For this week’s The Power Up I’ve invited a subject matter expert to write the foreword…
My name is Grant Gurewitz and I write Sustain, a weekly email newsletter to help high achievers avoid burnout at work.
Adam invited me to write the intro to this week’s The Power Up that’s all about burnout.
For nearly a decade I’ve worked in the fast-paced world of tech companies and have experienced two waves of burnout — first from overwork and the second from overwhelm trying to fix my burnout.
I found it almost impossible to find effective tools and strategies to come back from and keep burnout away for good, so I’m writing the playbook myself. Recent editions of Sustain have talked about redefining success, reclaiming your time, working at a sustainable pace, and prioritising time-tested healthy habits.
My most popular tip recently is to remove work email and chat apps like Slack from your phone so you’re not tempted to check them outside of working hours, on weekends, or holiday. Building in daily restorative time to disconnect from work is critical to avoid burnout.
If you’re over being fried from work you can subscribe to Sustain here.
Many thanks, Grant.
I’m a regular reader of Sustain so wanted to share it with you all as I know that burnout is a topic of concern to many of you, either personally, or relating to loved ones and colleagues.
Which is also why I’ve been curating more interesting perspectives and resources on the topic myself:
In this week’s issue:
- Why do we buy into the cult of overwork?
- 5 mistakes we make when we’re overwhelmed
- Being too busy is bad for you (plus 5 ways to relieve pressure)
- Has the idea of “Loving what you do” ruined modern work?
- Burnout at Work: The essential guide to understanding professional burnout and managing it well
- Burnout: Modern affliction or human condition?
- ’What’s parental burnout? And what to do about it
Plus plenty of bonus content too.
As ever, I hope you find something in this edition that can help you or those you care for deal better with burnout.
Enjoy!
B U R N O U T
Why do we buy into the cult of overwork?
New studies show that workers are putting in an average of 9.2 hours of unpaid overtime per week. ‘Hustle culture’ is celebrated and, since the pandemic, boundaries between personal and professional lives have dissolved even further.
Given what we know about the dangers of burnout, what dynamics are at play as we let this happen?
M I N D
5 mistakes we make when we’re overwhelmed
When we feel overwhelmed we often react in ways that not only don’t help the situation, but that even make it worse.
Here are five common self-sabotaging mistakes overwhelmed people tend to make, along with practical solutions for each.
B O D Y
Being too busy is bad for your health (plus 5 ways to relieve pressure)
Social Psychologist Dr Devon Price details five ways to relieve the pressure if you’re feeling overwhelmed, sharing insights from his new book, ‘Laziness does not exist.’
“Most of the people we view as lazy are actually working the hardest, it’s just that outsiders fail to grasp the full picture of their burdens and circumstances,” he says. “In reality, people don’t choose to fail”
S P I R I T
Has the idea of “Loving what you do” ruined modern work for everyone?
Or has the subject of this interview never experienced having a job that they love?
I was left thinking that perhaps the latter is the case, but judge for yourself in this interview with Sarah Jaffe, labour reporter and author of Work Won’t Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted, and Alone.
C O N S C I O U S L I V I N G
Burnout at Work: The essential guide to understanding professional burnout and managing it well
Everything you ever wanted to know about burnout is detailed here by Nick Wignall.
Including: What is burnout? Common signs & symptoms; Causes & risk factors; Myths & misconceptions; & How to manage burnout.
R E C O M M E N D E D
Burnout Survival Kit by Imogen Dall
Burnout Survival Kit offers practical advice for when things are already bad. If you already find yourself in that burnout hole.
You’ll find no nonsense about unleashing your inner corporate superhero, no weird productivity diagrams, and certainly no crap about working ‘smarter’.
Instead, this is the calm inner voice that you need, served with good sense and creativity.
R E C O M M E N D E D
Effortless by
Greg McKeown
What if, instead of pushing ourselves past the point of burnout, we took the opposite approach? What if we sought out an easier path?
That is the central premise of the new book, ‘Effortless: Make it easier to do what matters most’, from Greg McKeown (author of Essentialism), who set out to create “The antidote to the epidemic of exhaustion so many of us are facing.”
B O N U S
C O N T E N T
Free Guide: The Better Mental Health for Men Tool Box
So, you don’t want to talk to a psychologist? 7 alternatives to talk therapy
Burnout: Modern affliction or human condition?
6 timely reminders for the overworked
What’s parental burnout? And what to do about it
7 burnout coping strategies that take five minutes or less
Burnout self-test: Check yourself for burnout
How to protect your passions from burnout
Only your boss can cure your burnout
5 key habits that can reverse burnout rapidly
Identify burnout and take charge of your life
“Burnout is what happens when you try to avoid being human for too long.”
MICHAEL GUNGOR
