Stay Fresh On The Job
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How to avoid burnout and find renewed energy and creativity in your work.
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Stay Fresh On The Job
- 4. Nurture Relationships Nurture Nurture Yourself Skills Stay Fresh
Editor's Notes
- How do you recognize when you’re getting stale or burnt out?
- As I researched ways to stay fresh, I also found a lot of information about burnout. There’s some difference between being stale and being burnt out, but it’s often a continuum. You want to recognize when you’re getting stale and take steps that will help you avoid burning out.And if you realize you’re having serious problems, don’t hesitate to seek help. There are probably employee assistance programs at your universities that offer resources to help you.
- There are lots of tips and resources out there that deal with staying fresh in your work, finding creative inspiration, avoiding burnout, handling stress and being more productive. I’ll include a list of my sources at the end of this presentation. But after reading a number of articles, I realized that staying fresh on the job (and avoiding burnout) boils down to three things:Nurture YourselfNurture Your RelationshipsNurture Your Professional Skills
- Why is this first? If you’ve ever gone through a particularly difficult time at home, you know how that can affect your life at work. The more stress you’re under at work, the more you need time to recharge your batteries. And, conversely, if you feel fulfilled and satisfied outside the workplace, you are more energized for work. Remember:Control the things you can and let go of what you can’t. This applies to your personal life and relationships as well as to your professional life and relationships.
- These suggestions have been gleaned from a variety of sources, as well as personal experience.• Lack of sleep has a huge effect on one’s outlook. Try to get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night. Can’t turn off your brain? Try making a list of what’s on your mind. This will help get it off your mind so you can sleep.• I’m not a good example, but exercise is another great way to relieve stress. And a healthy diet also contributes to a healthier outlook on life.• Do something creative. Even creative professionals need an creative outlet (that’s at least a little different from the type of work you do). I know a graphic designer who is also a talented musician – it provides another creative outlet for him. I’m an editor and I enjoy several different crafts as well as creative writing. The writing I do outside work is nothing like what I edit and I’ve found a lot of pleasure in it. It helps recharge my batteries.• Maybe there’s something you’ve always wanted to try, or a language you’ve wanted to learn. Learning something new exercises different mental muscles and can even help you see new solutions to old problems.• For me, there’s nothing like a classic episode of “Frasier” or “WKRP in Cincinnati” to help me unwind. Laughter really is the best medicine! Hang out with people who make you laugh.
- • Gratitude – it’s very easy to forget how much we have to be thankful for. When I get discouraged, it helps to remember the good things in my life. Focus on the positive things in each day. Find encouraging things to say to those you work with. I struggle with getting stuck in a negative rut. Sometimes it helps to write those thoughts down and then put them away. I was surprised how much it helped me get out of my dark mood. Don’t pretend problems don’t exist – of course they do – but find the good in each day, too, and don’t get stuck in negativity.• Volunteer for a service organization, help a neighbor, do something that makes your community a little better. Taking the focus off yourself is an important part of overcoming negativity.• Each of us needs time for reflection and meditation – whether you consider yourself religious or not. Some pray, others meditate or commune with nature. The point is that your inner life is as important as your outer life (maybe even more important). Take time to be still and listen, read devotions or inspirational literature that helps you adjust your perspective or challenges you to see beyond yourself. Turn off the technology, take a deep breath and see what happens.• Listening to music is one of the great joys of my life. There are songs that just lift me up. At different times in my life, I’ve even had ‘theme songs.’ (When I was a grad student Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” was a favorite.) And U2 never fails to inspire me.Looking at pictures of my grandson always brings a smile. Your source of joy may be different – just don’t neglect it. Don’t fail to feed your soul.• Doing something ‘just for fun’ takes us back to childhood, in a way. We don’t always have to be weighing which activity will give us the most bang for the buck. We could just do something because it’s fun. What are some ways you nurture yourself?
- Remember you’re not alone. Example of positive professional relationship:Think about someone who encouraged you professionally.Remember:Control the things you can and let go of what you can’t
- Again, these tips have been gleaned from several sources and personal experience.• Seek out co-workers you can trust. Often they will have suggestions from their own experience that can help.• When I worked at a small daily newspaper a few years ago, we always had a small staff. Then we had a several people leave in a short time and we were really tight. We joked that we were a few bones short of a skeleton crew. And yet, we were also closer then that at any other time. Everyone pulled together. Our editor had a gathering at his home for all of us and it was a lot of fun. We shared gummy bears and laughs on the job. We went out for lunch or coffee together. All of these things helped make a difficult situation a little easier to bear.• Don’t be shy about seeking out someone in your field, or maybe a little outside it, that you could learn from. They often have already experienced what you are experiencing and will have valuable insights.• When I taught editing and news writing, I learned as much as my students. If you want to improve your skills, teach someone else. And investing in someone else takes some of the focus off yourself and that’s always a good thing.
- • If you have a good boss, he or she may already sense that you’re feeling a little stale and want to help. If you go to your boss and say you’re looking for ways to improve your job performance, he or she might have some ideas or be open to some professional development opportunities. Taking responsibility for your burnout or staleness is a positive step in the eyes of many supervisors. I understand there might be work situations where you can’t do this, but for most of us, we have a supervisor who wants what’s best for us. At the very least, they want productive employees and burnt out employees are not productive.• Trouble at work often affects life at home and vice-versa. Keep your spouse or other significant people in your life up-to-speed about your situation. Let them be there for you and help you. I heard an interesting interview recently with Rashard Lewis, of the Orlando Magic. He was talking about how he’d not been doing as well in games and in practice and his coach called him in to talk about it. Turns out, Lewis’ young daughter had been very ill and in the hospital for several weeks and he hadn’t told anyone. He’d been trying to carry that burden on his own instead of sharing it. No wonder he was struggling. He did a lot better after he talked about it with his coach and let some people be an encouragement to him.
- And, with training budgets and support staff limited, you may be able to do some support and training within your unit or department. However, you might want to make sure your boss is OK with you taking on additional responsibilities.Some of us at K-State have been through the Leadership Institute. Later this summer we’re going to be sharing what we learned in monthly lunch gatherings. (Leadership Lunches) I would expect that every department represented here has people who have learned something worth sharing with their coworkers. It’s built-in training for everybody.
- Campus training:• For example: K-State’s Human Resources office offers a number of seminars and training sessions throughout the year covering subjects such as running a meeting, diversity, getting organized, supervising students, recognizing and dealing with various areas of conflict, and many other topics. Nearly all of these are free. K-State’s information technology groups also offer a number of sessions related to using various technologies. • Adobe and Microsoft both offer extensive online support that includes training modules and videos – free. Mention resources such as free online training from Adobe, newsletters, podcasts, blogs, eXtension• Many university communities have Mac or Linux user groups and probably other software-related user groups. There are many online resources related to the adobe creative suite products – podcasts, newsletters, forums. Many of these are good sources of free information that can help you make the most of your skills.And eXtension offers several professional development opportunities each month on a variety of topics.
- • There are tons of resources for working smarter, for being more organized, for taking control of your inbox, for managing your time – just about every aspect of being more productive. Many people swear by David Allen’s Getting Things Done method. That’s one approach and it has many variations. The point I want to make here is that you need to figure out what works for you – how do you process information, when is your best time of day, how does your personality type affect how you work? Google is your friend here – do a search on Getting Things Done, or working smarter, or avoiding burnout and you will find a lot of resources.I would also recommend Lifehacker, a group blog that posts a lot of information related to productivity as well as technology. I’ve found links to a lot of helpful information this way. They generally post short, helpful articles with links to more in-depth info so it’s a good starting point.• I need to have things in front of me or I forget about them. So I keep my list of upcoming jobs by my computer, I put things in my calendar and set reminders (and I check my calendar every day), I write things down to help me set them in my memory and leave the note where I can see it.
- A few creative software resources:Creative pro’s e-mail newsletters and tips of the day are very helpful.Another good resource is InDesign Secrets (indesignsecrets.com)
- • eXtension -- The Leadership and Management Sig have monthly sessions related to leadership, but there are also regular sessions devoted to technology use, workplace dynamics and other topics.
- The next few slides are some resources I used in preparing this presentation.