In my “Banish Burnout: Move from Stress to Success“ keynotes and workshops, I describe three main tools from my Banish Burnout Toolkit:

Tool #1 S-T-O-P and Audit

Tool #2 Know Your Stress: Spin Your Stress

Tool #3 Set Healthy Boundaries

When I have the opportunity to facilitate a roundtable or coaching program, we go deeper on each of the tools.

Recently I had the opportunity to take one group through the process of diving deep into some interesting issues related to setting healthy boundaries, and as a group we brainstormed solutions to them.

?? For example, one person runs a Dev Ops group (systems life cycle team) and she finds that people often come to her at 5:00 on Friday asking if she can install a major change over the weekend.

Hmm, that is so interesting to me for a number of reasons. But what we all agreed is “if it’s Friday at 5:00, the answer is no, unless it’s an emergency.”

?? We also talked about the fact that there are those in our communities who may be neuro-divergent and cannot adequately understand our boundary. This can cause confusion and frustration. What we learned from this vignette was that when someone seems to be ignoring a boundary that has been clearly stated repeatedly, they may not be ABLE to absorb your need. We all learned to have grace and not assume the worst about someone who continues to frustrate you.

?? Another issue that causes problems for one manager is her personal culture. She shared that in her culture one never says ‘no’ especially to family members. I, too was brought up this way. It took me and her many years to learn that not every request should be honored. Often there is someone else who can satisfy the request. We learned that ‘no’ is a complete sentence. We also learned that when someone says, “Sorry I can’t help you,” that is exactly what they mean.

?? When it comes to bosses, how can we say ‘no’ to them? And when should we?

Well that depends. While we assume bosses know our workload, sometimes they have a lot on their plate, and they cannot read your mind. So when they come to you with an exciting new project, but you are overloaded, one possible answer is, “I simply do not have the bandwidth, but let’s review all of my projects and priorities so that we can schedule in the new project.” Simple. Clear.

What I am offering now for all of my clients is the opportunity to effect real behavior change by deeply engaging with my tools via a Deep Dive Roundtable or Extended Coaching Program.

If your organization does not have the bandwidth to banish burnout, get in touch at: Janice@JaniceLitvin.com.