Push The Pause Button Before Big Career Decisions

Jan 4
08:35

2011

Caroline Ceniza-Levine

Caroline Ceniza-Levine

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A coaching client of mine is suffering from burnout. He has a demanding professional services job, a new addition to the family, and a review cycle that puts him up for a key promotion within the next six months. First he wanted to quit. Then he wanted to take a leave of absence to get refreshed. Instead I told him to hire a personal trainer. What?

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Don’t quit or leave even temporarily as a first solution to burnout.  It doesn’t solve your problem when you return,Push The Pause Button Before Big Career Decisions Articles and it creates additional issues (can you deal with the pressure, how dare you leave the rest of us with this work).  You should look at a job leave, like you look at a marital separation – as a last resort after other options have been exhausted.  Take leaving in any way, shape or form off the table as you think of options.

The personal trainer (and other support staff) buys you time.  This particular client loved working out and wanted to fit this in but couldn’t figure out how.  Yes, a trainer is an expensive form of exercise, but it is certainly cheaper than quitting or taking a leave.  The trainer isn’t there because this client doesn’t know how to exercise but to be the extreme support to make sure that he does.  He needs to make it super easy for himself or else he won’t do it.  If you are not taking care of yourself by eating badly, get a nutritionist.  If you are not sleeping well, consult a doctor.  It is not a personal failing to rely on others and may in fact give you that short-term boost to get over the burn-out hump.

Prune your commitments and schedule ruthlessly.  To add the personal trainer, something had to go.  In the beginning it’s easy to find an hour or so of fat on your schedule to trim.  But once this client is on track with the trainer and realizes that he can let go of old habits for new, then he has to prune even further.  The reality remains that he has new things on his plate (new baby, new job scope) that require other things to go.  Time is a fixed quantity that can’t be endlessly extended.  You must be ready to make choices. One choice might be to quit or change jobs.  But you want to pause before such a big career decision.  You don’t want to make this decision out of emotion or fatigue.  So assume you can’t leave, even temporarily.  Get extreme support to overcome this immediate term difficulty.  Then keep pruning till you’ve confirmed your true priorities.  Once you’re sure of your priorities, the right big decisions will follow.