Speaker 1 (00:01)

Hello and welcome to the traveling introvert. Today I want to talk about burnout. I know I talk about this a lot, but for this particular episode, I want to talk about the fact that burnout is not just about being stressed out. I was having a conversation with a client recently and they we're talking about the end of the year and list of stuff to do and just general stuff to do and having projects in mind and what are you going to do next year? And the usual stuff that happens around this time of year, which happens to be the end of the year, in case you're listening at some other time.

Speaker 1 (00:43)

And I mentioned that, hey, maybe you don't want to do anything for the next month because you're showing signs of burnout. And the response was like, yeah, but this is the least stressed job I've ever had. How could I possibly be displaying signs of burnout? And so there was a couple of things that were interesting. One, that because they said they were very used to being in very toxic work cultures where they were stretched pretty thin.

Speaker 1 (01:14)

Chain of all trades was the phrase used, and how they were everything to everybody and therefore they were used to being in a very stressful environment and that was a past job and now they're in a new job and it's been the least stressed they've been this job is less stressful. And so I made a statement, actually, which was stress doesn't equal burnout. I understand that you are no longer in a toxic as toxic or a different type of toxic work environment, but you are still currently in a toxic work environment. It's just a different type of toxic. You know that frog that's in boiling water and it's fine, it's fine, it's fine.

Speaker 1 (01:55)

It really isn't because it's killing the frog. The frog gets out, but it's just jumped into a pan that the water isn't boiling yet, it's still warm, it's still bad for the frog, but the frog thinks it's fine because it's not as bad as the other pot. So a lot of people get confused and think that when you're talking about burnout, it's just about how stressed and overwhelmed you are. And that's not always the case. Yes, definitely, burnout can come from stress, but burnout can come from so many other areas.

Speaker 1 (02:26)

Burnout can come from having to make too many decisions every day for an extended period of time. This is one of the reasons why moving house can be extremely stressful. It's not the fact that your moving house and going to new space that is normally joyful, but having to make decisions of do I keep something? Do I throw it away? Do I give it to charity?

Speaker 1 (02:45)

What do I do with it? Having to do that for each and every item in your house is exhausting because we only have so much cognitive function to make decisions per day. Another thing is when you are in constant conflict, even if it's microconflict, this is something that happens a lot to people of colour. They are always experiencing microaggressions, right? That can be wearing, that can grind you down, that can lead to burnout, that can lead to you feeling very angry all the time.

Speaker 1 (03:15)

Another thing could be just disagreeing with the values that you have, don't aren't in line with your manager's values or your company's values and fighting that all the time can be wearing. Having a person in your team that is always that squeaky wheel and not necessarily in a good way, that's always going behind your back or backstabbing or you're always waiting for them to say something nasty that is grinding on you and that could lead to burnout. Because you're dealing with this negative emotion constantly and fighting it, and it takes extra energy that you don't have. Burnout can come and I'm not even then talking about like a physical burnout. Burnout can come from so many different things in so many different ways that don't think that just because you're not stressed, and I'm putting this in air quotes, stressed, doesn't mean that you cannot be experiencing burnout.

Speaker 1 (04:12)

So just stop and think for a minute, oh, hey, maybe I am wicked tired, maybe I am experiencing a form of burnout and what can I do to neutralise that or get myself better? And don't think that it's just do one thing and for a week and that'll be fine. No, this is something that needs to be worked on on a regular basis and with thought and intention.

Speaker 1 (04:40)

So please move forward with your life with the intention of dissipating or getting rid of or getting better from burnout. Thank you for listening. This is Janice at The Career Introvert, helping you build your brand and get hired. Have a great rest of your week.