Feeling a little burnt out at work or even in life itself? Even the best of us do at times, but maybe there's a better way to deal with it.
After speaking to average New Yorkers, we sat down with Paradigm for Parity co-president Sandra Quince to hear her personal story of burnout and, more importantly, what she learned from it.
Turns out giving 100% all the time to everything may not be the best way to work after all. Find out why in our second episode of “Why Are We All So Tired?”
And don't forget to check out our premiere episode below:
Related: The secret to a more productive workday has nothing to do with work
TheStreet's 'Why Are We All So Tired?' is sponsored by “Summer without FOMO” by 5-hour Energy.
TRANSCRIPTION:
Sandra Quince: I'll tell you that years ago I realized that I needed to do something different when it came to my personal career and my way of working. I was stressed. I felt like I wasn't happy with the work I was doing.
My health suffered as a result. And not only that, I was a mother to a young child and a wife, and, you know, all the other things that come with being a woman in the workplace today.
And I really had to think clearly about what would help me maintain balance. I struggled at times because when you think about balance, you think you have to give 50% here and 50% there, and that's balance. But I realized that balance wasn't really balanced, that I really needed to think about work-life integration.
I was once in a session where there were some senior leaders and among those leaders, one was a woman and she talked about the fact that she put everything on her calendar. And when she said everything, she meant everything. And that really helped me realize that I needed to think about work and life. And there are times when I give 110% at work, which means there are some things at home that I might not be doing.
But then there are times when I have to give 150% at home. And then there are things at work that have to wait or I have to prioritize in a very different way. Because there's so much going on both personally and professionally, we started thinking about having one day a week where there were no calls, and we would attend.
And I encouraged my team to take the day off so they could focus on the things they needed to focus on, other than being able to get the work done. And that was a huge relief for the team. The other thing we did was we started having team meetings and every third meeting we used as a brainstorming session.
Leaders and managers need to understand that when they allow their team to come together and learn from each other, brainstorm, grow together, and feel like everyone doesn't have to just be responsible for their own work, but can help each other out. That can also be a game-changer and reduce stress in the workplace.
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The secret to a more productive workday has nothing to do with work
