Are you one stress away from burnout?

We are living in unprecedented times of pressures and demands on managers, especially women.? Extreme workloads and high-stress situations often depict the concept of burnout.? Although, this may not paint the picture of your current situation, it's important to recognize that burnout can quietly creep up.? It doesn't happen overnight.? Those seemingly small stresses that you disregard, day in and day out, can accumulate over time.?? When these stresses go unmanaged, the boiling point is eventually reached and burnout can emerge.

For women managers, in particular, these subtle stressors can gradually erode resilience and well-being, eventually leading to burnout.? The following list is not exhaustive but it provides some insight on the emotional toll experienced on a regular basis by women managers that can easily accumulate and contribute to burnout.

1. Striving for Perfection

In the pursuit of perfection, we often review, revise, redo, reimagine, etc. in order to attain some version of "perfect".? What we fail to understand is that perfection is illusive.? Without a clear, measurable explanation of what perfect means, it is vague and subjective.? Therefore, we end up pursuing something that doesn't even exist.??? This may be experienced particularly where we strive for being the perfect version of wife, mother, daughter, manager, etc.?

2. Ignoring self-care

By putting our self-care last on the list, we are not in the best form possible to take care of others.? When we believe that we only deserve rest when we have fulfilled a long list of obligations, we may find that rest often never comes.? Persistently staying at this "go, go, go" pace may lead to exhaustion and eventual burnout.

3. Unrealistic expectations

The weight of expectations is real.? Not only do we have the expectations that others have placed on us, but we pile our own expectations on top.? We don't consider the accomplishments we do make on a regular basis.? Instead, we move onto the next thing "to do", thereby always feeling like what we're doing is not enough.

4. Proving oneself

This may appear in the face of skepticism about our leadership abilities, in communications where we are interrupted in meetings or in situations where our ideas are overlooked.? As women leaders, we have the challenge of overcoming conditioning where we look to others for their opinions and we don't recognize our own abilities.? As a result, we depend on external sources of validation instead of recognition from within.

5. Comparing and Despairing

When we compare ourselves to others, we often think that we should be further ahead; however, we don't realize that we may only be seeing a small, unrealistic picture of someone else's journey that appears to be "better"; when, in fact there is no comparison at all.

While the consequences of these individual activities may seem insignificant in isolation, their cumulative impact on women managers should not be underestimated.? Recognizing and addressing these subtle stressors is essential for maintaining well-being and preventing burnout.? We have the responsibility of advocating for our well-being and taking the necessary proactive measures to protect it.

By acknowledging the effects of seemingly small stresses and taking preventative measures to address them, we can be women managers who thrive and succeed without sacrificing our well-being.

#stress #burnout #womeninleadership #wellbeing

--------------------------------------------------------------------

About me

My name is Shawna Lettroy.? I am a Stress and Burnout Prevention Coach.? I help overwhelmed women managers break through their individual challenges, especially in times of worry, anxiety and stress, to reignite their authentic spark to lead more empowered lives.

If you found this article helpful AND you want help identifying and overcoming some of the stressors in your own life, CONTACT ME today for your FREE Strategy Call.?

Join The Women Managers' Movement e-mail community where I share helpful tips and strategies, including my experiences, to help you deal with your everyday challenges with stress and burnout.?

----------------------------------------------------------------------