Are You Experiencing Burn Out?
Did you know that our population has unprecedented levels of cancer, heart disease, autoimmune disorders, allergies, etc. and that GPs are seeing many professionals reporting unrelenting fatigue?
It seems that some people suffer more wear and tear than others while coping with the challenges faced at work. Others are better at protecting and regulating themselves and therefore have greater endurance than those who willingly yield to the increasing pressures in the workplace.
Imagine yourself as a cup containing energy and vitality. How full your cup is depends upon whether it is being filled more than drained. The difference between endurance and burnout is simple - there must be more filling your cup than draining it.
'Fills' can include things like compliments, achieving a goal, winning a prize, a good rest after exertion, healthy self-care, happy times with loved ones and so on. 'Drains' are things like failure (real or perceived), misfortune, too little (or too much) exercise, emotional pain, poor self-care, etc.
They fall into three categories:
- luck;
- our chosen actions and habits - let us call this 'discipline'; and
- our involuntary reactions to events - let us call this 'disposition'
There is not much we can do about 'luck'. Though luck is sometimes defined as when preparation meets opportunity so it is possible that we can do more about it than we imagine. However for the moment let's look at the other two categories.
Discipline could be described as the small habits and the daily decisions we make about our lifestyle and self-care. Whether we realise it or not, many of us employ rituals and routines in our life that have, de facto, become our disciplines. The question is, are they filling or draining our cup?
Think about the chocolate biscuit (or two) with your coffee. Or that nightcap when you are working late. Or the half bottle of wine to wind down when you get in of an evening. Or spending hours in front of a screen without breaks.
Apologies if this scares you, but did you know that... regular intake of refined sugar can destabilise the sensitive balance in some of the body's complex systems, seriously affecting our energy and wellbeing.
Alcohol taken at night, even in moderate amounts, is now widely understood to harm the quality of our 'rapid eye movement' sleep and significantly compromise its restorative properties. Lack of sleep is the cause of many accidents.
The military knows something about discipline. It needs its men and women to be on top form at all times, ready for any eventuality, and has a simple formula that is critical for endurance: SHED (sleep, hydration, exercise, diet).
Neglect SHED over a long period and your body will have to compensate in some way. The high price you pay will become clear in time... usually when it is too late.
A simple SHED checklist is:
- Sleep Do you get 7-9 hours of good quality uninterrupted sleep each night?
- Hydration Do you take in (through drink and water-rich foods) enough water
daily such that your urine is not concentrated and you do not have a dry throat
or headaches?
- Exercise Do you daily get 30 minutes' exercise where you lift your pulse rate
from resting into the anaerobic zone for your age?
- Diet Do you get three meals a day rich in: fresh vegetables, fruit and fibre;
low in: sugar, unhealthy fats, sugar, alcohol and caffeine?
Disposition could be described as a combination of the temperament we are born with and how life has impacted our character - the deep inner wiring that determines whether we perceive something to be a threat or not. Depending on our disposition, certain events in day-to-day life can significantly affect our emotional equilibrium and drain our cup.
Daniel Goleman in his book Emotional Intelligence refers to these as 'Amygdala hijacks'. The Amygdala is the part of the brain where emotions to ensure survival are aroused, causing the fight, flight or freeze response. It seems we are significantly more susceptible to such hijacks when depleted.
So the more we demand from our physical system and the more we mistreat ourselves, the less emotionally stable and resilient we may become.
However, this presents an oft-missed opportunity - our underlying 'issues' become more accessible for resolution. The next time your buttons get pressed, look carefully at the emotions you are feeling as they offer valuable personal insight and an opportunity for building greater resilience.
This is how the critical emotions work. The emotion we feel when:
1) something triggers the belief that... your rights or boundaries have been
violated in some way is ...Anger
2) you have violated someone else's rights or done something wrong is ... Guilt
3) there is something wrong with you is ... Shame
4) you are under threat is ... Fear
5) there may be a future threat is ...Anxiety
6) you have lost something, tangible or intangible (such as self-worth) is ...Sadness
7) you are being judged negatively by others is ... Embarrassment
An intense emotional reaction can have its roots in a deeply unpleasant event long ago in your past when this response helped you survive, albeit at the cost of higher-level thinking. Understanding how and why these emotions get triggered can open the door to managing your present-day responses appropriately - which will be far easier on you, not to mention on the people around you.
Some simple practical tips for handling a hijack are to:
- first, notice it is happening;
- then breathe deeply;
- next, as politely as possible, withdraw from the situation, deferring any
critical interactions or decisions;
- compose yourself, working to gain perspective until you are calm;
- finally, resume.
(Note, regaining composure can take minutes or days, depending on the severity of your reaction, how fit and well your body is and how open you are to seeing different perspectives. As you can imagine, the longer it takes, the greater the toll on your body.)
To conclude, in essence, work endurance is down to your commitment to manage both your discipline and your disposition. A great starting point is to do a proper reality-check that tells you specifically how you are adding to or diminishing your own endurance. This should generate all the motivation you need.
Article based on an article by Siobhan Soraghan, founder and director of Active Insight. www.active-insight.com.
Catherine Wilson
+44 (0) 7590 694004
Posted: March 8, 2010, 11:08 am.
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