There are many varied descriptions of burnout, but I want to start us out on the same page by using this one:
Burnout is a destruction of motivation caused by feelings of powerlessness.
—Beverly Potter, Beating Job Burnout
It gets to an aspect of burnout that we rarely touch on and will get to in a bit.
There are 13.2M Google results for “burnout in tech,” a 72% increase from what Mary Thengvall reported just last year. This number expands even more-so when you dig into burnout for helping roles such as community professionals or start looking into role overload.
Burnout in the community realm tends to come from this myth that we need to be available 24/7 and sacrificing the other areas of our lives. It isn’t true, it isn’t healthy, and it needs to stop.
In fact, I’ve heard that evangelist roles have an average lifespan of ~18 months. That guy on the left is my boss as well as our Chief Evangelist of four years, which probably makes him some sort of superhero in our industry.
Speaking of heroes, have you seen the Incredibles? In the first installment, Bob Parr loses his identity as Mr. Incredible and suffers to carry out his day to day life.
The same thing happens to us as community professionals. As we spend all our focus on others, we begin to lose our identities and feel powerless.
Sounds familiar from our starting description, right? Powerlessness. The only way to prevent burnout and to turn the process around is to become captain of your ship. The first step then is making the decision to take command and direct your moments.
We need to learn how to stop, say no, and make changes to avoid the emotional overload that creates and intensifies burnout. In other words, we need to stop and identify the problem, set and keep boundaries, and practice self-care.
1. Set (and keep) boundaries.
I thought needing control was a bad thing, but it’s not—always. It’s called having boundaries. At their core, healthy boundaries require taking responsibility for your own actions and emotions, while not taking responsibility for those of others.
It’s up to you to set and keep boundaries because no one else will do it for you. Additionally, boundaries are very personal and look different for each of us. I could tell you not to work after 7pm, but that might not be realistic for you or the boundary that you need.
In general, I try to remind myself that non-emergencies can wait for “work hours”. Additionally, because I travel so much for my job, and often on weekends, I have a personal boundary of not working on planes, and not using wi-fi on the plane even when it’s available.
In addition to setting and keeping boundaries, we need to communicate them. Communicating your boundaries will help you protect them. You do have the right to stand up for yourself.
I started to give myself permission to set boundaries and practice self-care after speaking with Natalie Villalobos from Google who shared:
The more balanced I can be,more perspective I can get, more nourished I am,the more I can serve my community.
—Natalie Villalobos, Google Community Manager Hangout
2. Practice self-care.
I get it, you’re here to serve, and you want to be available. The reality is: you can’t be there for your community if you aren’t taking care of yourself. Taking care of yourself is also caring about others.
How do you start practicing self-care? Find something you enjoy that is totally unrelated to your day job. For me, this has been volunteering as a Whalewatch Naturalist. Whatever it is for you, make it a priority.
After all, you’re boring if all you know is community.
Don’t forget to take a break. Re-establish your identity and remind yourself of who you are. Make sure that however you choose to take a break, it forces you to disconnect. Your mind and your emotions need to rest.
I disconnect by kickboxing, which requires all of my focus, exploring national parks with my brother, and spending way too much on things like mani/pedis and massage therapy.
If you need ideas, Carrie Jones has a great framework called The Community Manager’s Self-Care Checklist. You can also look up the 4-Hour Decompress from J. Paul Reed.
3. Identify the problem(s).
Boundaries and self-care are great, but don’t forget to stop and identify the situations undermining your motivation. Find the actual problem, don’t get stuck applying band-aid solutions.
Two great books to help with this are:
- Beating Job Burnout: How to Transform Work Pressure into Productivity | Beverly Potter
- Finding a Path with a Heart: How to Go from Burnout to Bliss | Beverly Potter
Take personal responsibility. Your personal research will take you down your own unique rabbit trails.
That’s my encouragement to you. Stop. Say no. And make changes.
(You can find my research sources at: http://bit.ly/CommunityBurnout.)
Adapted-ish from my talk at OSCON Ignite 2018.