In February, DAILY DOSE owner, Georgia Homsany spoke at the Raleigh Metro SHRM February Meeting- Burnout 360. The meeting covered what burnout actually means, why stress can be beneficial, and how you can check in with yourself and others to optimize an “Executive Mindset.”
Take a look at this latest blog entry to see the meeting highlights!
Stress can be good in moderation.
- Stress can improve cognitive function, which pertains to things like attention span and memory (think working under pressure or a deadline).
- Stress can fight infection by boosting our immune system!
- Dealing with stress enables us to become stress resilient allowing us to be better equipped to handle future stressful situations.
Burnout is more than just working long hours.
Burnout results when deadlines, demands, working hours, and other stressors supersede rewards, recognition, and relaxation. Some helpful tips to consider when working with others:
- Do they understand how their work contributes to the bigger picture?
- Do they feel included?
- Do they feel appreciated and is their work being recognized by their manager and others?
- Are they being encouraged to take breaks?
Remove “stressors” in your life to reduce stress.
What in a given day is causing you stress? Which of these stressors are in your control (i.e.- running late to meetings, a lack of work boundaries, not taking a lunch break, etc.) that you can alter or omit?
Strive to be in “Executive/Engaged State” of mind.
In our Executive State, we are open-minded, innovative, and collaborative. In order to get to “Executive State”, we must move through a state of “Belonging” where we feel loved and respected by both ourself and others.
How do you start to affect change in your organization?
- Lead by example
- Start meetings with check-ins. How is everyone feeling? (Red= high stress, Green= feeling good, Yellow= in the middle)
- Use shared language (i.e.- check-in language, mottos, mantras)
- Check out of meetings. At the end, review whether or not you achieved the goal(s) of the meeting. Was the meeting necessary? Did everyone need to be in the meeting? Respect people’s time by scheduling meetings that are the most efficient and imperative, vs. just a reoccurring meeting that can feel repetitive or unnecessary.
Exercises
- Set a reoccurring calendar appointment every Monday to list up to 3 priorities you want to accomplish for the week.
- Who do you need to achieve these?
- What happens if you don’t get them done?
- Focus on the most important tasks that will help you feel accomplished and let less important to-dos be pushed to the following week.
- Set daily check-ins on your calendar to gauge how you are feeling. While everyone will have “red” days, if you are feeling red for weeks or months at a time, that is when you move to a “chronic” state of stress which can lead to burnout and negatively affect your physical and mental health.
- Use your breath to calm you, and bring you back to “green,” or help you achieve that “Executive State”. Take 3 big deep breaths using your belly to inhale through your nose and let it out slowly through your mouth. Slowing down your breath and breathing deeply is the easiest, quickest thing you can do to lower stress in the moment.
The good news is burnout doesn’t happen overnight. It becomes chronic over an extended amount of time.
Which of these tips would you like to implement to prevent yourself and others from reaching a point of burnout?
