Samantha McDonald

A client made a fatal mistake: she let work get the better of her; what’s worse, she let work get the better of her weekend!

Don’t even think about it!

One of my clients had a really horrible weekend. She had been looking forward to lovely walks on the beach with her husband, glorious sleep-ins, and lazing around in the backyard with the kids. And then she went and sabotaged it all … How? Well, she brought her work home with her.

I don’t mean she sat around tapping on her laptop for hours on end. No, that wasn’t it at all. See, on the Friday, one of her fearsome clients requested a meeting for the following Monday. He didn’t say exactly why he wanted to meet with her, but she immediately started thinking the worst… He was definitely unhappy with her work, he was going to put her down and make her feel hopeless, and he was definitely going to sack her. Hmmm …

Have you ever had a phone call that has made you worry so much, it has ruined your weekend with your family? Here are some tips to ensure it never happens again:

Don’t worry about what hasn’t happened yet. What’s the point of worrying about something that might not even eventuate? Better to concentrate on what’s happening for you right now than to create problems that might not even be there.

Work is work and home is home. How many times do we need to be reminded to leave work at the door? Family time is precious, and our children do not deserve to have time taken away from them just because a client has made us feel insecure.

Think about the positives. Concentrate on what positive outcomes could come out of this very scary meeting with your client. Trust that you’ve done a good job and that they appreciate your efforts.

And, my client? Well, the dreaded meeting finally arrived, and her client just wanted to praise her for a job well done, and sign her up on another contract. All that stress and wasted family time for nothing!

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