It’s Okay Not To Be Okay: Conquering Pandemic Burnout with Engagement
By Gabby Llamzon
I am not okay.
These are the words I often encourage people to say whenever they experience a blow to their mental health. I want them to acknowledge what they currently feel and accept things as they happen. It’s easy to say and to accept that this happens — that it’s okay to break down and need help — when you are not the one experiencing it. But in the midst of a pandemic, I found myself sharing these words with the people I trust the most. Simply because I am not okay.
I’m exhausted: Exhaustion
I’d be able to get a good 5 to 6 hours of sleep, but wake up in the morning feeling tired, my energy unreplenished. It was so difficult to get up that I had to drag myself out of bed. I will go through the motions of the day without sufficient energy to think. I was present, but I wasn’t really there. It also took a great deal of energy to sit down, concentrate on a task and to relate with other people — things I previously found joy doing. I’d get easily worked up and frustrated with even the slightest of inconveniences. There was just too much to do and I couldn’t find my way out of it.
I’m not good enough for this job: Incompetence
On a typical day, it’s easy for me to learn new things. I am able to put ideas or what I have learned into action. I am able to tinker with ideas and think of novel ways to approach a challenge. But when I am not okay, I find myself questioning my strengths and unable to use them. I take so long to digest and finish what I have to do. It took so long to put things into action, and I couldn’t even think of novel ways to approach problems anymore. The goal was just to meet deadlines and get things done. I often found myself constantly worrying, my heart racing and my chest pounding.
I don’t enjoy the job I used to love: Cynicism
I entered the helping profession because I want to provide light for people who are encountering challenges and need a little help in figuring things out. At the beginning of the pandemic, I gave my all in addressing the needs of those who were vulnerable during this stressful time. It gave me great pride and joy to be able to be of service, to keep my job even during a pandemic and more so do a job that I love. But later I experienced compassion fatigue. It took extra effort to relate and empathize with the clients, and I would feel drained after each interaction.
It was an endless cycle of feeling exhausted, incompetent, and cynical. Day in and day out I would go to work, like a robot, because I needed to show up. The work from home set up didn’t help either. Some may say that we’re lucky to be working from home but they fail to recognize that it is a constant effort to not blur the lines between work and my personal life. Boundaries are constantly crossed, sometimes without meaning to, because you just need to get the job done. Top it off with the constant tug of uncertainty, if all that we’re doing will amount to something.
I am not okay - but there’s a way to take back control.
I won’t always be okay. But what I’ve learned through these struggles is that the antidote to burnout is engagement. When I can afford even just a little bit more energy to take care of myself, I’ve found these 4 D’s helpful to feeling engaged again and taking back control:
Design Your Work Week
I was asked to write down all of the things I had to do in a work week, and an estimate of how many hours it would take to finish each task. The challenge was to arrange it according to what can be realistically done given the finite energy and time you have in a work day of the week. This exercise helped me learn how to manage my energy. This helped ease my exhaustion and feelings of inefficacy.
Do Regular Check Ins
I’ve found that checking in regularly with friends and colleagues has its own benefits too. Aside from fostering a culture of open communication with the people I work with, it also helps me realize that I am not alone. It’s normal to encounter difficulties, and being able to share what we are all going through creates a sense of belongingness and support. I can tell my friends where I need help, and I can also let them know where I can support them. Check Ins helped me feel that work can be relational. You are never alone!
Our previous intern Marga also wrote about the Check-in Culture here!
Define Your Role
With everything that had to be done, I lost sight of what my role is at work. My tasks just became random items I needed to cross out of a to-do list. I had to go back to my Key Performance Indicators and see how all these things I have to accomplish contributes to my own personal goals and the goals of the organization I work for. This helped bring back meaning into the work that I do. This rekindled my love for my job.
Develop Your Skills and Strengths
Another strategy that helped me a lot was rediscovering my strengths. During the pandemic, it was hard to achieve flow because there was a big challenge that had to be addressed with only a short time to pivot and prepare the skills needed to surmount them. I often found myself in panic mode because my skill level was below the demand of the challenge. Rediscovering my strengths helped me focus more on using them in solving the problems I faced. This made the tasks a tad bit easier and helped increase my energy as I feel fueled by the flow I started experiencing.
What started as an endless cycle of exhaustion, cynicism and inefficacy is now replaced with energy, optimism and efficacy or what can collectively be called as engagement. Although addressing burnout is a shared responsibility between the individual and the environment he or she works in, there are tools and strategies available that you can use to take back control. Which one will you use?
Interested in learning more about taking back control and achieving work-life balance despite the pandemic burnout? Check out our previous webinar on Taking Back Control: Balancing Work Demands and Resources HERE
References:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nazbeheshti/2021/04/15/the-pandemic-has-created-a-new-kind-of-burnout-which-makes-well-being-more-critical-than-ever/?sh=779be3832f01
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/336941/wellbeing-engagement-paradox-2020.aspx
