I derive a great deal of satisfaction doing my job, but I also work hard to make sure I don’t burn out. Burnout is a terrible state to be in and you know it when you’re there. You feel exhausted, overwhelmed and emotionally depleted. You can’t concentrate or get anything done. You hide behind a mask to get by. It’s awful. So rather than wait for burnout to hit, I try to head it off at the pass by taking deliberate measures to avoid it.
Leave White Space on Your Calendar
My most reliable strategy for safeguarding my sanity is to take timeouts. At the office, I leave three hours a week as white space on my calendar. I consider those unscheduled hours my time to get off the rollercoaster of life and breathe. If you want to breathe, the only way I’ve ever found is by making breathing a priority. Unless I’m dealing with a crisis, those three hours are sacrosanct. I shut my office door and pause to reflect on how things are going at work. Do I need to change anything? Focus on the big picture stuff? The beauty of taking timeouts is that they don’t take much time out of my schedule, but the payoff for taking that time is amazing. I come away calmer, more refreshed, and ready to jump back on that rollercoaster.
I’m equally vigilant about recharging my batteries at home. I know women who don’t even allow themselves an hour to relax in the bath without interruption. I regularly take timeouts even if I only get to steal a few hours a week to read a book or sip a cup of tea and stare at a wall. I tell my kids I’m going to rest my brain for a while and they know to leave me alone unless the house is on fire. Spending a few hours off the grid, going for walks, or meditating can be hugely restorative. I started meditating when my husband was ill. Then, I meditated for my emotional survival. I found the practice so beneficial I incorporated it into my daily routine. Today, I couldn’t function without it. I meditate for ten minutes or so every morning before the household awakens. At night, I take a moment after I turn out the lights to reflect on my day.
Embrace your lists
Next up in the sanity-saving department are my lists. I always carry with me two master to-do lists and two weekly lists — one set for work tasks and the other set for the myriad of stuff I have to remember for the house and kids. Every Sunday night I decide on my weekly priorities and transfer those items to the two weekly lists.
Everything I have to accomplish for the week goes on one of those two lists. My work, family, and personal lives are always competing for my time and attention, so when I look at my weekly lists, I ask myself two questions: What are my priorities in each area? Which items are non-negotiable? On a good week, I can knock fifteen items off my lists.
My whole life is on those lists. I wouldn’t function without them. They help me to keep control and ensure that I don’t forget things. Once I start forgetting stuff I begin to feel overwhelmed, which can lead to stress. The minute anything comes at me (like filling out one of the dozens of school), or something I have to remember to buy pops into my head (like furnace filters —I’d never remember to buy furnace filters), I write it down. Once I get it out of my head and onto my list I can free up space on my mental hard drive and that relaxes me.
I take advantage of all the timesaving services available to me, like having my groceries delivered, and I delegate whenever possible —not just to my management team, but also to my team at home. I expect all my kids to pitch in. If you insist on doing everything yourself, not only will you burn out, you’ll be hell to live with —at work and at home. You owe it to yourself and others to be disciplined about pacing yourself and taking all the measures you can to maintain your equilibrium.