Burn, but not burn – burn to shine

Hi, Habrovsk. In anticipation of the start of the course Team Lead 2.0, we want to talk about professional burnout.

Every second has heard about professional burnout, at least by the edge of the ear, but to truly understand what it is necessary to preserve the most important thing that we have – moral and physical health.

Most of all, people who are passionate about their work are subject to professional burnout, are given it completely and without a trace, they may not share home and work time or always “carry” the work with them. If you look a little deeper into the specifics of technology companies, you can understand the obvious – most often good programmers belong to this particular risk group. Do not get me wrong, loving your work is wonderful, moreover, if you just don’t love what you are doing, this article is not for you, do not torment yourself, you already know what to do. Today we will talk about burnout in IT, about the very process when what you loved most of all starts to piss out and takes vitality.

However, today we are not talking about programmers, but for the most part about managers and team leaders. The work of these people is directly related to responsibility, increased amount of communication, mentoring. They have high expectations, they are involved in risk calculations, planning and project management. Feel some unpleasant words?

Responsibility, risks, planning … Job descriptions of the manager are full of them. These words sit on the subcortex as tightly as the ink labeled “manager” on the badge.

How to burn your work, but not burn on it? How not to let your subordinates burn out in order to protect themselves from burnout?

Let’s start from the beginning, generalize the concept burning head. “In principle,” he likes his work, he spends much more than 8 hours on it, first of all, at will, does a lot of things, but wants to do even more, develops, helps others, contacts many people, is easy to climb, uses different methods of improving efficiency, on vacation pays money for the Internet in roaming, so that at least from the phone to be “always in touch”, tries to be always polite, takes care of himself from the appearance to the accuracy of phrases and much, much more. An ideal leader, in a word.

What happens at home? A man comes home, sits down on a sofa, takes off one leg and sits like this, for about 5 minutes, until something from purely natural needs makes him move. He eats what can be cooked faster or orders food from endless deliveries, goes to bed almost immediately or completes what he did not have time to. At the weekend lies a seal, does not want to meet friends and out of politeness once a couple of weeks he visits relatives. It either works again or responds to an endless stream of messages from a client or team.

Have you noticed any of the highlighted? If, you noticed everything and for you this is already a system – then worth seriously thinking. If you notice a part, then you are on the path to burnout, and your body may have already begun to warn you about it.

“And what is wrong with me doing this?” You ask, and I will answer you that nothing is wrong. You are a very responsible person, a good leader and a kind person, just too much.

No wonder they say that we all live as immortals. The body’s resources are not infinite, and a person is a creature that is inclined to increase the load if he coped well with the past. For the fact that a person copes well, as you know, he is paid money, and if he copes better, then even more money. If you notice for yourself that money is now the most basic thing that keeps you at work, you are on the right track to complete burnout.

We figured out the signs, we will not touch on neglected cases when psychosomatics comes into play. Temperature + -37.5 closer to Friday and a decadent mood – the same story.

How to help yourself in this situation?

1) Exhale and make it clear to people that you are also human

To tell your boss that you are losing positions is the first step. You will not be fired for this, and your immediate supervisor will understand that it is worth putting a strain on you. It is even possible to share advice with you, since the higher a person climbed the career ladder, the more experience and understanding he has. In the best cases, the bosses come to understand that the team leader is much more than his norm and he needs a person to support. Do not be afraid that you will be fired, it is unprofitable for any reasonable IT company, unless, of course, you work at a state-owned enterprise, but this is a completely different world.

Tell your team that you can no longer carry everything on yourself. Most likely, you will be able to delegate some of their duties to them, albeit temporarily. It’s also important not to overdo it.

If you adhere to a clear schedule or plan for each day, you should unload it by deleting at least one third of the cases. If it seems to you that you cannot afford it, you are mistaken. There are no irreplaceable people, and you can always expand this statement to your advantage.

2) Remember what you wanted

If now you do not want anything at all, except to be left alone, then you need to remember what you wanted BEFORE you found yourself in this state. Even if it seems to you that you do not want something now, most likely the old Wishlist will give you positive emotions. Any way to distract from work will benefit you, even if it seems to you that you have “forgotten” how to relax.

3) See a therapist if you don’t know how to deal with yourself

It helps, it is not ashamed and not as expensive as it seems to many, and it is absolutely not necessary to tell anyone about it if you do not want to. A psychotherapist, unlike a psychologist, definitely has a medical background and has the right to prescribe medication in advanced cases, and he also accurately distinguishes the influence of psychosomatics from a hidden sore. And the psychotherapist, unlike the psychiatrist, will not write you the very “certificate” that everyone is so afraid of out of ignorance.

Contact a therapist if you have at least a grain of doubt. This doctor will give you valuable advice, in a pinch, you can prescribe medication if it comes to depression.
The only problem is that in Russia people have little faith in the existence of depression, and in the meantime it is also a disease that has its consequences for physical health.

Remember that your poor condition is temporary if you start to deal with it.
To find a psychotherapist, google it, you can do it, or use the trust line, where you can get anonymous advice.

To help others, you first need to help yourself.

Each person knows better how to help a neighbor, we have heard this for a long time. Timlid will not be able to save his team if he burns himself. There is no question of any “shining” if you start to hate what you are doing. Common truths must not only be listened to, but also understood. If you realize that you are burning out, follow your path and look around, maybe someone else is following in your footsteps and it’s time to lend a helping hand to this person. Remember, you and the team are working on the result, but working on the result does not mean working hard. If your team works 10-12 hours a day, consider whether you are such a good leader and good at planning, maybe you should try other methodologies?

In some cases, it is useful to give a team member a break, even if he does not ask for it, or to put him on a completely different project, if you have such an opportunity. A change of scenery does not have to have physical meaning, a change of direction of thought is the same change of situation and, believe me, it helps.

Also talk to your team. Not only about the tasks, but also about how they feel when performing them, about which way they would like to develop and what they would not want to do at work. Reflection is an excellent tool for monitoring the status of your team, the main thing is to conduct it sincerely.

Thank you for taking the time for this article in your busy schedule! I hope I was able to convince you to devote more time to yourself and your moral and physical health so that you do not turn from homo sapiens into homo fessus or a tired person.

Burning with your work is wonderful, burning an idea or a project you give light to the people around you, your team, do not burn.

Healthy to you productivity!

We are waiting for your comments and invite everyone to free webinar on the topic “Why do my colleagues / employees behave like @%§? ”, Which will be held on February 6.

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