CTS 267: Tackling Mental Health and Burnout

You are probably burned out. This pandemic had some of us working in overdrive to connect users, COVID clinics, remote users, and more. So how do we, as IT professionals, tackle mental health and burnout? We’re working to capacity and often more than 8-10 hours a day. Morning, day, and night we’re working. In between numerous meetings we are doing a lot of troubleshooting and spending lots of brain power. It can be draining. It can be difficult to disconnect. Burnout can happen even if you love what you do. Maybe you love it too much and next thing you know, you’ve been at it for hours without a break. If you leave your mental health unchecked, you could have reduced patience and be struggling to focus or concentrate or your decision making is compromised. In this episode, we’re discussing our experience with burnout and stress. We talk about some of the things we do to maintain our mental health such as saying no to new projects and learning to set boundaries (protecting your calendar). Maybe tasks need to be delegated to someone else. Sometimes exercise helps relieve that stress and gets your body moving. Many times, meditation does the trick with some simple breathing exercises. Getting exposure to sunlight and spending time in nature can flip that switch in your brain. Taking it a step further, a vacation can really do wonders. I know you have plenty of vacation time! Time to use it. Join us in this discussion and let us know what are some of your tips to maintain your mental health and curb burnout in the comments below. Resources: * Books: Do the work from Dr Nicole LePera* Blogs: https://networkingnerd.net/2021/04/23/racing-on-the-edge-of-burnout/* Podcast on optimizing sleeping: https://tim.blog/2021/07/06/andrew-huberman/* Tools: 21 days meditation from Deepak: https://chopracentermeditation.com/login* https://www.linkedin.com/posts/angiemcquillincoaching_selfdevelopment-burnout-selfcare-ugcPost-6818075657973592065-Ba3m* The 23.5h day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaInS6HIGo* High Performance Habits