Reclaim Your Balance: How to Combat Burnout With Self-Care, AI and Boundaries

In a fast-paced work environment, burnout can often feel like an invisible, overwhelming burden. It's a state of exhaustion that affects our performance and well-being — which makes it all the more important to address proactively.

In the video below, Nikki Roberson, a seasoned communication professional and IABC Atlanta Chapter member, breaks down the reality of burnout and offers practical strategies to manage it.

Learn how dedicating just 10 minutes a day to self-care, embracing artificial intelligence (AI) to ease your workload and being intentional about saying no to extra responsibilities can help you maintain balance and prevent burnout.

Transcript: Read Along With Nikki Here

Nikki Roberson: Hi everyone, my name is Nikki Roberson and I've been a professional communicator for almost 15 years. The topic of burnout is of recent interest in our profession, and it also has personal importance for me as well. So, let's talk burnout.

What exactly is burnout? I would say that everyone knows it when they feel it, but it's a little tricky to describe. The American Psychological Association's dictionary of psychology defines burnout as physical, emotional or mental exhaustion accompanied by decreased motivation, lowered performance and negative attitudes toward oneself and others.

Burnout can make us feel empty or apathetic or like giving up. You may even feel angry or hopeless. And when we get to these stages of burnout, it might feel like it's just the beginning. But, in reality, these feelings come from a buildup of negative behaviors and chronic stressors over time. So by the time that we can identify them, we have already burned out.

A familiar cause of burnout happens when work/life balance gets out of sync, and this can be caused by being pulled in too many directions for too long. This has especially been prevalent over the last few years with the rise of always-on technology, the shift to virtual school and work, more personal struggles and increasing professional responsibilities.

COVID stressed us out — and stress greatly contributes to burnout. Feeling overwhelmed by the constant demands of our time and energy puts us at risk.

Adding to this, we have challenges with burnout as communicators. Our responsibilities at work have greatly increased over the past few years, and our empathy can cause us to take on the burnout that our communication stakeholders may be feeling — be it as editors or leadership or employees. Focusing on the burnout in others can increase the risk of burnout in our own lives.

Now, I have personally experienced the negative effects of burnout, and the consequences can be scary. However, the experience opened my eyes to the ways that I can make some changes to ensure that I am taking care of myself, both personally and professionally.

So how does one mitigate burnout? I've got three tips for you.

One: Invest in yourself. I know — that's often easier said than done. But a lot of times people look at taking care of themselves as these huge gargantuan efforts, like week-long vacations or two hours of daily exercise. And while those are great ways of taking care of ourselves, not everyone has those options available. So, this is where I like to introduce a little concept I call “10 to win.”

Take 10 minutes to invest in yourself every day. Listen to 10 minutes of music, read a book for 10 minutes, move your body for 10 minutes — and that can be a walk around the block or an express exercise video on YouTube. Whatever it is, give yourself permission to take care of you.

Two: Embrace AI to streamline your life. AI can be scary, but it can also be a huge help, especially in work situations. Use AI to automate repeat tasks so that you're taking something off of your plate. AI is also particularly helpful in helping you to ideate or brainstorm new ideas. AI should not be used verbatim, nor does it take the place of what you personally bring to the table. But using it in the right ways can be of huge benefit, and then you can take some of that newly found time and invest in 10 to win.

And finally, be intentional about saying no. Throughout COVID, many communicators said yes to everything. We took on more responsibility because our jobs required it, and we've kept those responsibilities. But as the business landscape continues to shift and evolve, now is a great time to reassess what is still needed. Times have changed, and our priorities should change too.

“No” is the new “yes.” Say no to things that are taking up space, mentally, emotionally and professionally. When we pare our lives down to the things that truly matter, we can change our perspective and avoid burnout.

There's never going to be a one-size-fits-all cure for burnout, but we can manage and we must be intentional about recognizing the signs of burnout and taking action before it's too late. Life looks different for everyone, but we all have one thing in common — and that's that we have one life. So, we have to take care of ourselves so that we can be the best version of ourselves for those who matter around us, from friends and family to employees and stakeholders.

I hope you enjoyed this message, and please feel free to reach out if you would like to talk more. In the meantime, have a great stress-free day, and it was lovely to chat with you.