Association Executive - September/October 2007 - (Page 18)

Burnout Busters: 10 Ways to Cope When Work Gets Overwhelming By Mike Staver No matter what you do for a living, it is hard to cope in today’s world. Stress is taking a toll on today’s employees and everyone pays the price. Businesses suffer because overstressed workers are far less productive than they would be if they were fresh and inspired. Obviously, the employees themselves suffer most of all—and because they cannot turn off the stress at the end of the day, their partners and families are affected, too. If you are one urgent e-mail away from a meltdown, you are not alone. Here are some simple, real-world techniques for staving off burnout. 1. Start your day with powerful high-energy music. Whether it is 18 ASSOCIAT IO N EX EC U T IV E SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007 rock or country or jazz or pop, listen to music that pumps you up and makes you feel great about yourself. Research has shown that people who use highenergy music to start their day and before they face challenging situations have increased productivity by as much as 200 percent. Your morning infusion of music creates a sense of positive energy and enthusiasm that will help you tackle any challenges that you might encounter with minimal frustration. 2. Set aside blocks of time to complete various tasks. During those blocks of time, do not allow yourself to be interrupted for other things. For example, the hour from 2 p.m. until 3 p.m. might be set aside for reading and responding to e-mails. Sure, you might have heard about this technique, but have you really tried it? This will increase your efficiency and reduce the anxiety caused by trying to do too many things at once. 3. Make “fi x it, then forget it” your mistake mantra. Do not allow mistakes to ruin you. Do everything you can to fi x a problem with a member or associate in order to make them happy. After that, do not dwell on what went wrong. If you fi nd yourself obsessing over something that went wrong in your life, remember this: Do not blame yourself for past errors. You are no longer the same person

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Association Executive - September/October 2007

Contents From the CEO The Executive's Role in Internship Programs 12 Weeks to Sink or Swim Book Beat Inside NYSAE Winning the War for Talent The Not-for-Profit Edge: Recruiting & Retaining Generation X Burnout Busters: 10 Ways to Cope When Work Gets Overwhelming Meeting in Atlantic City Save the Dates Index of Advertisers

Association Executive - September/October 2007

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