Worker Burnout: Yoo-hoo! Mojo, where d’ya go?

I am generally an optimistic, can-do kinda gal. But not always. For many people this is a surprise. There are moments, heck even weeks (months) where my secret sauce is off. Here’s some things I’ve learned when I find myself in a funk, and start to look for the whereabouts of my mojo.

Clarity. Usually when I’m lacking my magic, I’m lacking clarity of purpose. In one case a while back I had a ton of stuff I was doing, but I wasn’t sure how it was making a difference to our bottom line. In another case I was clear on the purpose, but was stuck in a series of discussions which were distracting us from making progress. First, spend some time aligning to the why of what you are doing. I always start with the client, end user or person i’m helping as a true north for inspiration. Then, I make a list of everything in my head. I’m a big fan of 1 item per post-it note. I start to arrange them into groupings, putting them in priority order. Things on the bottom I put aside and then commit to doing only the really important stuff. As those things get done, I move them to my done pile. And most of all, I work on connecting the most important things I’m focusing on to the why.

Is there another way to see this? I remember years ago I had a “nemesis” in my department. Everything I offered she would one-up. Work I started she would sidle in and take over. I was fed up and ready to give her a piece of my mind. My mojo had left the building, replaced by mistrust. I complained to my boss: “why did she undermine me and try to make me look bad?” He asked me to consider an alternate view, what if she doesn’t think poorly of you, but just admired you and wants to partner? He asked me to adopt this thinking and observe her for the week before confronting her. And then my mojo returned with this new perspective. What used to be negative seemed perfectly ok. The jumping in and building on an idea— I saw as her excitement and trying to help refine it. The “take-over” I saw to be her pitching in to help get it over the finish line. With this new view, my anger faded away and my inspiration at seeing my teammate with a fresh set of eyes took hold.

Don’t isolate. It’s easy when you’re feeling lost to stay hidden. And certainly there’s a downside to being a negative force on the team. The first thing I do is seek out people I adore and grab coffee—often times talking about topics outside whatever is dragging me down. I ping mentees, leaders I admire… you get the picture. Then I think about a person who I know I can trust and then open up about my mojo being gone. I seek out books, articles, podcast episodes that can work some inspiration, then share what I learned. And most of all, I focus on the relationships that mean a lot to me, and invest in them. The connections often spark my inspiration and sense of purpose.

Don’t make it a destination. Give yourself a deadline for being stuck. It doesn’t mean that magically snaps you out of it, but it also lets you decide how long you will tread water. I remember when I had just finished a big multi-year project and was burnt out. I tried everything above, and then realized it had been 4 weeks of neutral. I gave myself a deadline of 4 more weeks, with the idea that if I was still stuck, I would make some bigger changes. That deadline was something that helped me focus on what’s next and be pragmatic about the idea that I was ready to tackle something new.

And lastly, take time to replenish. Sometimes you lose your mojo when you spread yourself too thin and can burn out. Take a class. Or take a mini vacation. Pick up a book just for fun. Join a meetup. Snuggle a pet (especially a bunny.) I hope each of you have a year end filled with inspiration and tons of mojo, but if not, reach out and let’s make some magic together. I’d love to hear from you!