Business Brew: Work-From-Home #11
On April 1st, 2021, Naketa Thigpen joined Business Brew for a truly one-of-a-kind conversation. While the conversation centered on creating work/life balance and avoiding burnout, there were several topics brought up that were Business Brew firsts!
The tips and information came fast and furious. Here are some of the highlights from the conversation.
What does Work/Life Balance mean?
According to Naketa, you bring your whole self to everything you do and pretending you don’t only leads to problems. Creating balance between work and life starts by asking yourself what you really want from life. Once you admit the truth of what you really want, you start creating boundaries to protect that.
What does burnout mean?
Typically, burnout means doing things you don’t want to do which leads to emotional (and possibly physical) exhaustion. Some examples of things that lead to burnout are people pleasing, guilt, shame, feeling the need to prove something, or busy work.
Tips to avoiding work burnout:
- Take “bio” breaks. Your body needs room to be a body, take appropriate breaks to keep yourself comfortable and keep your body happy.
- Stop micro-yesses. There are so many little things we say yes to that we should probably say no to instead.
How do we know when we’re burning out or when we’re out of balance?
The first key to knowing if you’re burning out is to see whom you’re “vomiting” on. Who are you dumping on and not treating fairly? Why are you doing that? Asking and answering these questions can help identify if you’re about to burn out.
Another identifier is to do a body scan. Intentionally think about each part of your body from head to toe. This will help you identify where you are at physically.
How do you shift course when getting burned out or out of balance?
Shifting course to avoid burnout or getting out of balance will require doing a lot of work on yourself. It starts by admitting what you want out of life and then determining if you’re working toward that ideal life.
You can also give yourself permission to slow down and to say no. You might be creating problems by not saying no enough.