How can I make work less of a weight on my mind?

[BurntOut1]

I'm mid twenties, on the outside I am bright, bubbly, 'switched on' and full of energy. On the inside, every day is a huge effort, and I am constantly battling with demons which manifest themselves in worries and paranoia about work.

I also seem to have no barrier against other people's emotions in the workplace. Even if someone on a different team is stressed, I'm stressed for them. If different teams are at odds with each other, I feel torn between them, and it really seems to affect me,

I work for a small company, in the area of advertising/marketing, my position is mid level.

I feel super lucky to work in the job I do, very flexible, colleagues/management are great fun, I feel well rewarded. It's busy & intense, like most jobs nowadays.

I know most of these feelings are probably due to imposter syndrome, and my self worth being a bit too tied to what I do for a living.

How can I change my thinking, so that I can leave work at the front door, and truly enjoy my time outside of work?

Any advice, suggestions or book recommendations are welcome, I'm willing to try anything, big or small.

Worth mentioning that I've had therapy for anxiety, and it has helped hugely, and removed the sheer panic I used to experience, but I still end up drained on a day to day basis.

can you actually leave your work at work? i.e. are work expecting you to be contactable outside work?

if you can, then do something where you switch off your phone. Learn a new hobby. I started drawing and sculpting. I'm crap at it but it totally takes me out of myself. Or force yourself to be sociable with a bunch of friends who are not going to talk about work! You need something where it's impossible for you to think about work even if you want to.

Other thing I did is not say no to any invite outside work for a year. It was so beneficial. I used to make excuses to not go as I felt exhausted from work stress but the more I went to stuff, the more I realised I needed to switch off and stop saying no to non work things!

also if you don't do this now, I can tell you, it will only get worse. Tell yourself that!

I feel like this- apart from I feel the need to help people and I get involved in something's that are none of my business- however my intentions are always positive.

I have identified through Counselling that I am doing this as a result of not
Feeling good Enough internally - I am getting help before I self destruct my life

A4 sheet of paper. Line down the middle, line across the centre creating 4 boxes.

My role/focus
Box 1. Priorities. must do today.
Box 2, Not priority but must be done today.
Box 3, Non priority. Can be done when have spare time (allocate time)
Box 4, DOESN'T need my attention. Other team, other project, other whatever.

Remember 8 hours sleep, 8 hours play, 8 hours work.

HTH.

Look up The Secret. It will coach you on "letting it go" and I'm not exaggerating when I say it changed my life.

Watching with interest. I’m very similar. Work with vulnerable people and find it very difficult to switch off when I leave. I