There is no doubt that planning meetings are stressful and sometimes lead to burnout. Not being able to resolve your feelings will ultimately affect your work performance, disrupt your relationships, and get stuck in depression or substance abuse.
Dr. Rebecca Schwartz said the best way to deal with burnout is to know how to pre-determine it and intervene quickly. Schwartz, associate professor at the Hofstra-Northwell Zucker School of Medicine.
Here are 8 tips from Schwartz and other experts to help planners proactively burnout:
1. Detect stress symptoms as early as possible.
Stress manifests itself in various forms, but recognizing when your behavior starts to change due to stress is the first step. Look for resources that may be available for work internal or external settings. Mental health has become the center stage since Covid, so you will find a lot of resources.
2. Check with your colleagues regularly.
“We checked the staff with a color-coded stress continuum,” Schwartz said. “Green: I feel good and can support others. Yellow: mild to moderate stress but cope. Orange: I feel stressed and need some support. Red: I’m so stressed that it’s so high that I stop me from functioning, I need to keep some care. Color creates a common language that removes the stigma of directly acknowledging our feelings.”
3. Must have a rest.
Schedule daily pauses. Schwartz recommends taking 5 minutes, sitting down with a group or alone, and having a mindful exercise. Even if it’s only 5 minutes per hour, it’s great to wake up from your desk.
4. Anyway, take a vacation.
Now, many companies are forcing holidays, and there is good reason. Companies that have been crazy-humanly busy have become the status quo of shorter companies and require employees to take on more responsibilities. The tempting thing is to check work emails, giving yourself a window when you don’t consider the to-do list or the mountains of items you’ll face when you return.
5. Take care of your body.
Exercise regularly, even if it’s just a little bit every day. Take advantage of health and wellness programs in any workplace, which are often a combination of exercise, yoga and personal health coaching. Some people find meditation helpful, and regular massages may be effective for stress reliefers. Back up your health, eat well, drink moderately and get enough sleep.
6. Make your external interests a priority.
Focus on bringing your fun, whether it’s dinner with friends, book clubs, hobbies or weekly kimchi games, you can get yourself out of work.
7. The person who depends on you.
Whether it’s a friend or a colleague or both, a compassionate ear can help relieve stress. A network of experienced colleagues may be able to make suggestions that you can bring back to the workplace.
8. Focus on your personal and professional development.
Adding more work may seem counterintuitive when your workload is already daunting, but if you feel like you’re stuck in the work, it helps to learn new skills – one of the top five stressors in the HR Management Association’s job. Even if you choose to learn completely different skills, such as creative writing or a new language, it is a way to focus on growth.
