Walking the line between engagement and burnout can be tricky. After all, just how much discretionary effort is too much? Maybe consider this a warning: if we’re not careful, even the best employees can experience burnout.
In fact, I almost experienced burnout this week for myself. Work has been getting exponentially busier at our office, with new projects and deadlines rounding every corner—and I love it. When the time came for a colleague to ask for my help on her project, I felt badly telling her no. Usually, my multiple schedules miraculously avoid conflict, and I’m able to quickly deliver on each of my assignments. Rare is the occasion when I have to tell someone I can’t help on a project.
But this week I realized that I could not continue to consistently deliver high-quality results if I kept taking on new tasks. I began to feel a bit depressed, even borderline disengaged. I had stretched myself so thin that my autonomy was being sacrificed just to make good on my commitments. I knew I had to stop taking on new tasks—at least for a short while (says the job addict).
To be honest, I used to purposefully avoid telling people no. If anyone ever asked for my help, I jumped at the opportunity—even if I knew I couldn’t possibly take on more tasks without sacrificing timeliness or end-product quality. I’ve since learned my limits—that’s the first step.
Here are two simple ways to avoid burnout:
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- Know your limits. No one can give 200 percent all of the time; like most things, our energy ebbs and flows (I maintain a consistent caffeine intake throughout the day—I’ll probably need to buy an IV soon). Being able to identify the physiological signals that we’re about to crash and burn is critical. How does the saying go? “The straw that broke the camel’s back . . .”
- Be bold enough to say no. One of the most common workplace weaknesses is people pleasing. Some of us are prone to accepting any task, regardless of scope and current workload, in an effort to maintain positive working relationships with peers and superiors. But relationships can thrive, if not become stronger, even when we have to say no. Of course, we don’t want to brand ourselves as duty shirkers; our bad-news delivery will have to be done tactfully.
Today I came into work refreshed, reengaged, and with a renewed sense of hope for the week. Because I avoided burnout, I was able to return to work in a positive state of mind. Every company wants its employees to start each work week on a positive note. Companies need to provide an environment conducive to engagement; employees need to choose engagement, not burnout.
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