Big feelings ... and early signs of burnout

One of the best books I read during the pandemic is No hard feelings about emotions at work and how they help us succeed.

I read this book for perspective and tips to stop getting stuck in unhealthy patterns and build a successful team and culture. I highly recommend reading it to help improve your mindset and how you approach every day for yourself and your team.

A Swiss Army knife illustration showing different emotional tools. By Liz Fosslien.

The two authors, Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy, have a new book about to be published called Big Feelings: How to be okay when things are not okay.

The early signs of burnout

So what early signs should you look out for? Here are some of the subtle cues that you might need to reassess how much you’re taking on:

• Basic activities like going to the grocery store feel overwhelming

• Getting mildly sick and being forced to shut down for a bit actually sounds kind of nice

• You’re saying “yes” even though you’re already at capacity

• You find everyone and everything irritating

• You’re all too familiar with “revenge bedtime procrastination,” when you stubbornly stay up late because you didn't get any time to yourself during the day

We’re quick to ignore these signs because we can usually muscle through them. But they’re important alarm bells.

These are all issues that I have experienced myself, and seen in members of my team. I have pre-ordered my copy in hardback as I think it's a book I want to be able to share.

An illustration showing everything you can do, and what you can actually do. By Liz Fosslien.

There are also some great resources and helpful and inspiring images at fosslien.com. I think Liz and Molly are creating quality content that is incredibly useful for all of us, even more so for leaders. You can subscribe to Liz and Molly’s newsletter at lizandmollie.com.