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

Activity: 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 learned that burnout could really exhaust us and affect our performance which in return can have a negative impact on the community. To stay healthy and avoid burnout, I would take steps for my self-care. Taking a break from my work and relaxing would make me stay healthy physically as well as psychologically.

I learnt that burnout can lead to physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism and detachment, feelings of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment! We all experience burnout every now and then but we have to remind ourselves the why! Why do we volunteer here in 7cups? We also have to set boundaries and take self-care breaks! Sometimes we do need to log out for a couple of days and refocus on ourselves!

@Heather225

I have learned that my work does save lives, especially via working with purpose and stepping up to help others, and burnout can not only cause problems for me but the work that I do. Furthermore, if I don’t look for signs of burnout I might harm others. I should be vigilant and careful and take a break when needed.

Reading through made me better understand how important it is to attempt to associate burnout with certain tasks. Identifying those tasks will help you mitigate burnout, whether it be removing them, or maybe rearranging your day to make it less stressful. This is the best way to resolve the issue of burnout.

@Heather225

I have learnt that burnout can lead to certain emotions that can be weary and draining on the individual, also burnout is also a result of trying to do a million things at the same time, this confuses the mind resulting in headaches. To alleviate this problem, one needs to take a break from the job (s). The best medicine is taking rest (sleep) because the body is under stress, nature walks to clear the mind and try not to overthink the amount of incomplete work.

@Heather225

What I learned:

I learned what a good leader vs a bad leader is like.

What I will do to avoid burnout:

I will manage my screen time effectively and make sure I don't have too many responsibilities going on at the same time.

@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!

Some of the symptoms that are listed I wasn't aware of them being a direct result of being "burnt-out" So knowing that is a good way to self-diag myself when burnt.

Of course taking a break is a good way to un-burn yourself, but What I didn't ever think of is paying attention to the key factors involved in a burnout state. And focusing on preventing them if possible, or avoiding certain things to stay well balanced.

Self-care. As Jesus once said. You gotta take that log out of your own eye before you take the splinter out of someone else's. Meaning get yourself good and healthy, and make sure you're good before helping others.

@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!

I’ve been a victim of burnout; it can cause you to hate the place and gives you a negative feeling. To stop this now, I take regular breaks, know there is life outside of 7Cups.

Please tell us what you learned, and what you will do to stay healthy and avoid burnout!
I've never felt that way. I typically love just being productive and feeling useful and like I'm reaching my goals. I enjoy working. If I ever felt that changing, I'd have no problem saying so and taking a break.

@Heather225

I have at times lost a bit of sleep, and I think it may have something to do with taking on too many commitments in 7 cups. Since then, I have decided to take it a bit easier. Even though I do feel good about helping people at times it can be overwhelming. I like the idea of setting boundaries and reflecting on the time that I have available for 7 cups. But for me it is more really to do with trying to complete many courses too quickly.

I have decided that I will just try to do a little bit of work on my courses LDP and QLP every day until I get them completed instead of setting aside one day a week where I do a lot of work.