverting your attention to the negativity. Happiness is indeed a choice and life offers us a lot of choices. We simply need to do one thing: Pick what we think works best for us.

Are you earning? 

Again, it’s good for those who are happy if they say yes because it means that what they earn is enough (if not more than enough) for their needs and wants. But if the answer is no, the best option is to start a side hustle.  These days (and thanks to technology), most of us have an option to conveniently score side hustles while being able to hold on to our 9 to 5 jobs. And this is one of the things that will also allow us to use our God-given core gifts.  

At the end of the 6 minute video, I can’t help but ask silently why didn’t this come sooner? But on the other hand, Brother Bo’s advice was still timely and it will surely will be applicable for me regardless if I decide to stick to working in a corporate setting or choose to dive into freelancing again and venturing into working from home.