How Simplifying Your Work Life Can Help You Tap into Your True Feminine Powers

By Megan Dalla-Camina

As women trying to successfully manage the demands of family, career and personal life, while still keeping our sanity intact, we can probably agree we feel the most overwhelmed and powerless about our lives while we’re at work.

That’s really not so hard to fathom. We all know today’s workplace runs at a hectic pace. It’s continuously demanding our time and talent. By the end of the day, we’re exhausted. There’s hardly energy enough to put dinner on the table, much less time to consider self-improvement.

But what if there was a way to make your time at work less stressful, and actually more personally productive? What if in becoming more productive at work, you actually freed up more time for yourself and your own personal goals? Would you jump at that?

In researching my latest book, Simple Soulful Sacred, it confirmed for me that life’s demands have kept us so preoccupied, we’ve lost a vision for what we truly want in life. As CEO of Lead Like a Woman, and several other start-ups that focus on women’s empowerment, I’ve had the opportunity to mentor women from all walks of life and speak to them about their goals. From my work and these interactions over decades, I’ve recognized a set of innate traits and skills that women possess that will help us claim what we want in life, yet so many of us experience a frustrating inability to tap into those traits.

How has this happened? Many of our most powerful feminine tools have been disowned and devalued, clouded by a world that’s promoted masculine traits in defining success. Interestingly enough, with a little practice and some new habits, women can reawaken their natural powers, and make positive changes to the way they live.

The reality is, there are some simple ways to make your work life less stressful so that you can focus on more positive attributes like your overall wellness and being happy.

Where do you start?

With the act of simplifying.

Begin with some of the daily habits that might have gotten a bit out of your control without you even being aware: your morning routine and the way you manage your schedule. The goal with each?  Simplify and rid yourself of the unnecessary.

Does that sound like a task easier said than done?  Perhaps, but let’s face it, we all strive to lead less complex lives. Applying a simplification filter to everything we do is a solid first step towards reaching a healthier, more balanced state of mind.

Here are a few simple challenges to undertake next week that will help you better manage your worktime. See if they don’t make you feel better about your job and yourself.

Streamline Your Morning Routine

For many people getting organized and out the door each morning is one of the most stressful parts of the day. It can also be a big time waster. Try this; the night before jot down your bullet point for a streamlined routine. What would that look like?

Lay out your clothes the night before, or at least have your wardrobe picked out in your mind; prepare your lunches; pack children’s school bags and your own bag the night before and have everything all set so that the act of getting out of the house is as close to a breeze as possible.

Alter your breakfast so that it’s fast and accommodating, while still being nutritious. The more you simplify the ingredients that make up your diet – a piece of fruit, a hardboiled egg, a smoothie or a protein bar – the less stressful and time-consuming mealtimes will be.

Clean Up Your Schedule and Daily Calendar

Our work schedules are needlessly cluttered with unnecessary meetings, endless emails and most of all, distractions. Have you ever audited your calendar and candidly assessed the amount of superfluous activities that fill up your day?

Next up, address your email habits. Do you let every incoming email suck up energy and time? Try doing this: turn off your notifications and only check your emails 2 or 3 times a day.  Sort, respond and delete them in one fell swoop. You’ll be amazed at how much time you’ll save when you stop indulging in a bad habit of instant responses.

Build in Some Me Time at Work

Now that you’ve freed up some time at work, make sure you schedule in some me-time. Taking a 20-minute walk at lunch, whether alone or with a friend, is an excellent way to clear your head, reduce stress and take back some control of the coming afternoon’s activities.

Practice Mindfulness and Appreciation

Your workplace might seem the last place you’d ever be able to be mindful, but you’d be surprised how many beautiful moments lie beneath the chaos.  All that chaos at work is created by people. Try to learn and understand more about each acquaintance you encounter. Make an effort to speak to them by phone or in-person rather than restricting yourself to sterile instant messages. Enjoy the diversity and range of human qualities you’re exposed to, the good and the bad, and reflect on those qualities you could adopt for your own benefit.

Consciously reducing the amount of inputs coming in and distractions circling your brain will help you simplify your life, lessen your stress and bring more calm and ease into your every day. Focus on reducing noise at work, while at the same time keeping yourself open to the many positive personalities residing around you.

In a world where women are often told who to be and what to think, it’s more important than ever to claim ownership of our own feminine power and claim what’s sacred in our lives. The big first step is simplifying your life and freeing up you time and mental space for things that are truly important. Practicing simplicity and mindfulness at work, of all places, will open your eyes to a whole new way of being.  Enjoy and make use of it.

Megan Dalla-Camina is a bestselling author, women’s mentor, speaker, award-winning entrepreneur and business coach. Megan is dedicated to helping women discover what’s possible for their work and lives in a holistic, purposeful way. Her latest book is Simple Soulful Sacred: A Woman’s Guide to Clarity, Comfort and Coming Home to Herself.