Busy and burnt out?

From time to time we all say  ‘I’ve got too much to do’, ‘I’m too busy’ or ‘I wish someone would realise the time constraints I’ve got’.  But being busy is a good thing, it’s only when it becomes a virtue and a ‘badge of honour’ that issues arise.

Research has shown that to some people, busyness is connected to their self-worth and status. If they’re busy they feel needed, in demand, and important which then elevates their feelings of self-worth. Culturally as well, people who are seen to be busy are admired - if you’re busy, work late and don’t take your lunch breaks or annual leave, you’re seen as more important, indispensable and successful.  

But although being busy may positively impact self-esteem, if you’re so busy that your work/life balance is affected then its time to reevaluate. Constantly over-scheduling has a negative effect on emotional and physical health and can ultimately lead to burnout.

Initially it may feel challenging to shift your priorities, disconnect from work and take time for yourself, but it’s essential if you’re going to take control of your health and wellbeing.

The cost of a toxic workplace culture

New research shows two-thirds (61%) of people have taken long-term leave after experiencing a toxic workplace. The research, which was undertaken by Culture Shift, looked at responses from 1,000 people in a variety of sectors including the financial, healthcare, legal, insurance and public sectors. It looked at the workplace culture in their respective organisations and whether they’d experienced negative behaviour.

The results showed what a detrimental effect a toxic workplace can have on employees. 44% of those surveyed said they’d experienced problematic workplace behaviour such as bullying or harassment with two-thirds (61%) taking long-term leave as a result of negative behaviour, 42% of respondents said they’d left a workplace permanently because of a toxic culture. Other recent research from Glassdoor found that two-thirds of candidates would not take a job with a company with a bad reputation, even if they were unemployed.

As well as being damaging for employees, a toxic culture is costly for the business. As well as the cost of recruiting and training new staff - with the possibility of losing them too if the culture remains unchanged - any employment tribunal resulting from the behaviour could also end up being very costly.

With employees increasingly prioritising their work-life balance above all else, businesses need to offer not just a good salary but also a people focused environment.

Building resilience for emergency responders.

The latest episode in our Resilience Unravelled series has now been released, Resilience Unravelled – Building resilience for emergency responders.

In this episode, Dr. Russell Thackeray talks to John Marx, the Executive Director of the Law Enforcement Survival Institute and editor of the law enforcement wellness website www.CopsAlive.com

John is based near Denver Colorado and is now a consultant and trainer who works with law enforcement officers and emergency responders to help them build their wellness and resilience - as their motto says, ‘Saving the lives of those who save lives’. John was a law enforcement officer himself for 23 years but by the end of his career he felt very burned out.

When he was a serving officer John contemplated suicide and he now realises that many other law enforcement officers, emergency responders, fire fighters and paramedics have the same thoughts. They see the worst of society and this takes a toll on the human spirit over time. John knew he was suffering so he chose to leave law enforcement and sought out help. He wanted to venture out on his own and do something different so he moved into a completely news environment. The suicide of an ex friend and colleague however, brought back many memories and made him recognise that there were many people who suffered in silence and had families and friends who didn't realise what they were going through.  John wanted do something to change this so decided to set up an organisation to provide consultancy and training services to develop the health and wellbeing of emergency responders.

Many of us get our knowledge of the emergency services from film and television. John feels that these capture a little about what these careers are like but although they do a good job in showing the fear and outrage that providers go through, they don't capture the ongoing stress generated from nurturing society’s ills. There is an underlying malaise that comes from having to deal with dreadful situations and people day in, day out.  John worked for some time as a community police officer so got to know people in his area. He felt it was important to know the people he served and believes believes this is how police officers should work.

John feels that everyone is born with some resilience but that it is also something we can build. In the emergency services resilience needs to be built because there are forces working against so there is a need to be prepared. Since the shift to remote working many people have found difficult switching between work and home. The relentless series of interactions makes it difficult to wind down. John uses a mechanism he calls a ‘buffer time or zone’ to change between work and home. Emergency responders see so much death, destruction, poverty and sadness that it is challenging not to bring it home. Many responders try to protect their loved ones from their experiences and this in itself can be very harmful.

John feels that being a serving police officer is a profession not just a job and there is a need to strive for excellence to be the best you can be and provide the best service to community. This need to be intentional is a mindset that we can programme though visualisation, positive affirmation and programming to build habits to intentionally improve ourselves. We need to be conscious of our habits because they can get locked so we need to break the pattern and stay in the present moment

You can listen to the podcast in full and find out further information about John here. Our previous podcast episodes and upcoming guest list are also available.

You can get in touch with John at:
www.LawEnforcementSurvivalInstitute.org
www.CopsAlive.com
www.ArmorYourSelf.com

How to survive a technology driven workplace.

The latest episode in our Resilience Unravelled series has now been released, Resilience Unravelled – How to survive a technology driven workplace.

In this episode, Dr. Russell Thackeray talks to Steve Prentice, a published author, keynote speaker, university lecturer, and full-time consultant to Fortune 500 companies. His specialty is explaining the practical and emotional impacts and benefits of technological change in regard to productivity, collaboration and life balance, and in providing practical steps to make these changes work.

Steve is interested in resilience from the standpoint of people and technology and how we manage the changes that technology brings. Although technology is a tool, we can struggle to use it. We need time to adapt and the speed of transformation over the last 25 to 30 years has overtaken our capacity for change. Our bodies haven’t learned to process the signals from technology such as the way we respond to light or even to the information itself. The false sense of urgency we feel to reply to an email immediately along can be manipulated by cyber criminals who use our response reflex to trick us into clicking a link to a piece of malware

Looking at the work scenario over the next five to ten years, Steve feels the soft skills of empathy and critical thinking will be key.  AI and robots will change some industries but the capacity to think critically will be essential to keep businesses safe. At the moment with so many people working from home, cyber security has become more important. Is the link between our home router and our place of employment safe?

A lot of people working at home have found they’ve been interrupted just as much as in the office. There have been too many Zoom meetings but Steve feels this is not the fault of technology rather our capacity to establish relationships to those making the bookings. The most powerful weapons in managing our time are being able to influence and relate to managers, customers and co-workers. Our calendars shouldn’t be telling us what to do but telling other people when we are available  

Technology means an increased speed of response is expected so it’s important to manage expectations. People get concerned if they don’t get a response straight away so we need to give them something tangible. An email saying you’ll reply within three hours or by the end of the day makes people feel more comfortable and provides a sense of structure.

There is a natural rhythm to work that has been disrupted by home working. At home we are always available. We go out for a walk at lunchtime but take our phone with us so can always be contacted.  We need to make sure we have structure to our day and have ‘time on and time off’. This can be difficult in some situations but even if we are in a continuous working environment we still have the capacity to hand over work. We need to choose this option even though it might be easier not to because it’s far healthier.

Digital literacy is the key to surviving a technology driven workplace. Information is universal and free and it’s essential to know how to keep pace with what’s important in the world.  We need to know what’s happening and have the ability to pull in information we can use for our education and career. The most important thing to remember though is that as with all information there is wheat and chaff. We need critical thinking so we consider where we get information from and question it before we connect with others.

You can listen to the podcast in full here.

You can find out more about Steve and sign up for his blogs and podcasts at steveprentice.com