Boundaries Or Burnout: You Make The Choice
Healthcare leaders are burning out at an alarming rate. The profession is losing nurses and other healthcare professionals due to early retirement, or simply leaving the profession all together. Our population is aging, so we need more, not less healthcare providers in the sector, to address the ever-increasing demands of a senior population. Organizations from the top down need to take a deep look into the root causes of burnout, and a major reason is the lack of boundaries in the workplace.
When you are burned out
When you're burned out, you need to figure out a way how to feel because continuing down that path that got you to a burn-out state is not going to heal you. You have to figure out a way on how to get back to your new normal, whatever that may be. You have to control your life. You're the only one that can control your life. If you give that control up, then you are going to be the victim to whatever happens to you. You have to keep control. You have to take it back if it's been taken from you. How do you go about doing that? Boundaries.
Results of a boundaries-free life
When you don't have any boundaries in your life, you literally don't have the ability to do the things that you want to do. You're so focused on everything else but you, that your energy levels, motivation, just fall to the wayside, and you go to bed, but you don't sleep. You go to bed and you're not resting. You toss and turn because your brain is still trying to sort through everything that you went through or are going through. It's not a fun place to be. Boundaries around your inputs need to be in place. Specifically, the things that you put in your body, the things that you watch, things that you listen to, the things that you read, the commentary and conversations you have, and the people you hang out with. All of these things are inputs, and over time, they will shape you. They will shape your opinions; they will shape your mood, your feelings, your hopes, and your aspirations.
Boundaries are not the same for everyone
Each of us is different. Each of us have our own gifts and skills, nuances, quirks, we are all individuals. We all have common traits, but we are all individual in how we perceive things and how we choose to do things. Finding time. Ultimately, that's what this is all about. With boundaries, it's finding more time, which will help you find time for the things that you want to do, when you want to do them, where you want to do them. If you're working 16, 18, 20-hour days, you need more time. These are all important because if you don't do them, if you don't take a break, you are going to break. It happens to everyone, including you. You are not Superman. For stress management, it's crucial for you to figure out what's causing you stress. You may not know, you just may feel burned out and stressed and you have no idea what its cause is. What are your stresses?
Most of our waking hours are spent consecutively at our jobs and when you're spending that much time in one place, you basically get into some scenarios where you might encounter burnout if you don't have your days designed the right way. Now, for many of us, we've been at our jobs for a while, so the prospect of actually trying to change how we do things without getting first approval from our bosses can be traumatic to some, downright frightening to others. The best way to approach this is more or less to figure out exactly what you want to do, and what your day should look like.
Talking with your boss
Now, for some of us, we may not know. That's where I can definitely help you get clear and get some clarity on that. Right now, I want to focus on how to approach your boss about changing how you do things. The first step is just realizing the fact that you are approaching burnout or maybe in a worse case scenario, you are burned out at work already. Acknowledging that is a huge step. Most people don't even get to that stage. If you understand that things aren't right, and you feel overwhelmed, that's good. It's not good that you're overwhelmed, but it's good that you feel that, and you understand it.
Otherwise, you might be going through the motions, and hating your job, and wanting to leave, and do all of these things when in fact, it may not be the job where the problem is. The issue may be on how you approach your job and how you do things. Identifying what's bugging you is a big thing. Write down all of the things that bother you about your job. Be open. This is a conversation with yourself, and it doesn't have to be something that you do overnight. You can write it down over a week, maybe even a month. Depending on the type of work you do, you may have cycles and seasons of things. You may want to take a look at those as well and see if there are busier seasons and others that drag you down.
The second thing you need to understand is how you approach your boss about this is crucial. Hopefully, you have a good communication system with your boss or bosses. If not, then that's going to be the next step is to figure out how to communicate. The best way to find out is ask them. Whenever I get a new boss, I always ask, "How would you like me to communicate with you? Do you want it in face-to-face meetings, over emails, a scheduled meeting, free form? Figure out what their style is and deliver to them the communication in a format that's good for them and for you. If it doesn't align with how you want to communicate, then bring that up.
Once you get the communication paths all sorted out, the next thing is to approach your boss with your concerns. You may have to do this by being humble; I guess is a good way to put it. You don't go in as a victim. Don't blame your organization. Definitely don't blame your boss, but approach them and say that you're worried about yourself and you need some help and some guidance. When I'm a boss and when people come to me and they ask for help, it feels good, because one, they trust me to be able to guide them. Number two; they understand that they need some help to grow. That is a huge step for an individual to be able to do that. Once you do that, then you can sit down with your boss and talk about the different things that are bugging you.
Your boss may not be able to address everything, but at least if you can alleviate some of the burdens that's causing you to get burned out, that is a huge win for you. That's a huge win for the organization because it increases the likelihood that you're actually going to stay in the organization for a bit.
When Experiencing Burnout, What Should You Do?
If you are experiencing increased stress or burnout symptoms, here are recommended steps to take:Take a day off. Seems simple, and if you're part of a small medical team that may not be an easy thing to do, but if there's anyway your organization can bring in outside help to give you a break (before YOU break), you need to do it. Get away from the office and/or home and go someplace that you enjoy to go. Could be as simple as a coffee shop, or your favourite restaurant. Take naps. Remember in Kindergarten the naptime? The school system should've continued that throughout the entire schooling career. A 20-minute nap in the middle of the day does wonders for you and your sleep patterns. Journal. It allows your brain to put to paper what's going on in your day and mind. It also creates a way to look back and see if patterns of burnout are consistent over a period of time. Writing down what’s going on your life is good for the soul, as you can empty the things you’re thinking onto paper helps you shift those events to something that you can see and not just kept in your mind. You don’t have to write a novel (or maybe you want to!) Meditation, yoga, breathing exercises, moments of Zen; all-important to help you focus on the moment, and focus less on thoughts that are creating anxiety or depression.
The challenge though is that these are often temporary fixes, to the root issues that are creating the need for you to meditate. If you are anxious about something that could happen in the future, or you’re depressed about situations in life that haven’t turned out the way you hoped, meditation can help you focus on this moment, and put on the back burner the issues you’re dealing with in life. You’ll get relief and possibly rest after meditation exercises, and being mindful is a huge help to bring you present. But does it fix the problems in your life? Let’s look deeper.
Anxiety is worrying about a possible future state or situation/outcome. You’re anxious for the results from your medical tests, or you’re worried about how your loved one will react to your last minute work meeting tonight. Being mindful and meditation can get you focused on this moment, but you need to change your mindset that’s causing the anxiety in the first place. You need to create mental boundaries to prevent negative or worrisome ideas from renting space in your head. This takes serious effort to create these boundaries, especially if you’ve never dealt with boundaries before.
Next up, depression. Depression is worrying or being upset about events in the past, or things that led up to feelings today. Similar to anxiety, you need boundaries to control your thoughts and how you react to these thoughts or issues. Having stronger mental and emotional boundaries in your life will make meditation work even better for you, and create a life of less stress, burnout, and other health issues. Stress is taking a toll on your life and you need to figure out ways to address it. There are different ways to go about it, but the key elements to take away from
Getting proper rest, sleeping, a consistent sleep schedule, eating properly.
Being able to keep tabs on your day, get rid of clutter in your home, if at all possible, because it's causing you stress trying to figure out where things are.
If you don't know where your keys are, then every morning, you're stressing out, trying to figure out where your keys are. Find a place for them, put them there. Always. That way, you never lose them. You don't have to think about it. They're just going to be there. Same thing with your clothes, pick your clothes out the night before like your mom told you to. There's a reason for that. The reason might be different from what your mom wanted to do. She was probably just trying to save some time to get you out the door so you didn't miss the bus or you weren't late to school.
Burnout is preventable. Talk with your support system (family, friends, co-workers, and bosses) about your concerns, and do what you need to do.
