4 Ways to Prevent Work Burnout
Don’t crash and burn.
Photo: Polina Zimmerman for Pexels
Free time is costing us more than it seems. Drake knows. And so do we.
In part, this is because all of our illusory free time has been sucked into the vacuum that is the all-encompassing work life. 24/7 availability is the norm. You aren't taking a mental health day because your car-peer (AKA your career peer) hasn't taken a single sick or vacation day. And you're answering emails from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep. But no one, not even your boss, is immune to burnout.
So if you're smiling on the outside, crying on the inside, we feel you, and we don't want you to get to that point. We know the usual steps to avoiding burnout (grab a coffee and go for a walk around the block, make sure to fit in a workout, and take your lunch breaks), but there has to be something more, right? There is.
Here are four ways to keep your mind healthy in the midst of the career grind.
1. Identify What You Need From Your Career
We have various needs when it comes to work. There are some employees that excel in high-pressure situations. Others need a much more consistent day to day. However, six virtues have been identified as important to keeping our headspace happy at work:
You can be yourself. Enough said.
You’re told what’s really going on. Transparency within the workplace makes you feel like you belong and matter to the company. You want to feel like you're an important
Your strengths are magnified. If you're constantly being told what you're doing wrong, without doing tasks or being given the option to show your strengths, you're going to feel like a failure all the time. And your star is going to burnout when it enters the work atmosphere.
The company stands for something meaningful—to you. Think about what is meaningful to you. It matters when you hit the hay if you feel like this next point…
Your daily work is rewarding. Feeling discouraged day in and day out is one of the biggest contributors to burnout.
Stupid rules don’t exist.
2. Focus on the Rule of Three
To-do lists are as never-ending as the stream of information. If you feel the heat of burnout on your back, narrow your focus. At the beginning of the day, aside from your to-do list, write down three things that you want to accomplish before the moon takes its spot overhead. When you set small challenges that are within reason, you will feel purpose heading into the following day instead of discouragement.
Aristotle wrote about the rule of three in his book Rhetoric. To simply the concept, the philosopher said that people tend to more easily remember things grouped by threes and that threes are funnier, more satisfying, and more effective. It's a writing rule that you can apply to work.
3. Switch Up the Order of Your Day-to-Day
We get into the habit of answering emails in the morning, brainstorming in the afternoon, and taking meetings in between. The monotony of doing the same thing can wear on the mind. If you think of your brain like your body, you know that you have to switch up exercise routines to see a difference and avoid adaptation. Your brain is the same, and if you want to get out of a creative rut, or move away from the burnout cliff, make simple switches that workout different parts of your brain at different parts of the day.
Brainstorm creative ideas in the morning. Creative thinking is facilitated by the interaction between the left and right interior frontal gyri.
Answer emails around 11 and give your temporal lobe a workout. The temporal lobe is the part of the brain that controls reading and visual recognition.
4. Take a Break From Tech
I think about Don Draper a lot. And not because I have a thing for Jon Hamm or want to drink at work. Rather, I think about the days he spent sitting in his office, brainstorming ideas, his imagination unrestricted and unfettered by tech.
When I find myself stumped, I'll scroll Instagram. Mistake. This usually makes the problem I'm stumbling over worse, I get more frustrated and less able to concentrate. If you feel like you've landed in the same brain-melting position, it's time to do what I call "the Draper."
It's kind of like work meditation. Turn off tech. Hone in on that beautiful brain of yours and don't get distracted by the pinging and the dinging.
This story was originally published on April 19, 2019, and has since been updated.
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Millennial Burnout Is Real. The Question Is: Do You Have It?
We want to do it all. At what cost?
We want to do it all—but what happens if doing it all drives us to a place where we can't get anything done?
Millennials are not invincible—but we love to tell ourselves we are. I recall multiple occasions when concerned friends and family members warned me, "Careful you don't burn out!" And I recall as many occasions when I just shrugged it off before heading to my next commitment.
For most millennials, it starts in high school when you’re expected to take on countless extracurriculars. College is no breeze, but you get through it with the grades your parents expect and with a smattering of internships you somehow tuck between classes. Your friends are right there with you, juggling it all and joking that “overworked” is the new “normal.”
But then there’s adulthood.
I dove head-first into my first job while handling two apartment moves, a hectic social life, and then—because I wasn’t stressed enough—I took on additional volunteer work. My high school and college self could handle juggling, but I quickly realized I hadn’t accounted for the real world pressures of independence and a competitive work environment.
The trouble with burnout is that it strikes when you least expect it. You're overworked, overstimulated, and striving for excellence in a world that sets the bar high. And as a millennial, you’re setting your own bar even higher.
“The trouble with burnout is that it strikes when you least expect it.”
We know ourselves better than anyone, yet we internalize societal pressures and put aside our needs. We want to strengthen our personal brand, maintain an active social life, all while striving for that sweet work-life balance—when balance means we just sort of never stop working.
We. Are. Tired.
And who can blame us? Fortunately, though, we can change that. Here are signs you’re nearing burnout and some ways to stop it before it happens.
SIGN 1: Someone asks what’s most important in your life and your answer is ‘everything.’
We want to do it all. But what happens if doing it all means sacrificing healthy sleeping and eating habits? Not worth it.
You know the word “prioritize,” but a lot of millennials struggle with the concept. There's so much to do, and in the Digital Age, it feels like everything needs to be done immediately. Ever have someone give you a hard time about not texting them back immediately? I hate to break it to you, but you can’t do it all at the same time. You’ll burn yourself out, guaranteed.
SOLUTION: SLOW DOWN + STREAMLINE
I say it's time to cut some of the dead weight. Start by taking a look at your schedule for the next week. Is there anything you'll be doing that fills you with dread? See if there's a way to maneuver yourself out of it. Our entrepreneurial tendencies mean we often say “yes” to every opportunity. But people will be supportive of your need to take a step back. Be honest about your concerns, say no, then stick to it.
Next, try making a to-do list. It may seem archaic, but listing out what needs to be done per day and then checking those items off your list can give you a great sense of accomplishment. It will also allow you to visualize what’s most important and what can be left for another day.
SIGN 2: You panic if you leave your iPhone (and thus instagram) at home
As millennials, we've been raised with limitless information and countless ways to communicate. We’re encouraged to build our identities on social media, reinforcing our public image with well-edited photos of party going and staged selfies. That’s a lot of pressure, and it’s time consuming. Suddenly, the need to share means we’re permanently plugged into our devices.
SOLUTION: DON'T GIVE IN TO THE PRESSURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Remember that you exist in the present and that person is enough. If your work life isn’t contingent on your social presence (meaning you’re not working as a social media marketer), reevaluate your participation on social platforms.
How often are you pulling up Twitter or Instagram to share? Try actually counting how many times a day you open the app. The results might be staggering, but you’ll have to face your problem honestly.
That time can be better spent sleeping, cooking healthy meals, or exercising. Yes, these options may initially seem less appealing (thanks to social media, too many of us have no sense of how to be alone), but they can drastically improve your overall health and energy levels.
Put your phone in another room before you go to bed so you won’t be tempted to check it in the middle of the night or immediately when you wake up.
Consider committing to only checking Instagram (or Twitter or Facebook) once a day.
Disable your push notifications. They’re both tempting and distracting. You’ll be more productive without them.
The next time you plan a fun activity or take a trip, commit to not photographing it. Instead, just focus on enjoying it.
SIGN 3: You know your body needs a quiet night in, but when friends text, you wind up going for yet another night out. that’s five days in a row.
This may seem like an obvious point, but we often forget to take care of ourselves. We get a text from a friend asking to meet for dinner as the workday comes to an end. Instead of heading home to get an early night’s rest, we talk ourselves into meeting for happy hour and feel pressured into the next bar or restaurant down the street.
SOLUTION: MANAGE EXPECTATIONS AND PRACTICE SAYING “NO”
It’s difficult to tell your friend no because you want to sleep. Chances are, they’ll put on the pressure and make a few jokes at your expense. But that extra time for self-care is crucial to avoid burnout. You will miss many more happy hours if you’re completely exhausted, depressed, stressed, or even physically ill. As hard as it may be to make time for it, self-care is crucial.
If you’re like most millennials, you may need to actually schedule your nights in so you don’t make plans on top of them. Put them on your calendar and stick to them.
Consider limiting drinking to weekends. Late nights are exhausting, but you’ll only feel more run-down if you’re dehydrated and hungover.
For the friends who tend to pressure, make advanced plans and offer them the specific days you’re available. Then they won’t expect you to text on the nights you’re not.
Single? Delete your dating apps. If you’re feeling frantic and exhausted, you’re not going to be your interesting self anyway. Make your self-care your priority until things calm down. Trust us, Tinder will be there when you get back.
Whether you’re on the cusp or already drowning in a pool of burnout, it’s never too late to take your life into your hands. Reflect on how you got to where you are, cut yourself some slack, then use our tips to get back on track. As millennials, we hate the thought but: sometimes we need to take a step back to move forward.
Do you think millennial burnout is a real thing? Why or why not? Chime in below.
An original version of this article appeared on Career Contessa.
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The Trick to Avoiding Burnout Isn't Delegating or Meditating
This calls for a celebration.
photo credit: Memorandum
This whole business of building your dream career is not for the faint of heart; we know this.
Delegate! The productivity hackers command. Automate! The digital marketing experts implore. Meditate before meetings! Suggest the self-care gurus. And yes, a healthy mix of all of the above will go far in helping to grow and expand one’s professional empire. The problem is that in the quest to outperform, overdeliver and yes maybe even overachieve, we often miss out on a powerful, potentially easier way.
What if I told you there was a nearly foolproof, feel-good tactic available to you? Right now. Something basically guaranteed to activate a serious mood-boost, along with a burst of motivation, creativity and enthusiasm for yourself and your team? A strategy that will help to drive demand for your products and services, build extreme team loyalty and attract your right people and opportunities your way, like a magnet.
So what is this powerful career cocktail?
Professional recognition.
Employees who do not feel adequately recognized are twice as likely to say they’ll quit in the next year, which seems likely as a Gallup poll conducted in 2016 found that employees often feel their best efforts are routinely ignored. In fact, the number one reason Americans leave their jobs is that they don’t feel appreciated. And yet, the Aberdeen Group found that only 14% of organizations provide managers with the necessary tools for rewards and recognition.”
Seriously.
So how do we turn this around? Here are 3 ideas:
Seek out PR opportunities for your experts
The standard protocol is often to have the CEO act as the mouthpiece for a company, whether or not she is intimately involved in the subject matter at hand. Instead, make company PR a group effort. Encourage your team to seek out opportunities to write articles, contribute expert quotes, submit for career interviews, apply to speak on panels, heck, give a keynote speech. Share the spotlight with the experts who are helping you succeed and everyone wins. If you’re an employee, being opportunities like this to the table and argue your case.
Earmark budget (and-time) for awards and celebrations
Every cent matters, particularly in a startup environment. But take note of a World at Work study that found 46% of senior managers view recognition programs as an investment rather than an expense. From that perspective, consider putting money aside for external and internal recognition opportunities. Whether you apply for industry awards, incentivize an employee of the month program with a half day of paid-time-off, or host a quarterly peer-recognition love fest complete with seasonal snacks, ensure everyone knows these programs (and the core value of appreciation) are a company priority.
Write love letters
One of my career maxims is to ‘lead with generosity.’ This idea aligns well with one of my favorite quotes by the French philosopher Simone Weil, particularly apt in our multi-platform, multi-distraction world: “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” (It's also free.)
One of my favorite strategies to bust through my own burnout is to send out emails of appreciation. I send them to people I know and complete strangers, anyone whose work I am inspired by, anyone who has gone above and beyond for me in a meaningful way.
No matter where you are at in your career, you have every opportunity to build yourself up - and those around you - through a heartfelt note of appreciation.
By adopting formal-or even informal-recognition practices for yourself and your team, you’ll enjoy perks like an improvement in outside perception, an easier time attracting top talent, higher customer satisfaction, lower turnover, less frustration, a more highly engaged workforce and better business results overall.
Now that sounds like something worth celebrating.
Crosby Noricks is the founder and director of PR Couture, the sourcebook for fashion and lifestyle communicators. As part of the site’s own 10-year anniversary celebration, Crosby launched The Bespoke Communication Awards, a global online award program established to recognize excellence among agencies, in-house teams, individuals and brands. The BCAs include a free “Favorites Category” nomination form for 6 awards, including ‘Breakout Lifestyle Brand’ and ‘Favorite Industry News Source/Publication’ - submit your faves today!
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How to Own Your Glow During the Most Dysfunctional Season of All
Glow get 'em.
In her new book, OWN YOUR GLOW: A Soulful Guide to Luminous Living And Crowning The Queen Within, Latham Thomas talks about how, "Personal growth is not about how much you accumulate but how much you release." In the book, Thomas, who is also the creator and mama guru at Mama Glow, offers an antidote to the hustle-hard/burnout fast culture, instead suggesting a slower and intentional pathway to empowerment.
When it comes to our careers (and our career fears), "releasing" might sound like some NO_WAY_NOT-HAPPENING kind of advice. (If the idea of that has you clenching your fists, this read is def for you.) After all, we want to accumulate: titles, raises, praise. Right? Well, what if we flipped the script a bit? Especially during the upcoming holiday season when we can all get a little... antsy, to put it nicely. Because the holidays are hard. On everyone. We don’t take care of ourselves and contrary to glowing xmas tree lights, we all tend to DIM A LIL BIT.
Own Your Glow, is the ideal way to stay on life track and a way to stay bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as we close out 2017. So we asked Latham to talk about what she dubs “The Core Four,” as they relate to career and the workplace.
Latham tells us:
I encourage you to start asking yourself probing and productive questions to unlock hidden tendencies and obstacles and identify parts of yourself that need a little more glow so you can step more prominently into your power. When you construct your questions, use what I call “the Core Four”: who, what, when, and how. Here are some questions I invite you to explore as you reflect on your journey professionally.
When we are ready to facilitate change and up level our lives to harness what lies ahead we naturally take stock of what’s already on our plates and what we need to increase for our abundance and what we need to release.
Who am I holding on to by attracting people who don’t serve my highest good?
When we anchor ourselves in soil that is seeded with people who aren’t vested in our success, who don’t value our gifts and who are committed to catty competition, we replay the same patterns and experience the same lack of growth personally and professionally. Who deep down inside are we afraid of loosing, or becoming by keeping the wrong company? Find your flock. Invest time with people who make you feel more radiant who serve as a catalyst for the good in your life. This can be in the form of mentorship or sponsorship, a sister circle of friend supporters, a group mastermind or an online private group.
"Invest time with people who serve as a catalyst for the good in your life."
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What do I gain by remaining stuck in the same situation or circumstances?
It’s easy to adhere to the stories we tell ourselves about our circumstances. Why is it that I can’t seem to advance in my position? Sometimes staying in the same position or lingering in circumstances that we’ve outgrown serves as a comfort zone and an impediment to our personal growth. Sometimes being stuck feels most comfortable since it’s familiar. What would we gain if we moved past our comfort zone professionally speaking? What would it look like to put more on your plate, not task wise but risk wise? A quick way to jump forward past your circumstances is to embrace risk and commit to doing what scares you. Take on a project that will help you spread your wings, activate a team of supporters and show off a ton of your skills.
When do I feel my best, and what is keeping me from following that feeling?
Self-care is about assessing what supports you at the deepest level and honoring those feelings and responding with rituals and making space for yourself to rest and recharge. A strong self-care practice sharpens our discernment and we learn what supports us and what depletes us. When we feel our very best we make choices aligned with that sense of well-being. Knowing what actions lead to you feeling your best will help you stay on track with moving towards your goals and achieving them.
"A strong self-care practice sharpens our discernment."
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How have I constructed my life to follow other people’s rules?
It’s important to explore the paradigms we operate within. We have been indoctrinated to be kind, to keep in line, to follow the rules and always say 'yes' and please everyone else at the expense of our own well-being and happiness. Where do you need to excavate these patterns that are rooted in a lack of self-awareness? What are the building blocks of beliefs you’ve used to construct your life? What needs to crumble for you to succeed? I decided to stop following the rules a long time ago and my life has been prosperous ever since.
Want more? Grab your own copy of OWN YOUR GLOW: A Soulful Guide to Luminous Living And Crowning The Queen Within by Latham Thomas
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Millennial Women Are Burning Out Faster Than Ever
Where has all your motivation gone? (Paula Cole voice.)
Millennial women are burning out. They are also leaving their jobs at a faster rate than their male counterparts. This has nothing to do with babies. So what’s happening?
Here are four common reasons and what we can do about it.
THE REASON: SOCIETAL EXPECTATIONS
Even though women are starting companies and bringing home the bacon more than ever, there is still gender bias that exists in both the workplace and at home. In 2013 the US Census released data showing that 40% of household breadwinners were women. Still, the pressure to perform gender roles at home and smash through them at work is exhausting.
WHAT CAN WE DO: BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF THE FUTURE!
This is a tough one because this is something that will (fingers-crossed) work out over time. The rate of men staying home to raise the kids is not congruous to the number of women in the workplace. And women have been starting businesses at a faster rate than men for the last twenty years. Research has shown that women will create over half of the 9.72 million new small business jobs expected to be created by 2018.
So, we keep fighting for parity, in all areas of our lives. And we look to the future generations. Specifically, Gen Z, who, research has shown will be the least judgmental of all generations. They are less likely to ascribe to gender norms or put people in boxes.
"We keep fighting for parity, in all areas of our lives. And we look to the future generations."
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Which means expectations will change-- for both genders-- and ideally, the pressure to be all things to all people will subside.
THE REASON: UBER-CONNECTED WORKPLACES
Technology, you Medusa. Your snakes have slithered into every moment of our lives and it’s turning us to stone. Or ash, since we’re talking about #burnout.
Our parents never had to deal with this! They’ll never understand the reality of working round-the-clock and having an employer that can contact us at all hours of the day. I once had a boss who, if he wasn’t in the office, Facetimed me almost every morning to make sure I was staying on track. It became exhausting to see his face. Sometimes I was in the bathroom. Other times, I’d miss the call because I was refilling my coffee. If I missed it, I was reamed. And I burnt out 100% and left that job.
WHAT CAN WE DO: SWITCH OFF, WITHIN REASON
Easier said than done. A black screen is our worst nightmare, but we are creating an abyss more ominous than any black screen: our professional burnout before 30.
"Technology, you Medusa. Your snakes have slithered into every moment of our lives."
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You need to set boundaries with your job. There is no reason that you need to be answering emails at midnight or checking your phone FIRST thing upon waking. The healthiest mind is a balanced one. How many times do we have to say it before it sticks?
Start somewhere small-- because small changes create bigger boundaries and better habits. Aside from the obvious dangers of texting while driving, make a pact with yourself to NEVER answer a single work email or text while you are driving because it will help set a boundary. It will not only save your life or others’, but driving is a 100% legitimate reason to not answer a frantic text/email from a boss or colleague. Tell your boss you’ll no longer be answering texts or emails from the car. As long as you make it to work on time, this is healthy place to start.
THE REASON: UNCLEAR CAREER PATHS
We hear about women who are fired and find themselves.
We hear about women who boldly quit and find themselves.
We hear about women who make the transition from “job” to “career.”
Very rarely do we hear about women who stayed the course and found themselves within their current position. Guess what? It happens! This should excite you even though career means something very different than it did 20 years ago. The shifting technological landscape and startup world mean everything is moving at warp speed. It’s hard to know what a tenured career will look like when you can’t see two years from now. It's hard to think about the fact that maybe our generation will never really retire!
WHAT WE CAN DO: BE THE CARTOGRAPHER OF YOUR OWN CAREER
If you feel lost within your current position, write down the goals of where you want to go. You can take the freelance backroad or you can hop on the corporate interstate but goal-mapping is important and journaling is the enemy of confusion.
This is completely on you. It’s not up to your employer or boss to create your path. If you want to move forward within the company, make it known. Talk to you supervisor about what your options are. Don’t quit because you can’t see the forest through the trees. Wipe the sweat from your brow and refocus.
THE REASON: IT’S NOT YOUR PASSION
It doesn’t help that social media features lots of influencers who have “quit” their day jobs and refused to pursue passion in the margins. Some people say that if it’s not your passion, you will burn out. But other millennial women are using this as an excuse to bounce from their obligations.
WHAT CAN WE DO: FIND THE PASSION IN YOUR CURRENT JOB
The pairing of job and/or career and passion is not a perfect one. If you are looking for complete satisfaction out of a career, boy will you will be looking for a long time! Even the people you meet who love their career, still don’t like them sometimes. It’s like marriage-- some days it’s love, some days it’s work.
Everything worth having is hard work-- that includes passion. No relationship and no job will completely satisfy you; it’s the reason why we have more than one friend. Unfortunately it’s much harder to have more than one job. So work to find the passion in the work you are doing and you might end up finding your true calling. Or falling for the job you already have.
And then think back to point #2 and map out your career goals.