Avoiding Burnout & Building Resilience
This week I want to share with you one of core messages I will be teaching at an upcoming workshop through the Law Courts Centre called Long Term Resilience and Avoiding Burnout.
Those of you who know my story, know that I have had quite the journey with law, from burnout, to overcoming an addiction, to transforming my relationship to the practice and the profession and creating alternate career arrangements that work for me and allow me to pursue other interests that I love.
When I hit my first breaking point with law and started a blog called Trash Your Stress in early 2013, there was very little talk in the legal profession about burnout, and the mental and emotional health issues that many lawyers struggle with on a daily basis, often silently and alone. The stigma around the subject was so high, it was difficult to get people to talk about it.
Seven years later, many strides have been made to bring the conversation out into the open. While the stigma around “being weak” and “not being able to hack it” is still there, it is much less. Resources for support are abundant and there is more willingness to ask for help.
The issue I see is that the approach to preventing burnout is often surface level. The typical problems (stress, overwhelm, unhealthy coping mechanisms, poor self-care, anxiety) are addressed with generic solutions (the most common being eat healthy, exercise, get more sleep, work less, take more breaks, meditate, start a fun hobby).
First, let me say that there is nothing wrong with focusing on basic self-care. It is often helpful, and in more severe cases of burnout, a necessary first step to any intervention.
What I take issue with is this approach does not account for each person being unique. Generic cure-all solutions will not work for everyone or every situation. In addition, what often happens is the prescribed self-care solutions become “shoulds”. They get added to an already overflowing to-do list, and the person struggling begins to feel even more overwhelmed than ever.
When this happens a whole host of other issues arise:
Behaviour change is not be sustainable
Risk of relapse to unhealthy behaviours and habits increases
Trust in self is eroded
Negative emotions and hopelessness increase making burnout even more likely
The reason for these unintended results is that a basic self-care approach (or any one-size fits all fix) does not address the root cause of burnout.
So, what is the root cause of burnout?
The root cause of burnout is being out of integrity with your own truth.
Here is an example:
You are stressed out, over-eating and not sleeping well. You are having trouble being productive at work. Your to-do list gets bigger, and time seems to disappear before your eyes. Things begin to look bleak. You start drinking more in the evenings to try to cut the anxiety so you can fall asleep.
Burnout is approaching. You can feel it.
The basic self-care approach tells you to have discipline. Make healthier food choices, cut out alcohol and meditate instead to clear your mind before bed. Go for a walk around the block at work when you feel unfocused and come back refreshed. In no time you will be healthy and back on track.
You try this approach but can’t seem to break the habit of overeating and meditating never works as well as a stiff drink to cut the anxiety before bed. A walk around the block during the day only increases your anxiety as you watch the time disappear with you getting even less done. You buy a coffee and some baked goods on the way back to the office hoping the sugar and caffeine will help you get things done. You end up with sky high anxiety and need a couple extra drinks to quiet your mind before bed. You hate yourself for being so “undisciplined”. You feel hopeless. You are heading for burnout even faster than before.
The problem is not that you are not disciplined. The problem is you are trying to treat the symptoms when you are unaware of the cause.
The root cause of the issues you are struggling with might be unprocessed grief of a relationship that recently ended, it might be vicarious trauma picked up from a client or a friend, it might be low self-worth, it might be worries about making a mistake at work, it might be unexpressed anger about not being respected or adequately appreciated, it could be a deeper existential angst and a desire to engage in meaningful work, etc. The possible causes are endless and they will be different for everyone.
Only you can determine what the cause is for you in any particular situation, by going inward and getting in touch with your own truth.
Until you become aware of the root cause(s) of your struggles by looking deep within yourself, you will never be able to sustainably overcome them.
Burnout is prevented by you taking action to bring yourself back into integrity with your own truth.
Join me on Tuesday March 10, 2020 for an engaging workshop where we will dive into this important issue, as well as a discussion around how to build long term resilience in high stress environments, and an exercise to apply these principles at home.
The workshop is open to the public. If you are a lawyer, you will receive 2 hours of CPD credits (ethics and professionalism requirement) for your attendance. There is no fee, but a donation of $25 to the Amici Curiae Friendship Society is recommended for their hospitality.
More info and to register here.
Please reach out with any questions, and please share widely with anyone you think may benefit. Working in a high stress profession can be exciting and rewarding, but it is not always easy. Learning how to stay true to yourself in it makes all the difference.
Xo,
Danielle