Shameless plug: I recently wrote this blog post about burnout for the Connect by Rotary blog. Subject: "It's better to burn out, than to fade away." No, Neil, you're wrong. Changing the way we talk about our emotions and how that's perceived is definitely challenging, but not undoable. It was a whole new world when I found a better Salter - I totally hear you and agree with you: more discussion/disclosure around ​employee wellbeing (and I mean the whole-thing: mental, emotional, physical), would lead to fewer crises. That's when I started job searching if I was that burnt out, I was not only doing harm to my own emotions, I was also not able to be fully present for the students. I knew I was completely and utterly burned out when the phone rang in the middle of the night, and instead of answering immediately, I almost threw it across the room. The phone could ring literally at any time, and usually it required that you packed up whatever you were doing to go learn more on scene. The duty rotation works differently in different places, but in this one, a Hall Director was on duty 24 hours a day for a week at a time. Here's my burnout story in a nutshell: I used to work as a Hall Director (for those of you who don't know - they're the professional staff that live in college/university residence halls and respond to a wide variety of situations, from mental health to parties, roommate conflicts to floods). I'm so glad you were able to find a better fit! Ling Griswold - thank you for sharing your story. Self-care and exercising boundaries are crucial, as your blog attests. The reality is though that many start-ups require an incredible amount of sweat currency, juggling many different roles within the business as well as my life outside of that. However, when you're self-employed - of course you get to choose when you work etc. When you're employed it's much easier to 'work to rule' as you have time boundaries. There is an irony though for me as despite what I do, I am at risk of burning out in the pursuit of trying to develop the enterprise (mainly on my own). I run my own social enterprise called Compassionate Cuppa, which aims to uplift mental wellbeing for individuals and organisations. You're right to say asking for help or acknowledging the struggle is difficult, however if an organisation takes a supportive approach people may feel more inclined to reach out. Employers do have a responsibly towards their employees' wellbeing if more took a proactive approach then this would facilitate more discussion/disclosure perhaps before it develops into a crisis. It's understandable that people don't necessarily reach out to ask for help or support (you said you didn't approach HR, so perhaps they weren't approachable) and more often than not it's when people struggle to the point that they end up off work that the penny drops for the employer that there's something wrong. Unfortunately many work environments (or places within society even) where people feel comfortable enough to openly discuss or disclose when they are struggling. I hope that you are OK (asking not just the once, I'll ask again: how are you really feeling).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |