"It’s really uncomfortable and really painful whenever we become aware of the fact that our life is not where we want it to be... You can’t take care of yourself if you don’t make time for yourself."
Wendy McCallum
EFR 498: Signs You Are Experiencing Burnout and May Not Realize It and How to Ditch Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms with Wendy McCallum
Wendy McCallum is a burnout and balance coach, author, and speaker. In this conversation, she recounts her own struggles dealing with a high-stress lifestyle in the past, as well as the common signs and symptoms of burnout. She offers practical tools that anyone can use to both recover from burnout and prevent it from happening again in the future.
She talks about unhealthy coping mechanisms such as alcohol, food, and social media and how we can learn to rely less on these crutches and become more present.
Wendy also gives her thoughts on the unique challenges that many of us experienced in 2020 and continue to face in 2021.
One of her observations at the tail-end of the pandemic has been the emergence of a “third shift” in the lives of working professionals. If our “first shift” represents our actual career and our “second shift” refers to the people under our care—whether our children or aging parents—our new “third shift” is helping to orchestrate or manage schooling from home.
This, of course, is on top of the overall anxiety all of us have felt in the past year-and-a-half. The pandemic and the resulting lockdowns have led to a significantly higher stress load on the average human being.
Burnout is one of the symptoms of this stress. Whether one came into 2020 physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy, or already overworked, almost everybody has had to deal with exhaustion. (On the other hand, a very small minority—mainly business owners and employers—have found opportunities to become flexible and even more productive in their work.)
Wendy reflects on her own experience with burnout and how she learned to create a life that she no longer needed to escape from.
Follow Wendy @wendymccallumcoach
Follow Chase @chase_chewning
Key Highlights
How can you tell if you’ve reached the point of burnout?
Wendy explains the difficult, life-changing decision that marked “the beginning of the end of burnout” for her.
Wendy describes the power of self-awareness as the first step toward making change and how you can at that point self-diagnose your stressors in order to move forward.
Wendy shares some of her tried-and-tested scripts anyone can use to graciously say no
to things that won’t serve them in the long run.
How can one get rid of their reliance on coping mechanisms when under stress (i.e. alcohol)?
Powerful Quotes by Wendy McCallum
Doing something just because you feel like you should do it and you’re good at it—this is one of the most common mindsets that lead to burnout.
It’s really uncomfortable and really painful whenever we become aware of the fact that our life is not where we want it to be. But it’s okay to feel crappy about the fact that you created this perfect storm for yourself.
I’m a big fan of celebrating awareness. Awareness is the prerequisite or precursor to change. If we don’t get aware and mindful about what we’re actually doing, we will never make changes.
You can’t take care of yourself if you don’t make time for yourself.
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