Boundaries: When to Say Yes, When to Say No To Take Control of Your Life

In this chapter, Cloud and Townsend examine how boundary conflicts affect one’s experience in the workplace—which often carries over into one’s personal life. Work is not inherently bad, despite people’s frustrations with their workplaces. In fact, work can be an avenue through which people find their calling or vocation, where they can fulfill a spiritual mandate: “Work is the place to develop our character in preparation for the work that we will do forever” (193). Yet for all the rewards that work can bring, boundary conflicts can also negatively impact one’s professional life.

The authors examine a number of common boundary conflicts that arise in the workplace, offering different insights for solving each one. They first discuss the problem of getting stuck with another person’s responsibilities (i.e., not saying “no”). While helping and sacrificing are Christian virtues valuable in the workplace, enabling others to do less isn’t helpful to anyone. The authors then move onto the issue of working too much overtime, which can often lead to physical and emotional burnout. A lack of boundaries leads to saying “yes” to working beyond one’s capacity. Next, the authors discuss the misplaced priorities that usually come with working so hard that a person neglects their own family and friends.