Coming into the Fellowship, I was extremely excited about the prospect of meeting my supervisor and interacting with my host organization. I had constant communication with my supervisor, and I had eagerly listened to several other Fellows talk about their host organizations as well. Come orientation, I found out that I would not be working with one organization, but collaborating with two! And consequently, I would be regularly interacting with two project supervisors. And although I was working on the same initiative, it was large enough that I ended up collaborating with several organizations on different elements of the project. I was not only helping one of my organizations design & implement the initiative on the ground, but I was helping to create networks of organizations that would create support systems to help with scaling up and replicating this initiative. Initially, drumming with the enthusiasm of working on such a complex project, I took on a lot more than I could handle. I readily accepted deadlines without thinking, and all of the deliverables I needed to finish became a haze in my brain. Within the first two months, I was already doing field work for both organizations, and barely had any time off. And because there wasn’t a pre-established line of communication between me and my supervisors, I wasn’t able to set boundaries and manage my time and workload.
This situation ended up impacting my health and well-being a lot. But with the help of my therapist and counselor, I was able to work through my predicament. I first took a step back from work and scheduled a meeting with both my supervisors. I discussed my concerns with them and detailed how we could potentially move forward in a way that is beneficial to all parties. Both of them were very receptive to my suggestions and understood my situation. We decided to have regular three-way check-ins to update on progress and plan for the coming weeks. Regular communication really is a lifeline, and it taught me that speaking candidly about what’s bothering you and advocating for your needs does not necessarily cost you the relationships you’ve built; in my case, it only strengthened them.
One of the accommodations I asked for was to be able to work from home more frequently. It not only made sure I had the energy to work, but it also significantly improved my work-life balance. I took much-needed breaks to cook healthy meals, exercise, and meditate. I had more time for hobbies, which helped me unwind and direct my focus to something other than work. I had also asked that we consolidate all emails and information to one work email and create a shared calendar so that all parties knew what work or field visits I would be engaged in monthly. Using these tools greatly simplified communication and further prevented work overload.
Therapy and counseling ended up being especially important in this process because they strengthened my awareness and taught me to listen to what my body was trying to tell me. My therapist and counselor knew I had a tendency to please people and accept work without thinking first. So, they helped me practice boundary-setting and pausing briefly so that I knew how much work I could accept. By understanding the root causes of my problem, I was able to get more comfortable with setting and negotiating my deadlines to prevent overwhelm. Having this awareness also made me take more responsibility for changing my situation.
