Burnout isn’t a new concept. The term was first coined in 1974 by Herbert Freudenberger in his book, Burnout: The High Cost of High Achievement. According to Merriam-Webster, burnout is the exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation, usually due to prolonged stress or frustration. For years, we’ve known the causes and symptoms of burnout and how we can overcome it. But, what has never happened during that time was a year (we’re being generous, it’s going on 14 months) like this past one.

The list of factors that can lead to burnout, such as: lack of control, work-life imbalance, monotony, and an unmanageable workload, now read like a list that is all too familiar. Many aspects of our personal lives and work lives have been out of our control. Shifting to remote work has blurred the line between work and home. Childcare and virtual schooling have created a constant pull throughout the day, and the pressure to keep up and excel at our jobs is stronger than ever.

Many are indeed experiencing one or more of these factors, but not everyone is experiencing burnout. How do you know if you’re feelin’ the burn(out)? It’s more than just feeling stressed or overwhelmed. Here are some of the most common symptoms:

• A significant shift in your mood towards your work and/or coworkers: You may notice your stress level is high and constant. You may become irritable or impatient with coworkers. Or, you may even feel numb and completely disconnected from the work you are doing.
• You are physically feeling it: You may feel unexplained physical symptoms such as headaches and stomachaches. You may also experience insomnia or abnormal fatigue.
• Reduced performance: You may find it challenging to get started on your work, stay focused, or complete tasks. The quality and quantity of your work may suffer.
• Finding unhealthy ways to cope: When you stop to think about it, you may realize you’ve been using unhealthy eating habits, alcohol, drugs, or destructive self-talk to feel better or to feel nothing at all.

Can you relate to these symptoms? If so, you are not alone. Indeed conducted a survey to compare current burnout rates to those in 2020, before Covid. Every generation has seen an increase in burnout rates. 80% of respondents believe Covid-19 has impacted workplace burnout somehow, and 67% say burnout has worsened during the pandemic.

The good news is that burnout is preventable and reversible! Here are our top tips to take back control of your emotions, wellbeing, and mental health:

• Reset your boundaries: We had to quickly transition to remote work without having the proper time to reset our boundaries. It’s not too late! Set aside 15 minutes and write down what you need for your day to well-balanced. It could mean spending the afternoon in one area of the home and the evening in a different one after work. It could be setting asides days, or times of day, for task work or deep work. Maybe you turn off notifications during your deep work time. Ensure your plan includes protecting enough time for sleep!
• Do it together: The chances are great that your friends, family, coworkers, and even managers are feeling some of the same burnout symptoms you are. Share what you’re going through with those close to you. Have an honest conversation with your manager and ask for support in resetting your boundaries.
• Get moving: Whether it’s sitting outside on a sunny day, going for a walk, or enjoying a full-on workout, movement and fresh air the best free medicines!
• Feed your soul: If your job is the most important thing in your life and you tie your identity to it, burnout is a higher possibility. Remember, you are more than your job. Ensure you are continuing to enjoy hobbies and learn new skills outside of work.
• Use your PTO: Last, but certainly not least. Just because you may not be able to spend the day with a big group of friends, or travel to your favorite vacation spots, doesn’t mean you don’t need time off. Schedule days that are true PTO for you to unwind and have fun!

Don’t put pressure on yourself that you have to flip the script and fix everything in a day. Small steps each day will ensure you’re working towards reversing or preventing burnout.

As diversity and inclusion have been an important focus, businesses have made progress, but we still have to continue to dig deep to align our DEI initiatives with our everyday operations. Here’s where your focus should be in 2021 to stay ON Point and set your organization and team up for success:

Put your soft skills in play.

An ON Point leader knows emotional intelligence and empathy are crucial in today’s workplace. As they say, “We are all in the same storm, but on different boats.” All employees are affected by the ongoing pandemic, with external factors affecting their day-to-day work in different ways. Yet, women, especially women of color, have been hit hardest, with many even leaving the workforce to take care of their families.

As a leader, create space for open and honest conversations and allow your team to voice their concerns. This is essential to building an inclusive workplace. When leaders appropriately address different viewpoints at work, employees will feel supported by you and the organization.

You can’t fix what you don’t know, and you must keep your pulse on these issues to put support structures in place. Remember that an organization’s success is directly linked to its employees!

Diversity among teams is a win for everyone.

Diversity has been at the forefront for a few years, and the results have demonstrated wins across the board.

Drawing on many lived experiences and viewpoints, diverse teams are often more creative and innovative, outperforming homogenous teams and generating more revenue. These diverse viewpoints will also ensure you’re speaking to and reaching a wider, inclusive audience for organizations offering services or products.

Lived experiences and viewpoints long underrepresented will not only find a place to be amplified, but these will be heard by the rest of the team, creating a natural environment of learning, bettering each of your employees and your workplace culture.

Address unconscious bias.

Guess what? We all have unconscious bias. To build diverse teams and take various viewpoints and lived experiences into account, leaders must recognize their own unconscious bias so they do not form their decisions. As a leader, it starts with you. You can minimize the effects of unconscious bias across your team and your organization.

In its simplest form, you can put yourself in their shoes. If the roles were reversed, how would you feel? You can cultivate a cultural atmosphere where unconscious bias is openly discussed without judgment. Diversity training can aid in this, as well as help educate your employees. You can revise your hiring process to ensure you’re giving a diverse pool of candidates the opportunity to apply. You can conduct blind interviews to help diminish your hiring team’s unconscious bias.

Walk the talk. 

Your actions must represent your words. If you’re expressing the importance of representation, ask yourself if you have proper representation within your leadership team. Within your board. Within your teams. Within your internship program.

Need an example? Millions of young girls across the country have been told for years that they can be anything they want to be. It’s easy to hear, but hard to believe when you don’t see examples of it. The day our first Madam Vice President was sworn into office, those millions of young girls now see that they, too, can be anything they want – including The Vice President of the United States of America!

It’s more than diversity; equity needs to be a focus. 

Businesses have made great strides towards diversity by increasing representation of people from diverse backgrounds, and inclusion by creating space for all voices, but this is only a small piece of the puzzle. More can be done!

By recognizing that we don’t all start from the same place due to barriers, equity ensures everyone has access to the same opportunities. This takes a deep, internal look at your practices, programs, placements, and employee resources to determine where the inequality is and correcting it.

ON Point Next Level Leadership can ensure that your DEI initiatives and employee resource groups are #ONPoint and providing value to your employees and attracting and retaining top talent.

We don’t know a single person who isn’t looking forward to 2021. A new year, a clean slate, a chance to reflect on the past and work toward the future. People take this time to set goals for themselves – whether they’re personal goals or professional goals. And businesses often take the time to reflect on the past year and prioritize to ensure continued success or reprioritize goals for a better year ahead.

Typically, the new year is a time of growth and change. Of course, last year brought us growth and change beyond our wildest imagination. Despite that, leaders continue to strive for new learning opportunities. ON Point leaders read a lot about self-improvement. Because we know that by improving ourselves, we can improve our teams.

Leading by example, let’s take a look at five ways you can sharpen your leadership skills in 2021.

1. Improve your connections.

We don’t mean networking here. As a leader, you know what needs to get done and when it needs to be done. Getting to know the workers who will actually do the work can help you get your tasks done more efficiently and effectively.

Work on your mentorship skills by meeting with each of your team members individually to get a sense of their goals, give regular feedback and challenge them with new opportunities. Collaborate across teams to build connections with other stakeholders in your organization. Sharpen your listening skills. Effective communication often involves more listening than talking. Think about what your team is telling you and work with them to deliver the best results.

2. Sharpen your administration

Think about your work style and processes, is it efficient? Does your team understand it? Where can you improve it? Are you setting a good example by using your own time efficiently?

Call on your team to help you find an effective way to produce work more effectively – each time you make a decision. Remember, each of your team members is a stakeholder in the projects they’re tackling. Take some time to think about how you can meet your own deadlines better. Think about how your team can get more work done with less effort.

Trust your team members and delegate tasks accordingly. If you see that someone has a particular talent, call on that talent – when people are called upon to use skills they’re confident in, they’ll work harder and contribute more.

3. Know yourself.

At ON Point, we’ve touched on this in the past. Continue to be a student of yourself. Self-knowledge and self-awareness give you more confidence to showcase the leadership skills you do have. And the confidence you do have will help you accept responsibility when a decision you make doesn’t go according to plan.

4. Think about your company.

We all have individual hopes, dreams and visions. And they don’t always align with what’s best for the company. Practice the self-discipline required to make decisions in the company’s best interest. Always strive to choose what’s right over what’s favorable.

Your example will help your team to also choose company interests over their own when appropriate.

5. Think about who you are leading.

Are you leading the next leaders? The skill-sets overlap. Leaders take initiative and execute strategy. Managers deal with people. In all organizations, effective managers have to be effective leaders.

Lead by supporting – each team member must know their position and growth. To do that, leaders need to be transparent about company goals. Give individuals on your team the right training and resources to grow in their career – because chances are if they can’t grow with your company, they’ll find an organization where they can grow.

At ON Point, we know nothing went according to plan in 2020. While so many things changed, the need for strong leadership never wavered. Being self-aware enough to continue your leadership development will go a long way, no matter what 2021 brings.

If you’d like to see how ON Point can help you take your leadership skills to the NextLevel in 2021, contact us. We’re all about mentoring people and making new connections.

October is Emotional Wellness Month and World Mental Health Day was on October 10^th. Here’s how ON Point is recognizing mental health challenges and providing solutions.

Some call it “the other pandemic of 2020.” We retreated to our homes – isolating ourselves from friends and family, we felt the stress. As we pivoted from office work to remote work, we felt the anxiety. Disruptions do that – that’s why we’ve talked about it so much here at ON Point. We know that recognizing these challenges can help us all move forward.

We hear about COVID every day for about eight months. But, what about the other challenges. What about the mental health challenges that are affecting so many of us right now?

According to a study published in July by the Kaiser Family Foundation

• 53% of adults report that worry and stress over COVID has negatively affected their mental health
• 36% of adults reported difficulty sleeping
• 32% reported difficulty eating
• 12% reported an increase in alcohol or substance use
• 12% reported an increase in chronic conditions

Mental health crises are another pandemic. It’s not surprising. We all experienced a major shift in our lives. They’ve changed forever. So what do we do about it? How do we take care of our mental health as well as we’re attending to our physical health right now?

There are simple things you can do each day to improve your mental health and maintain a positive outlook – before things get serious. Exercise, meditation and hobbies are all good choices for your well-being. Many people choose to work with health and wellness coaches. These professionals can help you put together a playbook to tackle stress and anxiety.

Here at ON Point, CEO Pam Borton is a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach who’s worked with organizations and teams to help develop the resiliency necessary to face tough opponents and tough times.

The National Board Certification credential (NBC-HWC), in collaboration with the National Board of Medical Examiners, represents this profession’s highest standard and is based on extensive research and specialized training, education, and assessment of the coaches who have met NBHWC’s specific criteria and standards. As a certified Health & Wellness coach, Pam provides a game plan that guides her clients, teams and companies through change, crisis, succession planning, mergers and acquisitions, resiliency, well-being, emotional intelligence and mental wellness. Pam has worked closely with first responders, law enforcement commands and managers, and the military where they experience unique pressures, stress, fear, anxiety, and PTSD based on their roles.

For individuals, our approach is customized to each client including a personalized strategic action plan, clear goals and objectives, accountability, transparency, communication, and practical tools to improve overall health and well-being.

Team success is directly linked to the resilience, well-being, empathy, and cohesion of the individuals. The healthier the individuals, the stronger and more successful the team. We help leaders develop high-value, high-performing teams and motivated and engaged employees.

Fully leveraging the health of an organization requires on-going focus, discipline, strategy and effort by CEO’s and their teams. Our team coaches design and lead a unique and proven process that will ensure the long-term establishment of culture, team, and organizational health.

Let’s face it. 2020 has been tough. Perhaps our toughest foe ever. It’s going to affect our mental health – and the health of those around us. But there are resources available to us when the going gets really tough. And we’ve got coaches like Pam Borton to help us build resilience to get through them too.

If you’re interested in building resilience by working with a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, contact us today.

If you’re concerned about a serious mental health problem, the CDC has a list of resources. If stress and anxiety are significantly impacting your routine and ability to function, reach out to your regular health care provider. They can prescribe medication, refer you to a psychologist or counselor who specializes in mental health conditions.

This is a marathon, not a sprint. When COVID shut everything down in March, employers and workers alike looked ahead in two-week segments, recognizing the fluidity of the situation. And here we are in month five with no end in sight. When you tell yourself that a drastic change will only last two weeks, it’s easy to stomach. But eventually, you end up wondering how much longer you can look forward two weeks.

The reality that COVID isn’t leaving anytime soon is hitting hard. COVID fatigue has settled in. And along with it, work from home fatigue. According to CNBC, 69% of employees are experiencing work-from-home burnout symptoms. Yet, 59% of them are taking less time off and, 42% are not setting aside any time to decompress.

Parents, once accustomed to sending their children to daycare or school before commuting to work, now find themselves juggling work, child care, and distance learning in one place. And while we all hoped that things would go back to normal by the fall, it’s crystal clear that that is not going to happen.

We’re experiencing a paradigm shift. And we must adapt. But first, we need to combat work-from-home burnout and COVID fatigue. Forbes has a few suggestions to help you get started.

Create a routine and stick with it.

Structure your work-from-home day in much the same way as you did when you worked at the office. Get up at the same time, have your meals at the same time and exercise at the same time. If you had a commute, consider going for a walk during that time to create a feeling of transition from home to the office or from the office back home. Establish a definite start and stop time for your workday.

Define your role.

Using the same tools you used to define your role in the office, take time to assess your role in this new environment. You may have the same responsibilities to your team, but you might also be juggling those tasks with your role as a parent, spouse or caregiver. How do these dynamics affect how you work remotely?

Setting clear expectations for yourself and your role in this new setting will help alleviate the stress that comes with uncertainty.

Take breaks.

Chances are you didn’t work the whole time you were at the office. You took breaks to chat with co-workers or simply to let your mind rest. Taking breaks while working from home is just as important. Watch a fun video or listen to something funny. Read something unrelated to your job.

If your role requires you to have a lot of meetings on Zoom, schedule them with a 10-15 minute break between them. The short break will give you time to prepare for the next meeting. And if you can, choose phone meetings over Zoom to prevent screen fatigue.

Use break time for a quick check-in and connection with your family members. Whatever you choose, make sure it’s a good break – so you go back to work feeling refreshed.

And make your weekends “weekends” again. When you work from home, it’s easy for days to lose their meaning. When you give yourself a couple of days away from work and technology each week, you’ll be more productive in the long run.

Stay informed.

According to the University of California at Davis, it’s important to say informed about difficult situations and also be mindful of overwhelm. UC Davis recommends focusing on the numbers because that helps us focus on what we can control. At the same time, you want to limit triggers – limit the amount of news you listen to – and make sure it comes from trusted sources.

Stay away from social media arguments. Often, contrary information comes from people experiencing COVID fatigue themselves. Remind loved ones that this will be over soon if we all follow the guidelines. And if that doesn’t work, model good behavior and be kind.

Always remember, you can’t control anyone but yourself.

These are challenging times for everyone – perhaps the most challenging we’ve seen in our lifetimes. But we’re in this together. We can get through this together. And our team at ON Point is here to help you finish the marathon.