I annoyingly find I do this when something in my career isn’t quite the way I want it to be at that moment in time. I start comparing myself to others my age and where they might be, what project they are working on, what roles they are moving into, their past experience, the list could really be endless!

And it can become quite the downwards spiral if I let it! So I don’t.

These are the things that help me mind my own business when times get a little down:

• Doing something else that helps upgrade my skills – I have started to engage with others in my industry and have begun using my network to start working for myself. Its scary but very satisfying. It is something I am doing on my own with my own terms and the only people I have available to compare myself are to the ones I look up to so I can see how I too can be successful in my new venture.
• Having patience – putting things into perspective, understanding where I am at a particular point in my career and re-evaluating where I want to be are the first steps in this point. I then recognise that it can’t instantly happen e.g. I can’t magically understand and be a master in a new project management methodology within the next week no matter how much I want it! It will take time and of course effort to make it happen.
• Take action and then take some time off – however long you are able to take off, even if its just a day, take it. With that time off, use it to do something to take you a step closer to what it is you want to be doing and where you want to be. Reach out to a mentor and meet them for a coffee, sign up to that course, launch that website, apply for another job. Whatever will make you feel like you have accomplished something with your time. Then, do something fun. I recommend something that you might not do too often. I enjoy going to symphonies at the Opera House. It reminds me that there is a much bigger world out there!
• Keep going – it’s ok to feel down for a little bit and its perfectly normal, don’t worry about that at all. Once you feel what you need to feel, pick yourself up and keep going. There will always be ups and downs so you can be guaranteed, an ‘up’ is coming around to you soon enough.

Bigger steps I have taken have included changing my job and industry altogether. For example, I was part of a cohort of about 20 graduates. We were hired for a two year program within an industry that most people continued working in for years after. It was the type of industry where many people spent their entire careers. Not that there is anything necessarily wrong with this, just in this case the culture tended to be quite toxic and not very innovative in many areas. When we came to the end of the program we all had to find jobs, presumably within the industry, on our own.

At a catchup following our graduation ceremony the week before, the first questions being asked around the table as we were sipping our drinks were about what role we had scored and what level it was at. This continued for years that followed and it was generally just annoying and a little stressful to being constantly compared to everyone else in the group. So this (but among a few other major reasons) I decided I wanted to move out of the industry. I took a risk and found somewhere else to work and I flourished in my new work world. It was fantastic.

It allowed me the freedom to not have certain people and situations around me that reminded me of where I might need to be at a particular point in my career. My mind was free to soak up my new environment and eagerly learn new things. Basically, I was allowed to mind my own business and excel!

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To sum up my first few weeks back, I have the following insights I can offer:

Be patient

Before I left to have my baby I was in a role where I was constantly busy. I expected the same when I returned back on the first day!! I know this was unrealistic but I wanted to get back to being me at work again. It will happen! My diary is already full with upcoming meetings and it didn’t take too long. The work I produce will happen soon too.

Be kind to yourself

It is ok to go through a whole bunch of emotions and thoughts about choices you have made, whether you will still get the same career development opportunities, can you still do what you used to do!?!! It’s all normal and for now I’m taking it day by day. I’m taking the approach of saying yes to everything, being proactive and at the same time explaining my skills and how I would love to develop in the team.

Reach out

This one relates a lot more to the current environment under COVID19. It was pretty lonely and isolating coming back to work and immediately working from home. Meanwhile there was a restructure in the team and 95% of people were new. To combat my loneliness I reached out to my new manager almost everyday, spoke to work friends in other areas and once I was in a program of work, I started being included in a lot more team based meetings.

Put in a little extra effort

For me personally, I don’t feel settled when I can’t see the full picture and get to the point where I feel comfortable with understanding what is going on. I am spending extra time getting familiar with the broader context and more detailed content regarding the new project I have been assigned to. If you can allow yourself a little extra time when you are not at work to do this, even just for the first few weeks, it will pay off.

Wishing you the best of luck if you are returning to work after maternity leave.

For further articles relating to your personal initiative and your career, check out the following link.

The Career Girl

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