I stared at my laptop for
hours; let's be honest, days! I kept writing then deleting, writing then
deleting, over and over. Finally my husband closed my laptop and handed me
Pinterest. He knows it’s my Fall night
preferred relaxation tool. It’s something about all the recipes, décor ideas,
and career posts that suck me in. After letting my brain wander, I realized; I
just need a break. Have you ever felt too drained to think? Still
irrationally dissecting a project at work?
Too drained to wash clothes when you get home? Yea that's me right
now. The holiday break couldn’t have come at a better time. Feeling like
Rhonda Rousey after a Holly Holm monster neck face kick thing. (PS. I love Rowdy Rousey, but I was not ready!)
We get so ambitious, focused,
yet almost foolish at times. We sometimes forget that life is a marathon
and think we need to get everything right now.
That if we don’t have whatever fantasy by some fantastical time, then we’re
off track. So, we work that 14 hour day,
erase work/life balance, volunteer for more projects, and still think we aren’t
doing enough. In turn, we barely sleep,
find humor at the bottom of a large glass of grown up juice, or troll through the
multitude of engagements, baby showers, and extravagant trips our Facebook friends
just seem to have the mysterious time and money for. So we increase our projects in hopes to be noticed and climb the ladder. Except we just pile more and more on until we have a small chaotic cloud we can't seem to get quite under control. We’ve convinced ourselves this is normal;
it’s what we have to do to get anywhere. But success is not measured by how
fast you get there, but by how long you can sustain it. I always fall victim to ‘doing too much’. I know at 5:31 PM I need to leave my work at
work, but I end up thinking about program logistics on my commute home anyway.
With us working for a
generation who values tenure and expects you to do more than asked, how do you
climb the totem pole without burning yourself out? Here are 5 suggestions to avoid chaos induced burnout:
- The power of no! We are so often taught, to obey authority and
do what is asked of us. That when recognized to do a task you do it and no
questions asked. That somehow if you
continue to say no, uppers will stop asking you. Quality over quantity, always! You’d rather do two or three projects
extremely well versus 5 projects where you’ve made simple mistakes. Saying no doesn’t mean disrespect it shows
you are able to manage your time and know your limits.
- Know your limit! When you say no to taking on more projects, you
might get a side eye from your boss; but oh well. Any boss will be more impressed with quality
work rather than a huge pile of projects half done. You may get a little bit of jealousy from
co-workers when your 5 projects are done well with little to no errors while
their 20 projects are constantly being picked apart by uppers for
mistakes. This doesn’t mean you should
produce far less than your counterpart, you still have to pull your weight and
meet expectations. Just know your limit.
- Become a J! According to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, being a ‘J’ is someone who prefers to be settled and
organized. If you’re feeling a level of
burnout; you must get a plan! Whether
you’re big picture like me and like working backwards or vice versa,
whatever. Just plan your projects
out. It will keep you on task and give
you small accomplishments along the way.
- It’s just a job! It’s not personal; it’s just business. So stop taking things personally. I know it’s human nature to feel personally
attacked when someone disagrees with you, but get over that. This is a job/career that should not consume
you. When someone gives feedback to your
project, think about it, and apply it accordingly. No one is personally attacking you, and if so
then that’s a whole other issue. This is not your life. You’re life includes your job, but your job
is not life; think on that.
- Relax & Recharge! My previous post talked about unplugging from
work. No overzealous email should ruin
your evening at home. It’s a time for
you to recharge your brain and body battery by doing something you enjoy and
not office related. Use this time to
play an old school N64 game, have a kid’s dinner date, or dress up for a Harry
Potter Halloween Pub Crawl. Check that
article out for more inspiration.
For more in depth assistance please reach out to me via my email!
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