I was conversing with a friend who is a freelance meeting planner and I put on my old DMC hat for a conversation with her. We joked halfheartedly about how event planning continues to be one of the top five most stressful jobs year after year in national polls -as we both fall under the event planning umbrella.
You’ve been in your current position for anywhere from 5-14 years and know how to do your job like the back of your hand. While you still enjoy it, you’re wondering if you might be ready to make a move or expand your service offerings. How do you know it’s time?
I want to explore a taboo topic we all avoid discussing like the plague: Burnout. Ugh. The word alone conjures up images of implosion and chaos. Failure. In-completion. Feelings of shame. Avoidance. The list of negative connotations associated with the term burnout goes on and on. We don’t discuss burnout because no one ever wants to admit they are feeling the burnout implosion coming on – it’s a horrible feeling yet awareness of it is really the first step in avoiding it.
Just in case you missed it in the news, earlier this week, the World Health Organization added occupational “burnout” as a medical diagnosis. Within hours nearly every media outlet had released breaking news of this announcement. Hallelujah! You, I, We are not crazy.
Is it possible to avoid burnout? There’s a new conversation starting around that hypothesis.
Just last month the World Health Organization announced the addition of burnout as a recognized medical diagnosis related to employment (or unemployment) however they stop short here. No recommendations on how to avoid / avert or treat.