B U R N O U T
I am already getting urgent meeting requests from clients, where, if I am not careful could easily fill up the diary for this month. Fortunately for me, my executive assistant is very protective of my time and often reminds me that just because I am FREE doesn’t mean I am AVAILABLE.
One of my central themes for how I work this year is LESS IS MORE. Essentially I am working with fewer clients this year but doing more with the ones I have. When I say more I don’t mean more time but going deeper on the challenges my clients face but ensuring that I don’t spread myself too thin by trying to do too much. Also making more time for my wellbeing.
You see I have experienced burnout a few times in my career. Mostly when I wasn’t in control of my workload, or at least I didn’t think I was. With experience, I have become more attuned to when I am overwhelmed. I know I get snappy at those around me, I look at my diary with dread, my energy dips, I get sideswiped with fatigue and my diet goes haywire. Those warning signs remind me to reappraise what I am doing and I seek to get back to being whelmed. That happy space between being overwhelmed and underwhelmed.
Running a high-performance business or being involved in an intense career, where expectations of what you do are high, can mean that there are some times you will be operating in fifth gear. Nothing wrong with that, as long as you realise that there are other gears other than fifth. Sometimes you just need to get back to the slow gear and take perspective.
Whether you started your year with resolutions or intentions, I hope that you have carefully planned for how you manage your time. Take time out to plan your week or day that works for you. Be intentional about your rest, diet, exercise in the same way you are about your work. Burnout can lead to workplace stress, anxiety and in some cases depression, and in these strange times, I can only imagine that it will creep up on most of us if we are unaware.
Take care and plan ahead so it doesn’t creep up on you.
