Something has to change. It’s 2020 and if we didn’t burn out in 2019, we have the chance to make this new decade about working better, not faster. Instead of creating more burnout cultures, we have the opportunity to create wellbeing cultures, that support the speed of human technology, which by the way is how we optimize our most important resource at work, the human one.
Sure we are trying to keep up with the speed of technology, which is getting faster and better every day. The robots are coming and they’re actually already here. But here’s the thing, technology is not here to take us over, it’s here to help us work better, because it’s doing the running faster for us. A gentle reminder, we humans are more amazing than technology and it’s learning from us. It’s trying to be like us, so isn’t it time we are more like us? Like the best of humanity that we can be, rather than just processing the to-do list of the work-day as fast as possible, which essentially we can’t do for very long without burning out. It is our humanity, that will make a difference in 2020. It is not how fast we work that makes us great, it is who we are that makes us great. And it is also what makes us a valuable member of a thriving work-culture. Essentially we have to change our relationship with ourselves to see how we matter.
We need a new relationship with technology.
It’s in our genes to either survive or create and when the work-place culture is about keeping up, that’s what we focus on. We focus on surviving another day. A burnout culture is running on survival mode, instead of having a company culture of pausing, where we can stop to ask better questions and rethink how can we do something better. What’s a better solution, what’s a better process, what would better look like, if we were to rethink how to achieve the outcome and if there’s even a better outcome? On survival mode we keep doing what we have always done because it is safer, we know it, we can get to the end of the day and go home to crash on the couch. Finally getting some food and maybe a drink (or two) to kill the anxiety off.
On survival mode we miss the pause
We cannot create change when we are on survival mode and we don’t grow when we are just focused on getting through another day. Essentially that’s what’s burning us out. Being busy doesn’t burn us out as long as we support ourselves with the essentials. The self-care basics. The foundational, essentials first. The base-line. The survival stuff. Water, food, rest (I say rest because it’s not just sleep).
The stuff that is burning us out in 2020 is what comes after the basics. When we don’t feel we belong, matter or fit in because we are not seen.
When we’re struggling with frustration, lack of direction, lack of growth, lack of creativity, lack of inspiration, lack of communication, lack of meaning and purpose. That’s what’s burning us out. It’s not just the physical burnout we have to pay attention to in 2020. It is the emotional burnout, that is looming.
We need to learn to pause. I call it power-pausing. That small moment when you can access the best of your human skills, your mind and your heart. The thing technology doesn’t have. Humanity.
Jeanette Bronée is a self-care mindset coach, writer and keynote speaker on the topics of fueling our human resource from the inside out to create a wellbeing culture, where people belong and work better, without the burnout. Get in touch for personal coaching sessions or to work with your team: info@pathforlife.com
Learn more about speaking engagements and workshops: jeanettebronee.com
