Reducing Burnout from Our Overloaded Work Plates

Creating a Burnout Reducing Mindset

Our thoughts are powerful! They can keep us up at night, bring us great joy, or stress us out with physical repercussions to our health. Our mindset during this challenging time is no different. Letting the increased work load, reduced work force, and ever-changing priorities dictate our mindset will lead us to burnout! However, there are ways to shift our mindset to what serves us and reduced burnout. Three (3) easy ways we can reduce burnout through our mindset are listed below.

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Starting the Day Off on The Right Foot – Waking up and thinking about all of the tasks or things we have to do, the stress of doing them, and being frazzled from the word go is draining. It creates a physical and mental drain which leads to stress and burnout. However, when we start off on the right foot, we can be more productive, more efficient, and have less stress and worry in our lives. Starting the day off with what helps us relax, and brings calmness and peace to us, WILL reduce burnout. When we start our day off with calmness and relaxation, we are already ahead of the game because we are in a much better head space to tackle the day then before.

How can you bring calmness and relaxation to your morning? By sipping coffee while watching TV, playing with your pet, meditating, or doing a crossword puzzle?

Getting Away from The Problems at Hand – In our current environment, it is very easy to get overwhelmed with everything we are being asked to do, especially when we get “lip service” from our management that they understand we are overworked but don’t take any action to help lessen our burden. It is natural for us to focus on these problems as they, rightfully so, bring out strong reactions in us. However, it is when we continue to harp on these problems that we are kept in a physio-psychological state which drains us and burns us out. On the other hand, when we allow our reactions to come out, embrace them, and chose to focus on the solutions we want to achieve instead, we switch our state of mind to one which keeps us in a physio-psychological state that uplifts us. Getting away from the problems at hand by focusing on the solutions, outcomes, and objectives we want WILL reduce our burnout through our natural physiology.

What trigger, cue, or reminder can help you focus on the outcomes you seek versus the problems you face? Ever present visual cues are greatly helpful, such as, whiteboards, sticky notes, posters, and pictures.

Eating an Elephant One Bite at a Time – Most of us are probably familiar with the question “How do you eat an elephant?” and the answer of “One bite at a time.” But, how many of us actually remember to head it? When more and more gets dumped on our plate, it is easy to feel like what we are being asked to do is too much and is not possible; everything is too overwhelming and too large to accomplish. Similarly to focusing on the problems we face, this too keeps us in a physio-psychological state which drains us and burns us out. However, when we break our tasks up into small manageable bites, we WILL reduce burnout because we now know we CAN achieve them and WILL watch them be achieved one at a time. Focusing on what is possible and achievable keeps us in a positive physio-psychological state which empowers us.

What saying helps you take it one step at a time? Put one foot in front of the other? Keep it simple? Or, eat one bite at a time? Using a saying, a mantra, helps us in the moment focus on what is manageable and achievable.

Peace is in the Plan

One of the fundamental things which helps us, as human beings, put one foot in front of the other is the knowledge that there IS a way forward and we ARE capable of walking the path to get there. In other words, having a plan. During times like this, it can feel like it is impossible to plan with ever changing priorities and marching orders; however, there IS a way to do it! Planning our approach to how we handle our current circumstances and the decision process we use to choose our way forward IS possible. It just takes a little bit of writing, thought, and organization. Three (3) easy ways we can reduce burnout through planning are listed below.

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Writing it Down – It may sound simple, but it works! Writing things down creates clarity by naturally engaging a process to digest all of the information we have swirling around in our brains, and, it brings tangibility to the foundations of a plan for us. While we are certainly capable of thinking things through and processing information through thoughts only, writing them out goes far beyond keeping them inside. Five key advantages of writing it down are: 1) we remember our thoughts as they’re now out on paper; 2) we save ourselves time later by having them written down instead of spending time trying to recall them in the moment; 3) it is easier to organize our thoughts when we visibly see them versus trying to run through them using our memory; 4) we are more easily able to clearly and concisely expressing our thoughts; and 5) it is a lot easier to bring finality to the “rough draft” of our thoughts which typically exist in our heads. Writing things down WILL reduce our burnout through the peace which comes from the greater clarity, certainty, and understanding of having the foundations of a plan.

What method of writing it down works best for you, i.e., paper, computer, or whiteboard?

What Factors Do I Need to Consider? – Right now, many of us are faced with ever changing priorities and an overloaded plate of tasks we are being asked to complete. The result of this is conflict. Conflict of priorities, conflict of what to delegate to our teams or take on ourselves, and conflict of quantity versus quality as there is only so much time in the day. In times like this, it is hard to see the worth in taking a moment to think versus working on a task we have to complete; however, taking the time to think through (and write down) what we need to consider WILL reduce our burnout in the long run. A key part of this is the question “What factors do I need to consider?” Knowing what goes into making our decisions WILL create a path forward for us and a natural sense of peace knowing we HAVE a plan in place to make our decisions. Several common factors which help us make a decision are: 1) what is the deadline for a task; 2) is the deadline artificial or mandated by law or policy; 3) who is responsible for a task; 4) what needs to happen before a task can be completed, e.g., does June need to complete a task and give it to George who then gives their task to Mike to complete this one; 5) what other tasks does a task feed into; 6) how long does it take to complete a task; and 7) how does a task align with our personal, team’s, and organization’s goals. Knowing what factors we need to consider WILL reduce our burnout through the peace which comes from having a plan of action around how to make our decisions and proceed forward.

What are the factors that go into your decision making and address the tasks on your plate?

Organization Through Prioritization – Writing things down and knowing the factors that we need to consider are only two parts of the puzzle. The third piece of the puzzle is how we prioritize our tasks at hand. Once we know this, we WILL reduce our burnout as we have an organized plan forward of how to proceed in the most time-efficient manner possible. One of the most common ways we prioritize tasks today is through deadlines; however, as we see above, there are many other factors which come into play. Once we understand these factors, it is a lot easier to prioritize what tasks need to be done first before others, when they need to be completed, and who is to complete them. This prioritization naturally creates a sense of order for us which DOES reduce our burnout through the peace of mind of how to properly move forward. Having a list we can continually add to, adjust, sort through, mark off completed tasks, and constantly refer to, whether it’s a whiteboard, spread sheet, or project management tool, will create peace through having an organized plan forward based on everything we need to use to prioritize.

What do you already have in place that you can modify to more easily sift through and prioritize what is on your plate?

Delegation

Delegation sounds simple, yet, it often causes us more stress by either debating what and to whom we should delegate to or, taking the work on ourselves and burning out. Especially when we are overloaded and facing no end in sight to our pile of work becoming higher and higher. During these times, we can feel like it is easier to do something ourselves, we don’t want to put more work on others plate, and it’s more time efficient to do it ourselves despite the personal cost that carries with it. Yet, there is a way to delegate work for our benefit AND the benefit of our team members, which will reduce our burnout. Three (3) easy ways we can help reduce burnout through delegation are listed below.

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Protector or Propagator? – It is often said that things roll downhill. When they do, what we choose to do as a leader greatly impacts those around us. One of the most common traits described, when talking about leaders people look up to, is protection. Protection from the stance of shielding direct reports from administrative or political obstacles that get in the way of direct reports being able to do their jobs efficiently and timely. For us, as leaders, are we protecting our direct reports and making their lives easier by removing obstacles and hurdles which get in the way of them doing what they’re responsible for or, are we propagating burdensome unnecessary work and an attitude which hinders our relationship with them? When we protect our direct reports, they are more willing to take on additional delegated work AND do so with the quality that meets our needs. Being a protector SETS the tone with our direct reports AND makes it easier to get the help we need through delegation during times like these, consequentially reducing our burnout as leaders.

How do you protect your direct reports?

Helping or Hindering – When we are faced with should we or should we not delegate work, there is one uncommon question to ask ourselves which can make all the difference. That question is “Are we helping or hindering the person we are delegating the work to?” When we’re hindering that person, we are simply delegating more work to them, regardless of what’s on their plate already and their state of burnout. However, when we are helping that person, we are orienting the delegated work to their strengths and career goals. Simply put, we are considering how the delegated work aligns with and benefits this person. When we do this, we WILL alleviate our burnout as it reduces our stress and anxiety around delegating the work because there is distinct value in and benefit from delegating the work. It also makes it easier to decide who we should delegate the work to.

What strengths and career goals of your direct reports align with the work you want to delegate to them?

Questioning Our Assumptions About Delegating – A common question we have around delegating work is: “What will others think of me?” Some of the most common answers to that question are: “They will think I am being lazy,” and “They will think I am merely pawning off work I don’t want to do myself.” These assumptions can cause us to not want to delegate work, take it on ourselves, and add to our burnout by doing more, cutting into time with our families, and increasing our level of stress. However, we ARE capable of questioning the rational of those assumptions. “Do I have evidence that supports them?” “Does my team actually think I’m lazy?” “Does my team see me in the trenches with them?” “Does my team know I protect them from work rolling downhill?” … All of these questions WILL reduce our burnout by alleviating the stress and tension we feel from our assumptions around delegating work to others, knowing they are not supported in actuality.

What assumptions do you make around delegating work and what evidence do you have which counteracts them?

Creating & Holding to Boundaries

Time is a precious commodity! During times like these it is hard to have enough of it, especially with interruptions and constantly competing priorities! Even as I sat down to write this today, my time was taken away by a different task on my to do list and an unexpected (but very welcomed) phone call. However, this is important for me to write and is a TOP priority for me today! As such, I had to get back to it, what helped me do that was having boundaries. Boundaries are great tools in keeping us on point, using time effectively, and alleviating the sense of burnout we get by being pulled in too many directions and not being able to feel like we are chipping away at our to do lists. Three (3) easy ways we can help reduce burnout through boundaries are listed below.

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What Do I Want to Protect? – Space is a great example of a common boundary most of us have wanted at some point in life! Space, however, can mean many things. Maybe we need physical space to protect our “personal space,” or perhaps we need space in a relationship, or even space to think through something which is weighing heavily on our minds. And herein lies the problem. Space, just like many boundaries, are typically expressed at the surface level, i.e., “I need space!”. But what is it that we really want? Digging a bit more deeply and truly specifying what it is you want to create a boundary around leads to the clarity of what we want to protect. Once we know what we want to protect, we can the protect it. It is a lot easier to create actions and a plan to put a boundary into place when we know specifically what it is we want to create a boundary around, i.e., 30 minutes every morning, free of interruptions, to write a daily briefing. Specifying our boundaries, e.g., knowing what we want to protect, WILL alleviate burnout as it makes it easier to create and hold to boundaries which will reduce our feelings of being pulled in too many directions and having too little time to do our work.

What is truly at the heart of the boundaries you want, e.g., what do you need to protect? Pro tip: the greater the detail, the easier it is for us to define our boundaries.

The Impact of Our Boundaries – Knowing the boundaries we want to put into place is only part of the battle. Knowing what impact we will have from holding to our boundaries is another. In other words: “What will holding to this boundary mean for me; what are the personal benefits I get from holding to it?” When we know what’s in it for us – our why – we inherently motivate ourselves to take action to create our boundaries and hold to them because there is a purpose behind it for us. Knowing the impact our boundaries have for us WILL reduce burnout as it makes it easier for us to put into place and hold to our boundaries, consequentially reducing our stress and anxiety.

What impact will creating your desired boundaries have for you? Pro tip: When we think we have the answer, asking ourselves “What makes that important?” will lead us even deeper to unearth the impact our boundaries have for us. Moreover, asking this question multiple times takes us deeper and deeper until we get to the true heart of the impact our boundaries have for us.

Creating a Reminder – Another piece of the puzzle for our boundaries is helping ourselves hold to them in the moments we need to. In other words, setting ourselves up to successfully implement our boundaries when we need to. Whether it is needing to end a phone call (or even not picking up the phone when it rings) or stop going down a rabbit hole, having a reminder to hold to our boundaries in the moment is greatly helpful! While we often do this in our minds, having a physical tangible reminder yields much greater success in holding to boundaries because there is an ever-present reminder in our line of sight. Creating a reminder for us to implement and hold to our boundaries WILL reduce burnout as we will stay more on point, be more productive, and alleviate the feelings of being pulled in too many directions while not getting anything done.

What is a physical tangible reminder that you will see constantly, i.e., sticky notes posters, whiteboards, etc.? What do you want that reminder to be? Pro tip: using what is at the heart of our boundaries and the impact it creates for us are deeper more motivating reminders than just writing our boundaries themselves.

Eating & Exercising

Two of the very first things we cross off our plates when we’re stressed, overwhelmed, and working a lot is eating healthily and exercising. If this sounds like you, that’s okay, you’re not alone! I’ve done it too! I spent plenty of weeks working 70 to 90 hours as an FBI Agent during which I chose to put exercising and eating healthily on the backburner. And yes, it is a choice. We choose what priorities we dedicate time to in our lives. If we aren’t spending time on something it’s because we have deemed it not to be a priority at the moment or other priorities take precedence. Either way, the choice is up to us, and there is a way to choose other priorities AND our healthy eating and exercise! Why this is important is because eating healthily and exercising are two ways which naturally reduce burnout from the physiological and psychological impact they have on us. Three (3) easy ways I learned to ensure I ate healthily and exercised which will help reduce burnout are listed below.

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Plan Ahead – This is nothing new and something we all know; however, it is something we tend not to do during times like these. We get so entrenched in what we have to do that we do not believe we can take the time to plan ahead. Yet, the benefits which come with planning ahead are staggering! Earlier in this series, we talked about “Peace is in the Plan.” In and of itself, having a plan will reduce our burnout; nonetheless, that’s not all it can do – it can boost our health too! In regards to eating healthily, knowing what our plan is for the week (or longer) WILL help us reduce burnout by accounting for the obstacles and challenges which typically get in our way of eating healthily. For example, if we know we’ll be in meetings most of the day and have limited time to grab a bite to eat, we can pack a small cooler with healthier snacks and foods instead of grabbing whatever is quickest and most available to us at work (or in this case, our fridge at home). We can even ensure we shop to our plan at the grocery store and then divvy up our snacks into smaller portions we can easily access when we have the time to. The same goes for exercise, knowing what parts of our body and what type of workout we plan to do each day WILL reduce burnout by knowing what we are to do, when we are to do it, and how much time we need to do it in (it is better to cut a workout short if needed than not do it all).

What foods and exercises are following off your plate during these times which you want to add back in? Pro tip: Try writing out a one-week plan of what you want to eat and the exercise you want to do. If that seems too daunting, start with just one day, then add one more day, then another, and another, until before you know it the plan has grown to a week and beyond.

The Night Before – The way we start our days greatly influences how our days will go. If we wake up and are already flustered, anxious, or overwhelmed with everything we have to do, then that is how our day will go. On the other hand, if we wake up and we are able to calmly gather our thoughts and get ready for work peacefully, our day will be less stressful and more uplifting (as we won’t be spending the majority of our time in a state which literally drains our energy, e.g., running around flustered, anxious, and overwhelmed). One way to set ourselves up for success is using the night before. As an FBI Agent, I always found it helpful to layout my work clothes and tools of the job, pack my gym bag, and prepare my lunch and snacks the night before. There was a noticeable difference between the mornings after I would do this and the mornings I would not, which on occasion would result in not packing something, such as, socks or a belt. Not a great feeling as you’re getting ready for work in the locker room, realizing there’s something missing! As you can imagine, days like those made my already anxious and overwhelmed mindset worse, now compounded with either having to go back home or deal without whatever I had left behind for the day. Taking the time the night before to prepare for the following day WILL reduce our burnout by making our mornings easier, less stressful, and set our mindsets up to be less draining for the day. In addition, it makes it easier to ensure we eat healthily and exercise by preparing our meals the night before and having the clothes and equipment we need to exercise with us when we leave our homes.

What do you need for tomorrow? How can you easily add in preparing for tomorrow tonight, i.e., make lunch as you’re cleaning up dinner, or laying out clothes for tomorrow as you’re getting ready for bed. Pro tip: Leaving our gym bags in a spot we will see them on the way to our car, as well as, leaving our lunch bag/cooler in our line of site as we get ready or grab our coffee will help us remember to take them with us for the day.

Exercise During a Time You Control – One of the first things I learned very early on as an FBI Agent was anything could happen on any given day! My best intentions of working out could go by the wayside and sure enough, it would be very late in the evening and all I had the energy for was eating and going to bed, missing my workout for the day. While I was an Agent, I realized the best time for me to workout was in the morning. That was a time in the day I could control. I could get up a bit earlier and get my workout in, energizing me for the day, and having the peace of mind that it was done and I would not miss it. Now that I own my own company and have additional doggie daddy responsibilities, I find it easier to get my exercise in between clients I have scheduled. Notably, it is still during time I am able to control. Some days that is in the morning, some days it is midday, some days it is in the afternoon, and some days it is a combination. Nonetheless, my exercise always comes at a time I can control. While that may look different for each of us, we all do have time throughout the day we CAN control. Slating our exercise for a part of the day we are in control of WILL help us ensure we exercise and consequentially reduce our burnout.

What time(s) of the day do you control that are reasonably free of interruptions or distractions? Pro tip: Taking note of time, such as 5am to 6am, or 12pm to 1pm, or 6pm to 7pm during which you consistently do things you want to do is a great place to start. A second step to take is to ask how can I create more time? Can I go to bed 15 or 20 minutes earlier, giving me that time in the morning to exercise? There ARE, if we are open to them, ways to create time in our lives for things we want to do.

Reducing Burnout from Our Overloaded Work Plates

Creating a Burnout Reducing Mindset

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Peace is in the Plan

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Delegation

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Creating & Holding to Boundaries

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Eating & Exercising

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