Check out this wonderful article, full of simple suggestions, from Dave O’Brien: http://workchoicesolutions.com/images/The_Kindness_Connection.pdf. It includes small things you can do each day. You might be surprised by how good it feels to grow in kindness. 
Image courtesy to Adobe Images
My wonderful friend and fellow career coach, Ed Hunter, wrote a neat article about happiness. (See below) As many of you work in positions where you’re working with the public, I thought this would be helpful. (For more on Ed, see: http://www.lifeinprogresscoaching.com). Spring is finally showing up here in New England–another happiness factor!
|
During the workweek, we may spend more time with our colleagues than we do our families. That’s a lot of time! Why not enjoy it? We know that our work life is a direct contributor to our overall happiness. What we might not realize is just how important our relationships are at work. Not just professional relationships but real, meaningful relationships built on support and trust. “We discovered that the single best predictor is not what people are doing — but who they are with. It doesn’t even matter if two friends at work are engaged in tasks that are directly related to workplace productivity. According to a study conducted by a team of MIT researchers in which workers wore high-tech identity badges throughout the day that monitored their movements and conversations, idle chit-chat might actually be valuable to productivity. The researchers found that even small increases in social cohesiveness lead to large gains in production.” – Tom Rath and Jim Harter, authors of Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements |
Just read a great article about this, and thought I’d share it as it explores the kind of relationship we need to have with our selves in order to be our best. https://getpocket.com/explore/item/before-you-can-be-with-others-first-learn-to-be-alone
Having recently taught a number of customer service workshops, I thought it would be fun to run a month-long contest to see who can come up with the best ideas for stopping burnout and improving customer service. We all know what we’re supposed to do, but the real challenge is, can you can come with an idea that you yourself would try? One that might motivate others? The reward is a free copy of one of my books (covers shown below).
To give you a heads start, let’s break this down into four categories:
I don’t want to win my own contest, so be brave, send your ideas in, and if you’re prefer to do so in private (as I’ll publish the blog comments), you can email your ideas to me at jb@jeanbaur.com. The winner will have his or her suggestion published and will receive a free book. Get thinking! The deadline is the end of February.
In working with many libraries to help their staff with critical issues like stopping burnout and improving customer service, I’ve noticed how common it is for many of them to avoid confrontation. They don’t like it. It’s awkward. Take a look at a wonderful article by my friend and fellow career coach, Ed Hunter. Great tips!
Yesterday I was working with a group of librarians and library staff on how to stop burnout. One of the exercises we did in class was about gratitude, and how powerful it is. Then I found this article this morning and had to share it–with Paul’s permission, of course.
|
|
I am not a psychologist, so my answer is coming from studying burnout and teaching workshops to help people understand it and recover from it. But I was asked this question in a class last week, and wanted to provide a better answer.
Here’s one answer, from Prevention, November, 2015:
“Our evidence is that burnout overlaps depression, that they’re on a continuum, like temperature,” says study coauthor Irvin S. Schonfeld, PhD, a psychology professor at the City College of New York’s Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. “If you go back to the original paper that was published about burnout, by Herbert Freudenberger—in which he studied people who volunteered at a drug treatment center and who dealt with very difficult patients—one of the ways he described burnout was: ‘It looks like depression.'”
Part of my answer is that burnout, unlike depression, is more situational. This is true or more true with moderate burnout, so if you’re experiencing a difficult situation at work and are able to change that, your burnout symptoms will decrease.
The guru on this topic, Christina Maslach, says in the Prevention article:
“If you’re skeptical that job-related stress and exhaustion could possibly resemble the big black cloud that is depression, you’re not alone. ‘Burnout has always been predictive of depression,’ explains Christina Maslach, PhD, a psychologist at the University of California Berkeley who devised the standard test for burnout, called the Maslach Burnout Inventory, ‘but the measure of burnout used in this study is incomplete.'”
Lastly, remember that according to Christina Maslach’s classic definition of burnout, that it’s lost energy, lost enthusiasm and lost confidence. These three factors combined often create the perfect storm. Most importantly, if you’re suffering from extreme burnout and possibly depression, get help. A professional who understands this complex condition will be an important resource, helping you regain your best self. 
I had the great pleasure of working with a group of librarians and library staff last week and wanted to share some of their tips to stop burnout. Some of the top challenges they’re facing are under staffing, stressful patrons who monopolize their time, constant rule breakers, disruptive library patrons, staff in-fighting, the expectation that they will be able to “do more with less”, dealing with multiple demands, and when they make a spectacular effort and pull off a “miracle”, the expectation that the miracle is now the norm.
As we talked about three areas where they can make a difference (drawing from Paula Davis Laach’s recent blog) and not be overwhelmed by burnout, they worked in small groups and shared suggestions.
No matter what industry you’re in, these are great suggestions. Please respond to this blog with your ideas. That way we’re all smarter and keep ourselves safe from the damaging effects of burnout.
What does this beautiful photo of a path at Watch Hill have to do with the 7 “T’s”? This past week I was teaching my Customer Service Workshop in Middletown, CT at the CT State Library, and added this list to help librarians and library staff take care of themselves as they care for everyone else. I included this photo because just looking at it makes me happy–another way to take a mini-break and refresh.
Here are seven (I had six in the class but found one more) things to watch out for:
*Triggers (What sets you off? What situations do you find difficult?)
*Transitions (Watch those in-between times whether that’s before you get out of your car at work, or between projects. This is a good place for a deep breath.)
*Temper (Similar to triggers, know what makes you angry. Maybe you’re really organized and get annoyed when others leave a mess behind.)
*Tired (I know this one is obvious, but when we’re tired we’re much more likely to snap.)
*Tough situations (Libraries are the hub of most communities, and you’re faced with difficult situations you may not know how to handle. Find a colleague who can help you.)
*Testing (By this I mean your customers will test the limits of what you can provide. Expect it, learn how to share your guidelines without anger, and practice saying “No.”)
*Temptation (This is the new one I added as we’re often tempted by things that aren’t going to help us offer good customer service. This could be rushing, multi-tasking, letting technology replace human interactions, etc.)
The weather is supposed to be beautiful this weekend. I don’t know about you, but I’m taking my dog to the beach for a good run!
