Recently, LinkedIn approached me to be one of their early contributors in sharing knowledge in an exciting new way called collaborative articles. One of the topics I was to contribute to was – “How non-profit leaders can avoid burnout and maintain work-life balance.” Even though I’ve been able to contribute to it as expected successfully, it just occurred to me that I’ve personally experienced this in my early years of writing.
It was my first set of gigs, approached by a very observant editor-in-chief who had been reading my weekly posts to a teeming group of readers on health and wellness. Even though my short write-ups to the close-knit group were basically on how to beat stress, writing for a wider audience put a different stress level on me that I never envisaged. What used to be fun quickly became a chore. I wasn’t enjoying it anymore. The editor noticed I had gone cold, so he reached out. Interestingly, he understood what was going on with me, so I took some time off.
So, when I came across the feedback jokingly given by some high-tech employees, my experience made it possible to easily relate to the words punned in describing burning out from stress. The coined words used, which included Appleplexy, Appsphyxia, Cybermyalgia, Dot.coma, and IPOchondria, all have one thing in common – a tactical combination of their stressor with the level of stress or pain that comes along with it using real medical terms like apoplexy, asphyxia, fibromyalgia, coma, hypochondria respectively. On a lighter note, I look forward to developing such a play of words depicting burnout in my industry too soon.
Nevertheless, the main message is that experiencing burnout is not a good place to be. As much as stress has good and bad effects on the human body, based on several studies, its counterpart has absolutely nothing good to offer.
There are three quick steps toward avoiding this workplace menace, just like one can do to manage stress. They are – See it, Own it, and Use it. Seeing it helps you identify the stressor and some easy pointers. Based on this self-awareness, owning it becomes easier as you literarily experience the symptoms yourself. Reacting appropriately based on your information justifies using it to avoid burnout.
Therefore, categorizing these pointers into emotions, weight, waste, and heart rates makes it easy to narrow triggers down to their originator. For example, when you feel unnecessarily edgy and unable to pinpoint the cause, lose your temper over trivial matters, procrastinate due to sudden disinterest, oversleep, or sleep deprived, certain pressure has placed your emotions on a rollercoaster with a burnout stop point. Pulling back and taking a break will be just appropriate at that moment.
Another interesting signal is your weight. Stress triggers overeating or undereating, drinking excessively, and gaining/losing more than a percentage of your body weight daily. Also, being too busy to eat or drink enough water or being pressured to excessively eat or drink hampers one’s chances of healthy eating habits. The inability to take a break from work may seem harmless initially, but a buildup of this can lead to burnout, so take a step back to reexamine things, including what, when, and how you eat, especially during work hours.
Our body speaks in diverse ways, so not all prompts will elude us when we miss a few spots. Or how else would you describe noticing your stress level through the color of urine? The color of your urine can indicate dehydration. The lighter the color, the more hydrated you are, and vice versa. Proper hydration aids the absorption of nutrients, which increases energy levels. Drinking enough water/fluid boosts brain alertness, while lack of hydration because you are too busy for water breaks can lead to sluggishness. Working without necessary mini breaks becomes counterproductive as nothing will eventually get done. So, take a break or always have a bottle of water handy.
Another way of detecting heightened stress levels that can easily degenerate into burnout is checking your resting pulse rate. Taking your pulse before you leave bed, especially in the morning, shows if you sleep the night. A few apps can help if you can’t do it manually. Usually, a resting heart rate will stay within a few beats per minute, but it increases when you are overworked or stressed. Knowing that your resting pulse didn’t rest after a night’s sleep indicates you need a break. You may stay a bit longer in bed or get an hour-long massage, which equates to eight hours of sleep.
At different points in work life, we will experience apathy, question our purpose, hold negative perceptions of the future, procrastinate, drink too much, oversleep or sleep less, overeat, or starve. What is critical is, knowing those quick pick-me-up remedies that work for you to prevent burnout. Some of these remedies are:
Practicing self-care, which is actively protecting your wellbeing and happiness, especially when you are stressed. Achievable by including me-time in your routine or daily schedule, taking a few minutes daily, a couple of hours weekly, or now and again goes a long way in doing this. Consistency is important here by prioritizing and being deliberate. During this me-time, you may engage in breathing exercises, Pilate stretches, cat naps, or getting a massage or pedicure.
Loving your job by turning your passion into a portfolio will make you never work a day. How great is it to earn a living doing what you love most? Leading a not-for-profit organization does not necessarily mean you work for free; it easily shows where your passion lies, transcending money. Moreover, even though doing what you love most may not prevent stress, the fact that you are passionate about what you do with adequate systems and structures that allow for flexibility, agility, and delegation can easily prevent burnout. Finding harmony by deliberately balancing things up goes a long way in reducing stress.
Go on a vacation at least once a year and unplug completely if possible. An out-of-office email will help within this period. If you can’t make such a sacrifice, get extra hands, and prepare them for the job while you look away.
Also, knowing your limits and using them to create boundaries is important. It’s important to know one’s breaking point. Knowing one’s breaking point is crucial to understanding the appropriate time to pull back to prevent burnout.
Find a hobby or new habit that can help manage stress. Hobbies like swimming, playing tennis, golfing, fishing, etc., will prevent you from overworking and make you appreciate other important things like patience, solitude, socializing, networking, and art. Habits like regular exercise, practicing good sleep hygiene, paying attention to what you eat, and drinking lots of water, amongst others, are also essential for rewirement.
Call to action
Leading a non-profit organization is no less work than managing a profit-driven one. Non-profit leaders possess peculiar leadership skills, sometimes lacking in their profit-making counterparts. Also, as stated earlier, not being profitable doesn’t necessarily mean it is free, so serious work goes on in there. So, how do you enlighten a client with the type of mindset depicted in this exciting encounter below?
After sending several unpaid bills to a client, a freelancer decided to put a call through. The conversation went thus.
Client: Why are you calling?
Freelancer: I’m yet to receive payment for the job done for you.
Client: Oh, I thought you were joking. Do you seriously expect me to pay you?
Freelancer: Of course. Why would you think that?
Client: You are a freelancer, which means you work for free!
Kindly send your feedback to [email protected].
Opaleye, a wellbeing specialist and corporate wellness strategist, writes from Lagos
