Checkpoint on KPIs of My Burnout [#5 in Burned Out Series]
Upon realizing I was experiencing burnout, I quickly took the Maslach Burnout Inventory. As you may recall, burnout has three components:
Emotional exhaustion: the fatigue that comes from caring too much for too long. It is typically connected to a difficult, tiring, or stressful relationship with work, and it is different from depression.
Depersonalization: the depletion of empathy, caring, and compassion. It involves keeping a greater emotional distance or isolation, being cynical, negative, or even callous.
Decreased sense of accomplishment: the unconquerable sense of futility, feeling that nothing you do makes any difference, and a significant decrease in fulfilment in the workplace, as well as a negative view of professional achievements.
In February, my results indicated that I was in high-level burnout in all three areas. Recently, I retook the inventory and confirmed my emotional exhaustion and sense of accomplishment have improved dramatically. I didn’t need the assessment to tell me this, yet it was nice to have it affirmed. Although my client load has not changed, it feels much lighter. I can now acknowledge and celebrate the growth in my clients and the positive impact of the work I am doing more naturally.
The bottom line is my circumstances, workload, and client load have not changed, but I have.
Unfortunately, I am still scoring in high-level burnout in the area of depersonalization. However, I believe this was the area that pushed me so deep into burnout, so it’s not surprising that it would be the last area to improve. As I have reflected upon this area, I have realized that negative thoughts are what dragged me down.
Thankfully, in January, I was asked to join a group of coaches who were participating in a Positive Intelligence program. The program focused on building mental fitness by strengthening three critical mental muscles to reduce the influence of negativity.
Most attempts at positive change fail because we stop at insight – oh, wow, I am experiencing burnout – and don’t build habits that help us change or move in a more positive direction. Change is hard. That’s why so many New Year’s resolutions fail.
Sustained change requires laying down neural pathways to form new habits through consistent daily practice. This program did exactly that by providing us with a weekly focus, daily practice, measurable progress, and community support. As coaches, we were able to immediately see how it could impact our clients. Yet, we were all committed to completing the program to see how it actually worked.
Part of the program required me to take an assessment to determine which “saboteurs” influenced me the most. Saboteurs are the voices in your head that generate negative emotions and affect how you handle life’s everyday challenges. They represent automated patterns in your mind for how to think, feel, and respond. They cause stress, anxiety, self-doubt, frustration, restlessness, and unhappiness. They also sabotage your performance, well-being, and relationships.
This can lead to burnout in the following ways:
When your performance is sabotaged, it can lead to a decreased sense of accomplishment.
When your well-being is sabotaged, it can lead to emotional exhaustion.
When your relationships are sabotaged, it can lead to depersonalization and a depletion of empathy, care, and compassion.
For me, this assessment was a game changer because it helped me slow down, recognize, and acknowledge my thoughts and the impact they were having on every aspect of my life. Since I promised honesty, openness, and vulnerability in this journey, I am sharing my results from January and May below. If you have any thoughts about them, I’d love to hear them.
Here is how I am interpreting them:
It’s about progress not perfection. I am moving in the right direction.
It’s a bit like putting an octopus in a box; as you get a couple legs in, another one flops out.
I am experiencing exactly what I reassure my clients is the natural process. You become aware of something you need to work on, you determine to work on it, you experience some success and some failures, and everything becomes a learning opportunity. It starts to get better, and often, other things come to light. It’s part of the process.
I believe lasting change in an area of your life typically takes 6 to 9 months. I’m 4 months in, not done yet, and not giving up.
Next week, I’ll share the “aha” moments I had from this checkpoint. If you are interested in learning more about mental fitness, please reach out.
Always learning, always growing,
Susan
Saboteur Definitions
Restless: constantly in search of greater excitement in the next activity or constant busyness. Rarely at peace or content with the current activity.
Controller: anxiety-based need to take charge and control situations and people’s actions to one’s own will. High anxiety and impatience when that is not possible.
Avoider: focusing on the positive and pleasant in an extreme way. Avoiding difficult and unpleasant tasks and conflicts.
Stickler: perfectionism and a need for order and organization taken too far.
Hyper-Rational: intense and exclusive focus on the rational processing of everything, including relationships. Can be perceived as cold, distant, and intellectually arrogant.
Hyper-Achiever: dependent on constant performance and achievement for self-respect and self-validation. Highly focused on external success, leading to unsustainable workaholic tendencies and loss of touch with deeper emotional and relationship needs.
Victim: emotional and temperamental as a way to gain attention and affection. An extreme focus on internal feelings, particularly painful ones. Martyr streak.
Pleaser: indirectly tries to gain acceptance and affection by helping, pleasing, rescuing, or flattering others. Loses sight of own needs and becomes resentful as a result.
Hyper-Vigilant: continuous intense anxiety about all the dangers and what could go wrong. Vigilance that can never rest.