Part one of a two-part series
Are you feeling fried and burned out? Are work and life responsibilities too much? If you answer “yes” you are in good company, but don’t worry, there are pathways back to health.
Cait Donovan is a burnout expert. She’s been there and recovered. Her podcast FRIED is just one way she helps the rest of us find a way out. Let’s start with facts: The World Health Organization defines burnout as an occupational hazard relating to unmanaged chronic stress. There are three components: Physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and feeling a lack of impact/productivity. Addressing burnout is critical to the nonprofit sector as we face historically high rates of burnout and turnover. Here’s our Q&A with Cait.
Saad&Shaw – What impact does burnout have on individuals and their team members?
Cait – Burnout impacts every single area of health and wellbeing. Because burnout is the result of chronic stress, that means the symptoms and issues that arise with it are the same ones we see with stress – but they are exacerbated. Headaches, gastrointestinal issues, anxiety and depression, skin issues like eczema and hives, worsening of chronic autoimmune disorders, metabolic disorders and more. Also, burnout affects one’s ability to manage their emotions well, leaving people more prone to bursts of emotion instead of measured responses. This, on a personal and on a team level, creates discomfort and conflict that is difficult to resolve. In addition to physical manifestations of burnout, there is a diminishing of brain functioning which leads to things like: missing deadlines, making critical mistakes in event planning or grant writing, the inability to work well with a team, and more. 
Saad&Shaw – What can organizations do to help prevent burnout?
Cait – Organizations have a few jobs when it comes to preventing burnout. Their first role is increasing psychological safety. Wherever they set the bar now, it must go higher. Everyone should feel safe to exist as they are in the workplace, add input without fear, and be free from bullying, harassment, and ostracizing. The next one is complicated for nonprofits: leadership must help their people access the resources they need so that their workload feels feasible. Nonprofit employees are driven to get things done but told to do more with less because ‘that’s how we’ve always done it’ and ‘I had to deal with it, so now you have to, too.” This attitude has to shift if we want to prevent burnout. It’s amazing that we try to help other people feel resourced but start from a place of scarcity ourselves. The more resourced nonprofits are, the more resources we can provide – with good attitudes and high morale! Related to this, teams must improve their abilities to give and receive praise to one another. There is a false belief that if we are doing good in the world, we don’t need praise because the joy of helping should be enough. That’s a beautiful thing to think, but from a neurological basis, our brains still need recognition and praise.
Next week: help for organizations and individuals
Learn more about Cait Donovan
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