burnout cure

[randyt]

I'm curious, what do you folks do for a burnout cure? In a nutshell my personal life is pretty good but work wise is a different story. I've been doing the same trade for 25 years plus. I'm a straw boss and find it difficult to handle administrative duties and make sure the jobs are busted out. Part of the challenge is the slow down and the sporadic work load caused by that. I get so bored with work these days unless it's a screwed up mess and I need to make it all good. The challenge just doesn't seem to be there.

I don't mean to complain because hey I'm working. Any thoughts?

[crashdive123]

Do you "have" to do the administrative duties? Is there an up and coming member of your crew that wants to learn and do more for possible advancement? Not sure exactly what line of work you are in, but with work slow is there an idea that you have for a product or process that will improve the company's bottom line by improving efficiency or expanding the customer base? Does your job offer courses or educational programs that might be of interest to you? is there any way to incorporate some of your passions or hobbies into your job?

[Rick]

Burnout only comes from a few different sources.

1. Unchallenging work or work that is monotonous and repetitive.
2. Unrealistic demands being placed on you.
3. Loss of control (or a feeling that you have lost control) over your work.
4. No recognition or rewards for good performance.

There are probably some others but those are the biggies. Here are some things I used to help me.

1. Do one thing at a time. You can multi-task all you want but that just increases the stress level. Do one thing and do it well. Focus on the tasks at hand, pick the one that is the most urgent and do it. That extends to people too. If someone is in your office don't answer the phone. If you are on the phone and someone comes in your office tell them you'll get back to them once you're off the phone. You can't listen to two people at the same time.
2. Take a break through the day. Go outside. Walk around the building. You need to take a mental vacation even if it's for 10 minutes.
3. Change your routine. If you can pull email from home then do it before you go to the office. Not every day but give yourself a change of pace. Do you brown bag lunch every day? Then take a day or two and go out and get something. It's another mental vacation trip. Go outside and eat instead of sitting at your desk. Anything that will provide you some variety.
3. Know when to say no. Sometimes the right answer is "no".
4. Know when to delegate. Don't try to do it all. You can't. Simple as that. Don't micro manage.
5. Ask your boss to give some of your easy projects to subordinates or peers and ask if he has a particularly challenging one he wants done. Maybe he has a problem client you could work with. I don't know what your job is but hopefully you get my drift.
6. Take some time off. It's always good to take a long week-end or a week's vacation. If your brain cells are piled up around your ears then maybe you just need to take some time off and let it balance out.

[randyt]

thanks for the advise. One thing I should add is that I'm the boss, the buck stops with me. I'm in the plumbing and heating business. We are either overwhelmed with work or slow, slow, slow. It just seems like the jobs have become boring and the days are so long. I hate to say it but sometimes I bid a job tight because it's a screwed up mess and it will at least be a bit challenging.

[Pal334]

Rick is correct: "1. Do one thing at a time. You can multi-task all you want but that just increases the stress level." And it produces an inferior product. I know that is not a very popular way to think now a days. Take things one step at a time and you may be able to avoid burn out issues

[Daniel Nighteyes]

This is an area I know something about, 'cause this is the type of consulting/coaching I do every danged day. I'm oversimplifying because of the limits of this venue.

1. First and foremost, do your dangedest to clearly define the work, and the steps leading up to completion. This becomes crucial in Step Two.

2. Divvy up and delegate as much of the work as you can. If you've done a good job in Step One, this is fairly easy. If not...

3. Observe, coach, and teach those to whom you've delegated key tasks. The idea is NOT to catch them doing something wrong (though that will happen), but to catch them doing things RIGHT so you can recognize and praise the good things they've done, and to identify the things they need to improve - and show them how. A key task of any supervisor -- "straw boss" or not -- is to grow and develop the people who report to him/her. This is how you do it.

4. Above all, do NOT fall victim to the fallacy that developing others will do you out of a job. Sounds risky, but it generally pays off IN SPADES in the long run.

Just my two-hundredths of a dollar,

-- Nighteyes

[Rick]

Amen. Well said. If your people are not promotable then you are doing something terribly wrong.

[natertot]

Also, the key to any business is productivity because that means more $$$$ for the company. If you are in a slow period, what can you do to promote productivity? Some thoughts that come to mind are additional training for you and staff, cleaning/organizing, and follow up calls with previous customers to see if they are happy and need anything else. This will help you and the crew to be more efficient with the work that is performed and a chance to actually bring in more work.

Just a few basic thoughts.

[randyt]

Thanks for the thoughts.

[Warheit]

How to increase productivity in slow times is really dependent on what type of industry you are in. I work in the ski and ride industry doing database development, sales, marketing and all that jazz. This has been a really bad snow year (hardly anything up here, it's crazy -- and I'm 9,000+ foot in the Rockies!) and we have had to come up with creative ways to get sales because it's been a slow year. The economy is still bad and skiing/boarding is an expensive thing. We do a lot of discounts and offers in order to increase our business and there are a lot of groups and individuals who simply cannot afford it this year. A lot of my co-workers and those I help train are doing new and different tasks to become better all-around workers. I've also done some due diligence and increased our social media efforts to expand our business. Anything to help connect and communicate with customers to build relationships is an important thing. I probably spend several hours of my day cold calling on sales or taking inquiries that may or never may add up to success. If you already know what your strengths are in your business, focus on the weaknesses. Attempt to fix one thing at a time, instead of placing all duties on yourself. Don't ever be afraid to ask workers below you for help or advice either. The buck may stop with you, but that doesn't mean others can't offer something useful into the equation.

I think you have a great preliminary list of what to do to increase productivity. Two of my uncles own a plumbing and heating company in the Midwest, I could contact them and maybe get some advice and share it back.

[hunter63]

This is gonna sound kinda odd but.
Once upon a time my life was a factory, life was OK, promotions came with effort, but did come for over 30 years......
Then it closed......Unemployed at 51, (DW as well, same factory).

Went to several interviews for the same type of job and found my self, NOT wanting to take them...SOS, just different product....falling asleep in staff meetings.....like OMG, not more of this!!!!

Went to school and started a new trade, and life.....best thing that ever happened......sometimes it takes a catastrophic occurance to start a new path.

Not saying to quit, just think about how you want to spend the rest of your life.

Good luck.

[vahtryn]

My career is extremely demanding. I have to keep things running 99.99% of the time (so happy I don't have that fifth nine now). Usually I'm handed a pile of crap for an application and have to work with the app dev team along with dev ops plus doing my career as an IT architect and engineer. I tend to burn out after two years of just working nonstop.

Thankfully the company I'm with now won't let us carry over more than 4 days worth of vacation. We are expected to use all of our vacation every year. I can take a day off per sprint and still have a two week straight vacation. That has helped amazingly. I did one day last sprint because I was working from 4am until 6 or 8pm for 6 weeks straight because of issues. I was obviously burning out, making bad choices.

I took those days and slept, did yard work, played with the dog and all sorts of good things that I could do on a long weekend. I'm gonna take two days off next sprint (april) and head back to NOVA since I'm on the east coast with the dog. See some friends, hang out, go dancing at least one or two of those nights.

I also try not to work on the weekends at all. I've gotten into the habit of disabling the work email on my laptop and closing down my work Skype account. If things fall apart we have the CHUDs in the down stairs basement that can call my cell phone.

[Rick]

I'll pull from one of your earlier posts. How did that help the OP?

[randyt]

thanks for all the thoughts and advise. I'm mulling it all over. A few hit the mark, I'm bored with my trade. Making more money generally helps with headaches but typically doesn't help with burn out. Pondering on it.

[kyratshooter]

I found that in my life preventing burnout required me to continually remind myself that I was working to live, not living to work. Everyone around me had the "You can sleep when you are dead" mindset, espically the admin people.

The career I loved for the first decade slowly evolved into something I would not have entered over the next 20 years.

As I aged I saw more and more of my colleages souring over what they had once loved to do, basically due to the constantly multiplying work load and all the other factors Rick sited. It was also leading to health issues and more and more of my colleages were dying from stress related illnesses before they reached retirement, that goal was the only thing that was keeping them going.

When I started my teaching career I was working alongside people that were in their 70s and still teaching because they loved the work. 30 years latter everyone was pulling retirement as soon as they had their 30 years in.

My camping trips and outdoor activities became MANDATORY! They were not optional activities I could reschedule around the work load. Neither were they family time, although that was a nice side benefit.

Keep you priorities in focus. The job is only what you do to accomplish the other goals in your life. What you do, and what you do for a living are not the same.

You are an outdoorsman, a trapper, hunter, fisherman, father/husband..... I have seen your boats, your gear and your hand work. Always admired it too!

You run a heating and plumbing business to support those efforts.

[crashdive123]

thanks for all the thoughts and advise. I'm mulling it all over. A few hit the mark, I'm bored with my trade. Making more money generally helps with headaches but typically doesn't help with burn out. Pondering on it.

I'll add a bit from my personal story - maybe it will help - maybe it won't - but here goes.

When I retired from the military I was used to working long hours, seven days a week. I started on with a large pest control company and thought nothing of working long hours there as well. When the company was sold I had the opportunity to hire on with the new company, but decided to open up my own business. It took a while, but I found out that I enjoyed having some free time. I found out I did not miss working 80+ hours a week. I found that sleeping in my own bed most nights beat the heck out of hotel rooms. I found that I no longer needed to put 3,000+ miles a week on a vehicle.

The money isn't nearly as good as it was, or would have been if I hired on with the new company but I now have time to walk in the woods more often and heck - I even took up a hobby that I seem to enjoy. I still enjoy the work I do which is certainly important, but I think the thing that keeps me from "burning out" is taking some me time.

[randyt]

thanks for all the thoughts. Sometimes or most of the time I take my job too doggone serious. I'm getting away from that. I shouldn't complain to much, at least I'm still working, haven't had to dump money in the company this year like years past. So things are pretty good.

[vahtryn]

I'll pull from one of your earlier posts. How did that help the OP?

Umm? Take some time off and let yourself unburn out? I described how I deal with burn out. May not work for everyone but a few days off certainly recharges me.

[Daniel Nighteyes]

Umm? Take some time off and let yourself unburn out? I described how I deal with burn out. May not work for everyone but a few days off certainly recharges me.

A few days off is an effective treatment for job-fatigue ONLY. True job burnout is an entirely different thing. Once again, this is something I work with pretty regularly. [And yes, I have personally experienced extreme job burnout...]

Regards to all,

-- Nighteyes