The Single Best Burnout Prevention Strategy

You may have noticed, I never write articles of the sort you find scrolling through a newsfeed, with headlines like, “5 tips to avoid burnout.”

There’s a reason for that: Tips, tricks and life hacks can’t solve the current epidemic of burnout. They’re intended as simple strategies you will find easy to implement. But burnout isn’t solved with easy strategies. To address it in a meaningful way, we actually have to fundamentally reexamine what we’re valuing and why.

Our Default Cultural Values

The culture we find ourselves living and working in today is dominated by a number of ideas that influence what we collectively value. Capitalism tells us to value competition and profit. Looking through a Capitalist lens, “productive” means something that results in profit. If it doesn’t pay, it’s not productive. The Protestant Work Ethic (which is highly influential even if you’re not Protestant) teaches us that busyness = virtue, and “idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” Modern corporate culture tells us climbing the ranks is always desirable. If you’re not upwardly mobile, you’re not really doing anything. You can do more, it says. You just need to find the right app or productivity system.

Our default cultural values are the values we tacitly and unknowingly find ourselves aligning with unless we make a concerted effort to consciously choose something else. They’re like a strong current in a river that will inevitably carry us downstream unless we find our own footing.

What Do You Value That The Culture Doesn’t?

In 2005, I was in grad school and working a full time corporate job. I was good at my job, and my boss knew the graduate program would take me in a different direction. So, he set up a series of raises I would get over time. He told me this would function as “golden handcuffs,” meaning the money would be so good, I’d find it impossible to leave. Capitalism says, more money is always better. Only an idiot would walk away from that.

The problem was, I didn’t really need more money. What I did need, desperately, was more time. Working full time and going to school at night was hard. I was tired. I wanted to occasionally read a book or watch a movie. I wanted to cook for myself  some nights instead of choosing between takeout and popcorn for dinner at 9PM when I got home from school.

I asked to work 32 hours a week instead of 40. It was scary as hell. The four-day workweek is currently gaining in popularity, but in 2005, it was unheard of. I knew absolutely no one else who was doing that. Some people in my life expressed concern, ranging from the subtle, “Are you sure?” to the more snarky, “Honey, all the big girl jobs are full time jobs.”

But I got what I wanted. I wound up working part time at the sort of job no one else was doing part time, finishing grad school, and building a side business that I loved. I also found that I really enjoyed doing multiple things (contrary to the narrative that says the goal is to build a side hustle then turn that into full time). I turned down several promotions, because getting promoted would mean travel, longer hours, being available too much of the time, or just more work than I wanted to put into the job.

Those choices went directly against the default cultural values, and I got plenty of flak for it over the years. But it was so obviously the right choice for me because it aligned with what I valued, not what the culture values.

You Have Permission

I’ve worked with many clients over the years struggling with job decisions. Often, a person knows what she wants to do, what her gut is screaming at her to do, but she thinks she must be crazy because the culture is against it.

“I can’t turn down an opportunity like this. Who says no to this kind of money?”

“If I say no to a promotion, people will stop taking me seriously.”

“I feel so guilty about not wanting to take this job. Anyone else in my position would jump at the chance.”

The default cultural values are such a strong current that we don’t feel we have permission to value what we value if it goes against the cultural grain. We wind up feeling guilty, stupid, unprofessional, and scared.

I’m here to clearly and unambiguously affirm for you: The default cultural values are bullshit. You absolutely have permission to value what you value.

In order to stand against the current, it’s essential that you get as much clarity as possible on what it is you value. Name it. Repeat it. Turn it into a mantra. Some things my clients have valued include:

• Sleep
• Time for creative endeavors
• Time to volunteer or be an activist
• Flexibility and independence
• Less stress, more ease

Naming what you value, giving yourself permission to value it, and saying no to things that don’t support it is the single best burnout prevention strategy I know.