Hannah Jarvis, producer, MCI UK, talks about how to bounce back from burnout and the importance of taking care of oneself.
Are you taking care of yourself? My guess is probably not. It is by no means intentional of any of us, but there is a certain narrative across all event industry sectors that pushes our workforce beyond their limits.
Don’t get me wrong, I have been pushed hard in my career and seen some success from it, but I have come to learn that this is not a sustainable ethic and we are often taking it too far. We need to lead by example and create change for good in our work.
I did some research online and found that a Deloitte study from 2015 that stated that “84% of millennials say they have experienced burnout at their current job”. Times have certainly changed since then and I fear this statistic may now have moved in the wrong direction.
Participating in this constant cycle of work, it is easy to feel trapped and end-up feeling de-motivated, unhappy and even experience a loss of self-confidence. These feelings are often heightened by a lack of control in our work lives and can lead to burnout. Symptoms of burnout include feeling overwhelmed or emotionally drained. This is the time to get yourself into action.
The four steps
Step one: to get yourself back from burnout, you need to take a step back from your situation and find the things you can take control of. This could be taking some time off work, reducing workload (where possible) and taking some time to reflect on how you got to this stage.
Step two: is all about problem solving – an event professional’s favourite hobby. You can voice note, list, or mind map the areas you feel you need to change your routine and do your best to break them down as small as you can. Our mindset is often fixed, but we need to force some change in our own routines and the way we talk to ourselves.
Step three: is about making the commitment, feeling value in empowering yourself to get out of this situation, and designing actionable steps that you can work on each day. You need to take some time to understand yourself and your best way to work – are you more likely to achieve something if you have visual reminders like a mood board saved as your phone or computer wallpaper? Step four: it is time to check in with ourselves and understand the things we may or may not be able to control, and increase our empathy with ourselves. After a month of trialling this approach, I certainly feel a reinforced sense of self and direction and have highlighted some further areas where change is needed.
If there is one thing I want you to take away from reading this, it is that we need to be as kind to ourselves as we are to our clients and allow ourselves the grace to have the time, space and resources to do our best work, for our own benefit.
