Work: Keep It in Perspective
Work is key to your mental health yes. Let me rephrase that for you. Meaningful work, work where you feel valued and safe is good for your mental health. If it isn't, it's bad for your mental health. You can feel intimidated, coerced, undervalued, a bad parent/child/partner because of the amount of time you give to work over your loved ones. One girl I recently worked with, when I talked to her about how she was working 12 hours a day for her clients and her boss, said "I'm a people pleaser see" to which I questioned "is your husband and child happy you're working all these unpaid hours?" Funny enough, they weren't. In fact they were far from pleased. I suggested that her people pleasing should start with her loved ones.
At its core, work is simple.
You do something that someone else can't or doesn't want to do, and in return, you're paid. You use that money to pay for food, shelter, health, and if you have a family, theirs too. If there's any left over, you use it to enjoy life a little.
It sounds basic. That's because it is. Don't lose sight of that.
Somewhere along the way, society muddied the waters. We started defining people by their job titles. We looked down on so called "low skilled" workers and placed others like CEOs, surgeons and lawyers on pedestals. But all work has value. All workers deserve dignity.
Doctors, teachers, builders, nurses, cleaners, drivers, paramedics... society doesn't function without them. But neither does it function without supermarket staff, factory workers, bin collectors, or delivery drivers. You don't know someone's story or their circumstances, so it's worth keeping that in mind before drawing conclusions about anyone.
Now, when it comes to your own job, remember this:
You're lucky to have a job. But they're lucky to have you too.
Work is a two way agreement. You give your time, energy, skills, and often your patience. They give you money. That's the deal.
And your time? That's the only thing in this world that truly belongs to you. Don't give it away for free.
Yes, sometimes you go the extra mile. You stay late, you fix things outside your job description, you help a colleague because it's the right thing to do. That's life. But don't let it become the norm. If you're giving an extra 30 minutes a day unpaid, at £20 an hour, that's £2,600 a year you're handing over. For nothing. Respect yourself enough to keep track.
I was running a department when I worked for a Jordan Belfort wannabe. This guy was either totally oblivious to the fact that everyone apart from his little fan club of about two people (50% of whom were related) couldn't stand him, or he knew it and just blanked it. Either way, he was so far from reality that a letter would have taken 5 to 7 business days to reach him from where the rest of us were living.
I had a guy working in my department who worked hard but had a plasticine backbone and wouldn't stand up for himself. He'd been with us for two years and was on £18k, which hadn't changed the whole time he was there. The going rate for entry level was £25k. I said many times we would lose him if he didn't get a rise. The boss said "do you think I can pull money out of the air?" I said well pull it from the same place that £70k Range Rover came from, the one you made the new social media girl photograph and post on the company Instagram, or from the place that paid for your four holidays last year. Giving a hard working employee the average market wage might be slightly more important than those things. It shows you that you're a number in most workplaces. Learn that perspective early. Not saying you won't love your job or make genuine friends there, but you're there to fill a role that people either don't know how to do or don't want to do, in an organisation that won't survive unless it's profitable.
In 2023, research by CIPD (the UK's professional HR body) found that 55% of workers constantly worked unpaid overtime, averaging 7.6 hours a week. That's an entire working day given away for free, every single week.
Be a little wary of the workplace that calls itself a "family." It sounds warm and safe, but sometimes it's code for expecting emotional loyalty without proper compensation. A healthy work culture encourages feedback, not fear. It doesn't use free pizza or a night at the pub to paper over burnout or low wages. If your team pulls in a £10,000 contract and your reward is a Domino's voucher, it's worth thinking about what that tells you.
And burnout is real.
A 2022 report by Mental Health UK found that 1 in 5 UK workers felt unable to manage pressure and stress levels at work.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reported that stress, depression, and anxiety accounted for over 50% of all work related ill health in the UK in 2023.
And the numbers are rising, especially among younger workers.
Toxic cultures don't bend easily. Often, they change you before you can change them. There's no shame in walking away. There will always be another job.
Work can be genuinely good for your mental health. Structure, purpose, pride... they matter. But when work eats away at your soul, when it pulls you away from the people you love, when it stops you sleeping or smiling, that's not noble. That's just harmful.
Nobody on their deathbed ever said they wished they'd spent more time in the office.
You are not your job title. You are not your salary. And you are not here to give everything you have away for the minimum someone can get away with paying you.
Remember who you are.
And don't lose yourself for a payslip.
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Work: Keep It in Perspective
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