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Are you feeling overwhelmed by your responsibilities and the amount of work that keeps piling up? If so, you may be heading for full-blown leadership burnout.
· According to a Gallup study, a whopping two-thirds of full-time workers have grappled with burnout.
· The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified work-related burnout as both an ‘occupational phenomenon’ and a ‘syndrome’.
How Do You Know if You Have Leadership Burnout?
With escalating stressors, speed, and supercharged connectivity encompassing the modern workplace, you may reach the point when you feel like you just can’t work another minute.
Symptoms of burnout include feelings of exhaustion or energy depletion, a lowering of confidence, decreased motivation, and more negativism. Plus, there’s a higher likelihood that you’ll take a sick day.
The Good News – Self Help for Leadership Burnout
You don’t have to give in to burnout. You can learn some ways to self-soothe when your job seems to be spiraling out of control or when you think you just can’t take it anymore. Here are eight tips to help banish that helpless feeling and put you back in control.
1. Pay attention to your breathing. As soon as you feel stress hitting, turn to conscious breathing – deliberately take several slow and deep breaths, and concentrate on your breathing. This helps to expel tension and prevent it from getting stuck in your body.
2. Visualize your stress away. Envision a stream of pure white light coming from the top of your head and a flood of darkness flowing out from the soles of your feet. This is one of several visualization techniques to help reduce overwhelm and produce more positive and productive energies.
3. Give yourself some comfort. Just as a mother might console her baby by patting his/her chest, you can comfort yourself by placing your hand over your heart. This behavioral shift can give you something to focus on by feeling your heartbeat and chest breathing in and out.
4. Talk to yourself positively. Don’t allow fear-based or negative thoughts to get in the way of believing in yourself. Instead, shift negative self-talk to positive self-talk, e.g., This is only a transient situation. I will come up with the best way to handle it, and everything will turn out okay.
5. Be your own witness. The whole you is bigger than any fear, anxiety, or self-doubt. Tell yourself: I am not this emotion. I can center and calm myself and free myself from this state of feeling overwhelmed. And I can bear witness to my own experience. If you can master this technique, you will relax and gain a new and different perspective.
6. Accept others’ behaviors, experiences, and actions as their own. Everyone deserves the dignity of walking their own path. By accepting this affirmation, you will more readily take people for who they are, appreciate their life experiences, and avoid taking their actions personally.
7. Be self-compassionate. The way you think makes a profound difference in your life. So don’t beat yourself up when you feel overwhelmed; exercise a little self-compassion instead. Be gentle and kind to yourself. Allow yourself some personal time, nourish yourself with rest and relaxation. Cut yourself some slack and tell yourself that you’re doing the best you can.
8. Body Scan. Imagine a scanner going from the top of your head to the bottom of your toes. What are you feeling, seeing, hearing in your body as you go through the scan. Focus on the specific areas of tension that you are noticing.
More Ways to Self-Soothe
Self-soothing means doing things that make you feel food. For example, spend time with family and friends, dote on your kids and your pets, take a nature walk, curl up with a good book, binge-watch your favorite TV show, savor a special drink or food, meditate, pray. Do whatever resonates with you.
· Most importantly, understand that with some simple strategies and a little daily practice, you can self-soothe and stop leadership burnout. However, you may need some support from Shaping Development to help you with overwhelm. Working with a coach can help you avoid burnout and improve your leadership skills.