Recharging Your Battery

Over the weekend, I took time to recharge my battery.  I spent time with family and read books, unrelated to learning and development, and relaxed.  As usual, I started reflecting on a time in my life when I wasn't able to relax, and when I was spending time with family...I was still working!

Burning Out

I have learned that it's not healthy to have an out-of-whack work-life balance which can lead to burnout.  Freudenberger, a psychologist and author of Burnout: The High Cost of High Achievement, stated that burnout occurs when good people are trying their best.  I would like to slightly alter Freudenberger's definition to say "when good people are trying to be perfect."  This is exactly what most of us are trying to do, if we admit it...exceed our best.  We don't want others to see us make a mistake because of what they might think.  Guess what...we gain the most value from our experiences when we make mistakes and learn from them. 

Burnout doesn't happen overnight, but it's a slow burning ember that suddenly turns into an out-of-control wildfire!  Before you know it, it's too late.  You can't concentrate, you're easily agitated, you can't sleep, and eventually the mistakes you were trying to avoid start occurring more frequently.

Cost of Burnout
We workplace learning and performance professionals are often guilty of making too many sacrifices to achieve the unachievable...perfection!  We should avoid burnout at all costs because it is a serious state of emotional exhaustion and loss of motivation which can lead to serious problems like depression, addiction, and physical illnesses, according to Joan Borysenko, author of Fried.  Burnout effects your creativity as well as your productivity.  As learning and development professionals, we cannot afford to lose the two things that allows us to meet our customers needs.

Recharging Your Battery
Take time to enjoy life...spend equal amounts of time on what really matters!  For me, what matters is my family, friends, and allowing myself to have downtime to read for pleasure, as well as my professional life.  Just like with a car, when you don't have a charged battery, you will not perform.  You will undoubtedly achieve higher levels of performance when you take time to recharge your battery.  What do you do to recharge your battery?