Burnout

I've been thinking a lot about burnout lately. Why? Because the department I am in charge of has been in existence for 5 years. We celebrated our 5 years of service on Dec. 1. In that time, there has been four directors, plus a year when there was no director and the VP was running the department until they hired one. If you do the math on that, folks haven't stuck around very long. I think the longest tenure was a year and some months. She describes the time as exhausting. Her body and soul are weary. That doesn't bode well for me. I've been thinking a lot about how to change that. How can I guard against burnout? That is the question of the century. I know many people, especially those in ministry, asking that same question and still not coming up with an answer. I have a friend writing a book on the topic. It will likely be a best seller. I'll need to pick up a copy.

Here is the only conclusion I've come to so far. I can't do it alone. If it were up to me, I would work myself in to the ground and not quit until my body just gave out. That's my tendency, I've done it before. This is a demanding job. It is physically demanding, half the time I don't even know what time zone I'm in. I just have to trust the clock that it is 8pm if it says 8pm, because my body no longer knows. When I'm in the field I work 12-16 hour days. When I come back to the office, the work has piled up and it takes whatever energy I have just to stay afloat. This job is also spiritually demanding. It is impossible to see the desperate conditions of people's lives around the world and not take that home with you. In waking and sleeping hours I see the faces of women and children I have met at different stops. They haunt me. They are my motivation and the reason for my work and I cannot forget them. Their burden has become my burden. I am convinced the day I stop caring about them and their circumstances is the day I need to quit. Love should be my motivation or the work we do is without merit. That may be true, but it isn't an easy task.

I am trying to put up safeguards to ward against burnout:

• Boundaries: Leave work at work, be present in the moments of life. It is hard to do both of these things. My job has given me a Blackberry phone. I call it "the electronic leash." It goes off at all hours of the night and day. Kenyon hates it. In fact, every spouse at my work has made disparaging comments about the Blackberry their husband or wife was assigned. I am fighting the compulsion to respond 24/7, just because it goes off doesn't mean I need to answer at 4am. But more than that it is a mental battle. I must drop the work stuff mentally when I'm not at work. I need to give people my full attention and not always be thinking about all the things I need to get done for work.
• spiritual disciplines: I learned in my time of employment at the church that I must draw on God's strength in order to survive. Without it, I get tired, cynical and rather irritable. It is crucial that I spend regular time with God, that he is guiding my decisions, and the source of my strength. My relationship with the Creator gives me perspective. It reminds me of priorities. Without it, the demands of the job become overwhelming very quickly.

Kenyon keeps me walking the straight and narrow. If work infringes too much on my family time, he lets me know. If I'm being irritable, or as he says "having an attitude," it is quickly called to my attention. I don't always like it, but I appreciate the help. Without it I'd be on the fast track to burnout. In the long run, that isn't where I want to be. I'm in this for the long-haul. I want to finish the race. There is plenty of stuff to distract me from that goal, but I am committed to it and do what I can to fulfill my part.