The Very Demure Approach I’m Taking to My Career This Fall

If I know one thing to be true about myself, it’s that I am not cut out for hustle culture. I’m not sure any of us are, to be honest. I love to set big goals, track my progress, and celebrate my wins, but I don’t think I should have to run myself into the ground to achieve them. In the fall, we often feel the need to buckle down and hustle until year-end, but I am more interested in taking a “very demure, very mindful” approach this season, as inspired by Jools Lebron in her viral video.

Of course, Lebron was referring to her makeup for work being “very demure, very mindful,” but this trend encouraged others to share how they are “very demure,” “very mindful,” and “very cutesy” in different areas of their own life. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be more mindful and more cutesy this fall? Ahead, I am sharing how we can all take this approach with our careers, too.

Shift your mindset

If you’re working a job that doesn’t make you leap out of bed every morning, you’re not alone. Having to work for a living isn’t something that most of us want to do, but that doesn’t mean you should view it as a chore and slog through the day. Waiting until 5pm or Friday to roll around is no way to live and not very cutesy or mindful. Instead, start to think about what you actually like about your job as you approach your workday, even if it’s a small thing.

I love writing and the flow I get into while strategizing and editing other people’s work, so I am choosing to focus on that part of my role and reminding myself how lucky I am to get paid to do that. It might sound fluffy, but I find myself having fewer Sunday scaries. So far, I have more enjoyment during my day because I am making an effort to focus on the positives of my career.

Create a space that makes you happy

I don’t know about everyone else, but sometimes I get so set on the functionality of my office that I don’t take the time to optimize it for what I actually like. With the goal of creating a space that makes me feel like the main character in a cozy fall rom-com, I am revamping my home office. I’m bringing in some fall candles, hanging aesthetic prints from Etsy, and swapping out my clunky black office chair for a cute beige fuzzy one (that still supports my back, because that’s key!). When your workspace is mindfully created to be both enjoyable and functional, you will be more productive.

If you’re in a physical office or have less ability to modify your space, focus on the small things to make your day more enjoyable: always have a soft sweater or blanket nearby if it gets cold, keep photos you love on your desk, and have a stash of your favorite pens or office supplies ready to go (I swear by my pink Post-Its and Zebra BP pens!). I also recommend that everyone updates their laptop background photo to something seasonal and inspiring (*cough* The Everygirl monthly backgrounds *cough*). It might seem trivial, but the little things can really impact your overall mindset each day.

When your workspace is mindfully created to be both enjoyable and functional, you will be more productive.

Be intentional about your breaks

If taking a work break often looks like scarfing down a granola bar while scrolling TikTok for 10 minutes only to jump immediately back to your computer or hop on the next call, listen up! I am usually in the same camp, but it’s the opposite of slow and intentional, and absolutely not very demure or mindful. My breaks need to change for the sake of actually enjoying my career, so I am starting to plan out what they look like at the beginning of the day.

I like to take a phone-free walk outside, spend some extra time brewing a special coffee and drinking it on my balcony, or use my time to play with my dogs or call my mom. By actually taking a break and giving my brain time to not be online or productive, I am noticing that I feel refreshed and ready to pick back up when I sit down at my desk to start working again. This calmness is trickling through the rest of my day, giving me perspective and helping me feel less overwhelmed.

Engage all of your senses

When I started to think about how I could slow down my day and be more present, I quickly discovered that engaging all of the senses is key. To bring this into my day and freelance work, I am dedicated to covering all my bases before work. For smell, I am lighting candles, and for touch, I am wearing clothing that is comfortable instead of stuffy corporate wear or yesterday’s sweats. For sound, I’m playing soft folk or instrumental playlists, and I’m sipping on fruit-infused water, coffee, or tea for taste. Finally, for sight, I am hanging new art and making an updated vision board with some aspirational career goals. These are small things, but they are going to make my day feel much more enjoyable and remind me that my 9-5 can be more pleasurable if I put a little effort in.

Adding more calm to your day comes down to being mindful about how you will take action.

Set boundaries that work for you

Setting healthy boundaries is a key part of making your work days more mindful. If you’re spending all of your time accommodating other people’s needs or doing things you don’t want to do, you’re going to feel resentful and burnt out pretty quickly instead of relaxed and motivated. When it comes to your career, take some time to consider if you can take another task with your current workload or if you want to volunteer for that extracurricular before signing up. Then, chat with coworkers about what your ideal work day looks like so they can be aware.

I chatted with my manager earlier this month and was able to delegate projects that were less interesting to me so I could focus more on the work I enjoyed. This, in turn, has allowed me to finish work by 5pm more often (very mindful). It is also giving me back my evenings so I can focus on new hobbies, self-care, and socializing. This has made me a lot happier and more relaxed overall (very demure).

Take your time

Slowing down and being mindful is something I desperately need to try to pull into my fall work days, especially because I receive constant emails and never-ending Slack messages. After taking a closer look at my habits, I am shocked at how often I immediately drop everything for someone else. I respond to an email or hop on a call without taking a moment to collect myself first. This makes me feel like I never have enough time in the day (plus my stress levels jump with each *ping*).

This season, I am implementing the rule of waiting a bit before responding to messages or calls to ease my anxiety levels. So far, it is helping to reduce the amount of back-and-forth needed since I am stopping to really examine an ask or question before responding. This isn’t to say you should ignore everything or completely disregard all deadlines (definitely don’t do that). But it’s worth remembering that not everything is an emergency. Adding more calm to your day comes down to being mindful about how you will take action. Your peace at work is worth slowing down for!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Devin Cleary Gooden, Contributing Finance Writer

Devin is a Toronto-based content creator and marketer with 10 years of experience writing about finance and career tips for women. She is passionate about helping women understand finances so they can create the life they want to have, whatever that may look like. She is currently a senior manager of content at a fintech company, where she works on websites, emails, social media, videos, and podcasts.

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