New job: Declare a state of emergency in your life
When you start a new job, your feelings are often mixed: You are happy and proud to be the one selected from the recruitment process, but at the same time you may be nervous and uncertain because everything is new.
As a newcomer, you may feel like you're being thrown back to the beginning, even though you may have many years of experience and are a professional specialist in your field.
Remember, you actually changed jobs because you wanted something new. That also means you're new to everything that entails. So it's good if you can look at the next part of your life as a kind of state of emergency.
Familiar routines are out of effect from the moment you step out the door at home: You have to find a new bike route to work or arrange other train departures.
It may sound like trifles, but it's not, because parts of your daily life that had become pure habit requires you to spend energy finding solutions.
Everything at work is new: both the practical aspects ("Where is IT support?"), the collegial aspects ("Who can I ask for help?") and the tasks ("What systems and methods should I use?").
Maybe you're not working very hard at the new job in the traditional sense, but your brain is still working overtime because it has to process and place all the many new impressions.
It is important for a good start that you recognise yourself as new and ignorant, and therefore also give yourself permission to start quietly.
Prepare your loved ones for the start-up side effects
The brain's overwork also means that you may be incredibly tired at first. You may not notice it when you're at work, but it can hit you when you get home and on the weekends.
Therefore, it is not enough for you to acknowledge that you are in a state of emergency. You should also tell your loved ones who you are with on a daily basis. It is a good idea to talk to those at home about it before you start your new job, so that they are prepared for the “start-up side effects”.
Even though you might not normally want to let your work life control your private life, it's good to organise your private life around your work for a period of time.
Maybe you don't want to start big projects at home or have your calendar packed with social activities. It's completely understandable to decline invitations because you've started a new job.