Course 2: Becoming a 7 Cups Leader - (Discussion #11) Avoiding Burnout

Please read it through and in the replies, tell us what you learned, and what you will do to stay healthy and avoid burnout!
While I was aware of some of the signs of burnout previously, I learned how cynicism and feelings of ineffectiveness are symptoms of burnout as well. I have previously experienced the two as a volunteer, but did not connect them to the fact that I was burnt out! I just came back from a week of self-care, so I think I will continue to be proactive about taking time to self-care, both daily and full-on breaks when needed, as well as monitoring my energy levels and evaluating my goals as a volunteer.

@Heather225

Please read it through and in the replies, tell us what you learned?

I learnt that it is important to understand what are the things stressing us out and then individually deal with them. Taking self-care breaks is extremely important to relive ourselves and avoid being overburderned physically and mentally.

what you will do to stay healthy and avoid burnout!

I will monitor my schedule and ensure I don't over stuff or over burden myself. I will take self-care breaks when I feel stressed out which would include, lots of reading, taking baths and eating chocolate.

@Heather225

I learned about how important is to remember our why, take self-care breaks and reflect, recharge and try to be a better leader when we are back. I take breaks very often and I really do find it helpful, remembering my why would be something I will be trying after this. Thank you for this.

@Heather225

I have learned that recognition of early signs of burnout is very helpful and it can lead to successful prevention of it. To avoid burnout, I can take regular self-care breaks and dedicate some amount of time to doing things that make me feel relaxed to ease stress.

One thing I learned was it is important to go at your own pace and do what makes you feel comfortable.

One way to stay healthy and avoid burn-out is by practicing self-care and allocating time for yourself to recharge and have some time to yourself.

To be honest I dont know that I learned much new about burnout. Having struggled with burnout in personal life and even on 7cups I am already well aware of what burnout looks like. Burnout is real and I have been taking a lot of care to make sure I dont become burnt out in my roles. One of the ways I do this is to avoid taking on more roles than I can commit to. I was a CML for BPD subcommunity in the early days and I would love to help out with the subccommunities more, specifically trauma, but Im not sure if I have the time to commit the amount of work being a subcommunity leader requires. I also want to lead discussions and support sessions again, but after hosting an open chat I realized my social anxiety and dissociative disorder made it hard for me to stay present with everyone as topics were jumping around a lot, it was just too overstimulating. Knowing myself is important for maintaining self-care and avoiding burnout. Another way I avoid burnout is taking days off and listening to my mind and body more than I used to. If I am tired or in a depressed or anxious mood, I will wait to respond to messages until I am in a mindstate that I can provide my full undivided attention to another listener or to a member.

@Heather225

I learnt how important it is to listen to my body when it subtly signals that its tired. I'm going to be a lot more strict with myself on the time I spend on 7cups since it can get emotionally taxing.

There was time when my whole mind and body just completely shut off. I felt like I need an escape from this reality, I needed to be alone, and I wanted things to slow down or time to stop completely. When I encountered that experience, I decided to spend a whole day just for myself, which simply meant no social media, no calls, no messages, no work, nothing. I started to reflect on what was going on, I journaled, I listened to music, I sang, I danced, I ate, I walked to the park, I did everything that I hadn't done for so long. I then realized how essential daily self-care was, as entering this 'burnout' mode is such a disaster and it negatively affects my physical and mental health so much. I learned that at least 10 minutes everyday just simply loving and taking care of myself can help me tremendously in the long run.

@Heather225

tell us what you learned, and what you will do to stay healthy and avoid burnout!

Burn out is normal and in case of burning out, self-care and take away trigger is the solution. And always remember why I join in.

@Heather225

Burnout is feeling physical and emotional exhaustion, and often feeling detached from an interest.

Taking self-care helps us recharge and re-invigorate our energies.