Are you playing Office Superhero Again?

Remember when we thought the hardest part of work would be the work itself? Insert The Joker laugh.?

These days, you're probably spending more time managing an avalanche of Slack messages, Zoom calls, and "urgent" requests than actually doing the strategic work you're meant to be doing. It's exhausting and diminishes the value you create.

Last week, I sat with a tech leader who hadn't seen her kids before 8 PM in two weeks because she was constantly "putting out fires" and "handling it."

Add marketplace uncertainty to her shaky workplace boundaries and now she's a tangled cord of pressure and guilt.

We mapped out her previous month: 80% of her "emergencies" weren't emergencies at all - they were other people's poor planning becoming her problem and she is falling into the Human Giver Syndrome.?

In the book Down Girl by Kate Manne, she writes that there are Human Beings and Human Givers.?

Human Givers are expected to offer time, resources, attention, moral support, deference, admiration, and support.?Don't forget to do it with a great attitude.

Does this look like you? Keep up the Human Giver Syndrome; your endless giving isn't leadership but a ticket to burnout.?

To avoid burnout you need to avoid it, build immunity, and when you find yourself in it, you need to treat it.?

In the avoidance category, it's about managing the energy game. Here's what works:

• Start saying, "I'll get back to you by [specific time]" instead of dropping everything
• Block your calendar for deep?thinking work and treat it like a client meeting
• Delegate like your sanity depends on it (because it does), or drop it.?
• Beware of task switching. Don't do tasks you dislike, then move on to tasks you love. Start with what you dislike, then do something you enjoy. Then move on to love.?Save your energy.?

No "morning routine" BS. Just boundaries and the confidence to use them.

If you want to build a growth mindset to increase your effectiveness without burning out, I can help. Schedule a free strategy session HERE, where we will dig into your goals and what’s possible.