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Burnout: 1000 Paper Cuts

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For many, 2020 has been a year of 1000 paper cuts. Rather than one big event resulting in a dramatic case of spontaneous combustion it has been the one thousand paper cuts shredding our optimism, cutting away at our self-efficacy, and dicing our energy into exhaustion.

Rather than wallpapering our mind with premature resilience, I believe it is time to take stock. I believe the way out of something is through it — so if you feel burnt out I encourage you to stop, or at least pause, notice your wounds, and declare: “owie, owie, owie.”

I believe our wounds transformed can become our gifts to our community but let’s not rush it with images or being resilient rubber balls that just keep bouncing or Energizer bunnies mindlessly marching forward while pounding our drums to drown out pain.

It is okay to not be okay, Just because you start there doesn’t mean you stay there. You can move forward but sometimes we need to sway backwards a little bit to generate authentic movement and momentum.

Remember Scott Peck’s opening 3 words in The Road Less Traveled: “Life is difficult.”

Mindful Noticing: A Pathway to both Liking and Engagement

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A simple, yet very powerful, employee noticing practice.

Your mindfulness is expanded when you take time to notice new things or see old things in new ways. Ellen J. Langer’s research on mindfulness demonstrated that when we notice more about others and things we like them more and are more engaged with them.

So you don’t have to pay attention, it cost nothing. Give your attention freely to whoever or whatever is right in front of you. You can start small by even noticing 2 new things.

When you give others your attention, your mindfulness expands, and you create stronger more engaged relationships with others. You will also find yourself more engaged in your work.

Make everyday noticing your true gift for the New Year.

Engagement and Burnout: “You’ve got to give a little…”

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To me, engaging means giving of myself to my work. I mindfully give but do not mindlessly lose myself in my work.

I work with conscious intention and know as Christina Maslach stated: “giving of yourself must be balanced with giving to yourself.”

There may be times of full engagement when you need to give’er but you also need times to throttle back and recharge, refresh, and rejuvenate or what may give way — is yourself.

Stopping Burnout

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Pause. Stop. Recover. Case Closed.

Burnout can result from never-ending work. According to Derks & Bakker people can become trapped in a continuous cycle attempting to address the inherent lack of closure in contemporary work.

This reminds me of the old statement that work expands to fill the time available for it’s completion.

How do you put closure on your work and extinguish the flames of potential burnout?