Fight Burnout at Work Presentation
“The key to juggling is to know that some of the balls you have in the air are made of plastic and some are made of glass.” – Author Nora Roberts
April 1, 2025 Hybrid Session
The strong resiliency of women in the workplace is well documented, but burnout is a serious health issue that can still affect anyone. And the biggest work-related factors in burnout—overwork, lack of control, and unfair treatment—are much more common experiences for women all over the world.
During this hybrid session, we talked about actions people can take to cope. These include prioritizing basics—like exercise and sleep—staying connected with loved ones, and seeking guidance on what to prioritize at work. We had about 10 people participate in person, and 40 participate virtually.
Presenters
Tamara Swedberg
Instructional Technology Specialist
Edward J Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
Bonnie Wasielewski
Web Developer
School of Environmental and Biological Sciences
Resources from Lean In
Suggestions from Discussion
Coping/Stress Relief Strategies
- Exercise/Walk
- Let house get messy
- Socialize
- Time off for self
- Listening to Jazz Music (or any kind of music)
- Adult Coloring books
- Jig Saw Puzzles (office jigsaw puzzle.)
- Breathe
- Take a break
- Take a vacation
- Meditation and Tuning the world out
- Exercise (before or after work); Changing scenery- taking a walk; Vacationing
- Get out of the office on lunch
- Learn something new. Lots of online opportunities since the pandemic.
- Lessening/Prioritizing Workload
- Learn to say no
- Organizing/prioritizing/color coding lists
- Do one thing at a time
- Run an errand on lunch to accomplish something so we can go straight home.
- Block off time to get everything in order
- “Lists are the Best!!”
- Ask for help when needed.
- Taking 5-10 minutes at the beginning of each day to organize what I need to do and order it by priority
- Try not to multitask/switch tasking I find that the less I do that the more I get accomplished.
Eisenhower Matrix – Dwight D. Eisenhower presented the idea that would later lead to the Eisenhower Matrix. In a 1954 speech, Eisenhower quoted an unnamed university president when he said, “I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.”
Take time to plan Friday afternoon for Monday. Your “Friday self” will thank you. “These are the things I didn’t get to and want to do next week.”
