EP 14 - Fay Wallis: When Working Harder Stops Working

What happens when your answer to having too much to do is always...work harder? In this episode, Emma Djemil is joined by Fay Wallis, executive and career coach for HR and People professionals, host of the award-winning HR Coffee Time podcast and creator of The Essential HR Planner. Fay shares the deeply personal story of a time in her HR career when she became fixated on progressing, proving herself and reaching the next level while simultaneously juggling a Master’s degree, two young children and an ever-growing workload. When the warning signs started appearing, Fay did what so many of us do: pushed them down and kept going, until anxiety eventually forced her to stop. Together, Emma and Fay talk about the pressure we put on ourselves to succeed, why our instinct is so often to absorb more and work harder, the complicated relationship between emotion and ‘professionalism’, and what can happen when we finally stop to question whether everything we’re carrying is actually sustainable. They also explore the practical side of managing overwhelming workloads, the importance of making space to think and plan, and why self-compassion rather than relentlessly giving yourself a kicking, might be one of the most important tools you can develop in your career. If you’ve ever thought, “I’ll just get through this deadline/project/week and then things will calm down”, this episode might feel VERY familiar. If this episode resonated, firstly, welcome. You are very much amongst your people here. You can connect with Emma on LinkedIn, where she spends a lot of time talking about confidence, leadership, visibility, self-trust and the realities of working in HR. If you're at a point in your career where you're questioning things, feeling stuck, disconnected from yourself or wanting greater impact without sacrificing your entire nervous system in the process, Emma also works with women in HR through 1:1 coaching. Find out more about that here. If you enjoyed this episode, do all the lovely podcast-y things: subscribe, leave a review, share it with your HR bestie, or stick it on LinkedIn so more women realise they're not the only ones feeling this stuff. 🎙️ Subscribe for more conversations about confidence, leadership, vulnerability and sustainable impact in HR. #HR #WomenInLeadership #Leadership #HumanResources #MentalHealth #Burnout #HRLeadership #Confidence #SelfTrust #HumansResourced