During my senior year of college, I wrote a report on Burnout for a Leadership Business course. I only remember this, because I recently found all my college essays while cleaning up my old laptop. Reading my report was quite fascinating because the way we talk about burnout post-pandemic vs pre-pandemic seems to be drastically different.
Burnout has become this hot trendy word that is now constantly thrown around as if everyone is feeling it. Because of this, burnout comes off as not that big of a deal because we collectively are ALL experiencing it.
That is 1. not true. and 2. burnout is very serious.
Burnout for me looked like this...(yes, I realize it can look different for everyone but wanted to share my experience)
MONDAY MORNING
6:30 am - Wake up & check my email + slack on my phone to start my day with lots of anxiety
7 am - Attempt to get outside to go on a walk but don't get outside because it's too much effort & I have SO many slacks and emails to reply to so I might as well use my energy there so I hop on my laptop and sign in to slack & email - start replying to messages immediately
8:30 am - start having calls back to back
If I had a few minutes between calls I would either lie on the ground in
my office or cry in my bed for 2-3 mins before my next call
2 pm - 3 pm - I would realize I haven't eaten anything so I would go grab random snacks in the kitchen that I could easily eat and work at the same time
Take calls until 6 pm - sometimes even 7 pm
7 pm - 9 pm - I would lie on the couch as a shell of a human dreading to do it all again the next day!
I realize now, that a lot of this could have been managed better by having stronger boundaries and by putting myself first before work but, I was so caught up in the idea, that if I say yes to every customer, every project, and everything my manager asks of me - I was going to be promoted!
Guess what...I wasn't promoted and all I was left with was the crushing reality that I was burnt out.
Some things I have implemented to help create a more balanced lifestyle is taking 1 hour (if possible, some days it is 30 mins) for lunch every single day. Food gives us energy - no food or only eating quick snacks for meals doesn't make anyone feel better throughout their day. I recently found a coach, Micole whose focus is to teach high-achieving women to cook next-level meals with ease & battle burnout. I have a session booked next month and I am so excited to level up my cooking now that I have created this space for cooking & eating for me during my day!
The second thing that I did that had a huge impact was to remove Slack and email from my phone. I realize that not everyone can do this but given the role I was in, I didn't have to be on 24/7 like I was. When I had email and slack on my phone, I would find myself checking them randomly on the weekend, late at night, first thing when I woke up, and when I was hanging out with friends or family. Deleting these two apps from my phone helped me establish that boundary - I must be at my laptop to be working. This helped me get back into a more reasonable work schedule that has played a huge impact in helping me recover from burnout.
Burnout is currently being tossed around as a "buzzword" in the corporate world and it does bother me when it is used so casually or nonchalantly. Burnout for me was scary. I felt alone, depressed, anxious, and constantly on edge about work that I wasn't able to take care of what mattered most, myself.
This weekend, after continuing to process the news of Roe v Wade, I decided I needed to turn up the dial on self-care this week to allow myself to heal. I signed on a little early to work because I booked a massage and then I signed off at 4:30 pm because that was the only opening they had on Monday. (If you are looking for an AMAZING massage in Massachusetts, Maura at Anam Cara Wellness is incredible!!!)
If that isn't what progress looks like I don't know what does!
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