The Super Simple (but not easy) Burnout Quick-Fix

After doing hundreds of employee interviews on behalf of my clients and reading the best books, papers and research on burnout... I can't help but come back to ONE super simple solution that to me seems to be the natural place to start if you want to address your own burnout, or the burnout within your organization... ready for it??

Here it is...

STOP WORKING.

I'm not trying to be facetious here ... and I'm also well aware of the complexities of burnout so I'm not implying that you can fix the whole thing with this, but I would say that this is absolutely the place to start.

So what do I mean? I don't mean quitting your job - clearly, we don't need more people doing that. But what I do mean is set some really strict boundaries on the end of your work day. I believe that should be as close to 8 hours as possible. And once you're done - do not check emails unless necessary.... Actually STOP. Stop as if your life depended on it.... because it does.

But as simple as this sounds, here's why that's such a big deal....

When we force ourselves to work within a very strict time constraint, our minds are forced to prioritize. A filter develops that automatically rules out anything that's important. And we work with a completely different level of intentionality.

AND

We start to get way more in tune with how much time we ACTUALLY have, rather than buying into a belief that we can always make time (late at night, on the weekends etc). Then, suddenly (and magically), you'll find yourself saying no to things and being more mindful of what you can take on your plate because the TIME is just not available.

AND

You get your life back. You start filling your time with other things that matter to you. You start to get re-energized through the satisfaction you get from the mental break from work and the physical break from sitting at your desk.

The cap on the hours truly does change everything.

So how can you really make this a reality? A couple of things:

1. Schedule something like a workout class, appointment or social outing at 5:30 or whenever you want your day to end. Something that gives you an excuse to STOP. (This will also help with what you tell your manager/colleagues). I know that for me, I end my day at 4PM so that I can spend some time with my kids. My nanny leaves at 4 and therefore I have that hard stop. People with kids can possibly relate... that sometimes our obligations to our kids actually can HELP create that hard boundary.
2. Create an intimate relationship with your calendar and a genuineeee respect for your time. Block out absolutely everything. I have all my recurring events in there first - sleep is in there, breakfast, showering, kid-pick up, dinner time, workout classes, lunch break etc. And then I also put in strategic blocks, and I also block out early morning for emails and tackling priorities. What this does is helps you see just how FINITE your day and time is. And it also prevents "meeting-creep" - where a wide-open calendar allows for meetings to fill up.
3. Come up with your "maximum meeting number" per week. Doing this will avoid the vicious cycle of meetings + follow ups -- where the more meetings you have, the longer your to-do list gets. I don't like to have more than 2 meetings per day or 10 per week. More than that is often not necessary and becomes wayyyy too distracting for actual real work. But figure out what works for you.

And the reason why this is all so important when it comes to tackling burnout is that THREE of the MAJOR ROOT CAUSES of burnout are: high job demands + long work hours + low job control.

In other words, having too much on your plate, with not enough time to do it, causes you to feel out of control...

So in summary... THAT HARD STOP puts you back in the driver's seat... reduces your hours... shrinks your workload... and helps you get your energy back, your balance back, your sleep back, and the love of your job back.

Disclaimer: Although this is fairly simple, I am NOT implying that it is EASY. But it ISSS worth it, and it does take practice. It's also extremely important for managers to respect these boundaries and PRACTICE THIS THEMSELVES in order to set an example and create PERMISSION for employees to follow in your footsteps

P.S. Watch this video --- it will help ??