Burnout? I believe that’s a much more female phenomenon than a male one.” I stood there gaping when I heard a male friend say this.
“Not that you choose it, but you [women, historically] were raised to please and make sure men have it as easy as possible. What we gain, you have to pay for.”, he went on. And I still couldn’t answer because I had to let that sink in.
I do, factually, know a lot more women than men who have been through burnout, but that could simply be a result of knowing women to be much more willing to share with other women. And to be perfectly honest, I have not thought about this male friends statement until Natalia told me life on the podcast that me:
A) announcing how I would act or react next and
B) asking others if that’s OK with the other person
…that is me holding their boundaries. And that’s not my job.
Wait, what?!
I am still not sure if burnout truly is more female or not, but I know that burnout is, in fact, when everything A) feels too much and
B) feels like I have no agency or no control over this situation.
And after 15 years as an interior designer with a whole lot of ‘close-to-burnout’ clients I also know that reclaiming this agency and wanting to influence something you actually can influence is a very good sign – VERY GOOD INDEED. You let go of what lies outside your realm of influence and focus on what is – you practice ‘Can-Do-Attitude’.
This weeks episode is all about making work-life balance happen. And most people’s gut reaction is: it’s all about setting boundaries. And here’s where like to misunderstand boundaries: They’re not meant to ‘protect’ your mental health – they’re meant to help you REPAIR the straight. But I’ll write more on that next week.
I secretly hope though, that you are not going to wait for another post, but instead click to listen to this episode. It’s all about having a more friendly outlook on the work that you can not NOT take home.
Yes, it’s the concept of ‘friendship’ applied to your work stressors – do you have enough bandwidth to take this in, or are you already resisting?
