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Running Yourself Ragged

I am really excited to be here with you today. And I want to talk for a minute about what happens to you as a leader when you’ve been running really hard, and you’ve been working really hard and trying to be the best that you can be. And you just keep going and going and going. And for a while, it might feel really good. Like, you feel important, and you feel like you’re not going to an out of the park-like you’re really you know, you’re really providing valuable work for your organization or an organization that you work for. And, and it feels really good.

And then there’s a couple of things that can happen. Sometimes you hit a bump, that isn’t your bump, you know, you have a supervisor leave, the organization has a reorg you have a health problem, or something happens in your life. And you keep going at that same pace that was super fulfilling but you start to feel some signs of burnout. You start to feel like you’re running yourself ragged that’s always how I think of it.

When I start to feel like that, I start to feel the wheels come off the bus. The things that were so fulfilling to me even a few months before I started to have to drag myself to the work. I start to have to pull myself through it. And I feel fatigued. I feel like I might have some burnout. And I just want to, you know, say that this is super normal.

Everybody goes through this. And it also probably needs your attention to come out of it. To change it. To start to feel like you are back in that place where you run. You know headlong into work every day and you love everything that you do. So what do you do, if you notice that you’re running ragged?

Well, there’s a couple of things. One is to get really militant about your sleep. You know, start to sleep and make sure that you go to bed early and make sure that you exercise. So when you go to bed that you sleep it’s like all those deep self-care things. I think it’s so easy when we get burned out and maybe even a little cynical that we reach for like the martinis. And that might be good for one night. But it’s not a good self-care diet to use alcohol to try to get through it. If you’re doing that regularly, it may actually be one of the signs that you’re burned out or run a little ragged. So start just do sleep and then take time off.

It’s the middle of summer right now. And taking time off can be such a powerful way to recharge. Figure out ways to leave your devices behind to unplug if that’s important to you. For some people it is, for some people it’s not. But if it is, then it can be incredibly rejuvenating just to unplug for a few days. Get some sunshine and get some water. It’s like we’re living beings and the same things that work for plants work for us. And just figure out ways that you can have fun.

I love the idea that you know, once you’re well-rested, once you’ve started to take the edge off of what you’re feeling. Once you’ve slept and you’re not sleeping anymore, then really a good belly laugh is one of the best ways to rejuvenate. So see friends, make food, do fun things, and then pass that like once your adrenals have recovered then.

I love things that are thrilling, like, you know, whitewater rafting or bungee jumping or roller coasters. Anything that gives you a little thrill. You don’t want to do that when you’re exhausted and burned out because it’ll take a lot out of you. But once you’re well-tended as a leader, then those thrills can be incredibly powerful. And then just for maintenance so that you don’t end up ragged. You know, make sure that you consider whether you want a meditation
practice or something that’s a peaceful start to your day, your week, your month, your year from.

I realized during the pandemic that swimming provides that for me, I’m counting laps, I’m counting strokes. And I’m not thinking about anything else. It is my meditation. I don’t know what it is for you.

I think some people like knitting or crocheting might be that for them. It’s different for everyone. But put in place those deeply rejuvenating peaceful times in your day-to-day life so that you create solid structures for yourself as you do the super important work that you do. I don’t want you to be ragged. I want you to feel great about everything that you do.

So I hope that you will enjoy exploring how you do deep self-care. To help yourself not feel ragged so that you feel like you can wake up in the morning and run toward the work that you love. I hope that this has been helpful. Go experiment

 

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