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!

I have learnt how important self-care is and can be. It is very important to engage in self-care as a listener. To avoid burnout, I am going to learn how to say no. I have a very hard time saying no to people and I think that needs to change so I can practice staying healthy mentally the most!

@Heather225

I learned that if you're starting to feel burned out (negative mood, poor performance, feeling tired, etc.) you should take a break from 7 cups or establish daily downtime from being online. The break should allow you to reflect on why you volunteer for 7 cups: because it saves lives.

From now on, I will stick to a schedule for when to take chats and have daily downtime for the rest of the day.

What I’ve learned: Burn out and creep up on you before you notice that you’ve taken on too many responsibilities.

What I will do: I will ensure that I am baking self-care into my routines and be mindful of my mental state.

Please read it through and in the replies, tell us what you learned, and what you will do to stay healthy and avoid burnout!

The most important thing I learnt from this slideshow is about the difference between burnout symptoms and symptoms that precede burnout. This will allow me to take quick action if I feel any of these symptoms so I will hopefully never get as far as burnout.

I intend to be very careful about any roles I take on, making sure current roles are working well with my routine before considering adding more. This is hard for me as I always want to do more! I also have boundaries such as not taking chats on the weekend and limiting time for chats that help me to maintain a healthy relationship with the site.

I've learnt that I need to look for the symptoms of burnout to care for myself. I think my main tell is cynicism.

To stay healthy I will avoid burnout by taking regular steps to relax such as taking long baths and reading 🙂

@Heather225 i learned that no matter how busy we are, we need to prioritize ourselves. I'll have some me time and keep positive attitude.

@Heather225

Please read it through and in the replies, tell us what you learned, and what you will do to stay healthy and avoid burnout!

Well identifying the reasons is the foremost thing in addressing the issue. For me the reasons which I could relate to were:
Insomnia, forgetfulness or lack of focus, heart palpitations, loss of appetite, anger, cynicism, loss of enjoyment, pessimism, detachment, irritability

And the possible solutions could understand are - Daily downtimes ie the taking break staying away from all the work and online world for some time, breathing in, and trying to relax. It's important to articulate your boundaries. It's better to take a step back and step away till you recover rather than bring your worst to the table.

I learned that we can get easily get burnout because of being online for too long, and/or taking up too much commitments.

What you will do to stay healthy and avoid burnout?
Knowing my limits, setting boundaries and maintaining self-care.

@Heather225

you cannot help anyone if you do not help yourself. selfcare is important. i will take a break when i need to. one cannot pour from an empty cup. lets all take care of ourselves.

I learned that burnout can cause us to do our jobs poorly and feel as though the work we are doing is not making any significant difference. This could cause us to become poor leaders, and negatively affect the whole team. Personally, I will make sure to set clear boundaries with members about when and how often I will be online. I will also make sure to spend time on my member account to receive support when I'm feeling down or stressed out, and make time for self-care. If I am feeling very burnt out, I will also take a break from one or two of my roles, or step down entirely to take a break.