Avoiding Burnout

Dec 7

I recently attended a session at the Grant Professionals Association annual conference in Seattle about burnout in the grant profession. This session got me thinking about our responsibility to ourselves – and those around us – to manage our work environment and clearly and consistently communicate our needs to minimize stress and avoid burnout.

The World Health Organization defines burnout as a “syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” It lists the three symptoms of burnout as feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion, increased mental distance from one’s job or feeling negatively toward one’s career, and reduced professional productivity.

In their book The Happy, Healthy Nonprofit, Beth Kantor and Aliza Sherman outline a number of factors that make burnout prevalent and a real risk for people who work in nonprofits. Among those they mention, the nonprofit starvation cycle (lack of adequate funding for infrastructure), funder expectations, scarcity mindset, the myth of indispensability, and stressful work all contribute to nonprofit burnout.

The session I attended focused on a study of grant professionals conducted by Trish Bachman, Bethany Planton, and Johna Rogers (Journal of the Grant Professionals Association 2020 18(1): 1-19) and its follow up article on ways to manage and prevent burnout that will get published this year. That study found that 84% of grant professionals who responded to the survey reported some physical symptoms associated with burnout; 55% left a job because they needed a break. Two-thirds attribute that stress to their working environment.

In a profession where the demand outstrips the supply of professionals, we cannot afford to burnout the people working in it. Instead, we need to care for ourselves and each other so we can continue to effectively serve our missions.

How can you prevent burnout? Sometimes you cannot. Bad bosses and toxic workplaces exist. In those cases, sometimes you must protect yourself, cut your losses, and move on – hopefully not out of the profession. But before that, I recommend that you try to advocate for yourself by taking control over the parts of your day and your job that you can.

Some tips I have gleaned from the above-mentioned resources, other seminars I have attended, and my own (sometimes successful) attempts to manage stress and avoid burnout.

1. Take breaks. That might mean taking the long route to the restroom to give your mind and body a break to taking a walk at lunch, or simply eating lunch away from your desk. Between meetings – or paragraphs – take a few deep breaths. Sometimes just a break from the situation can help you see it in a different light or break the physiological stress cycle that can lead to headaches, body aches, and high blood pressure. I know when I’m stuck on something, even a 2-minute walk away from my desk will clear my head and allow me to refocus.

2. Set limits and stick to them. I could learn to do this one better, but if you need to block off time on your calendar to write, think, or make donor calls, do it – and tell people (accurately) that you cannot meet at that time. I’m getting better at the first half (blocking off time), not so much on the second (sticking to it!). But I continue to work on it.

3. Seek clear goals and expectations. Many people burnout when they do not know what their boss expects of them or how well they meet their goals (or what goals they have!). If your boss has not set your expectations – or keeps changing them – speak up. At the project level, ask by when they want something done. How they want it done. At the more global level, ask what they see as your long-term path to success. They may think they clearly articulated these things to you, but if you still don’t know, help yourself – and them – by starting that conversation.

4. Clearly communicate your needs. If you need a certain number of hours to complete a project, say so. If you cannot decipher your boss’ priorities, ask! I had a boss who would pile on the work. When I felt overwhelmed, I would ask him to “help me prioritize,” in those words. Often, I found that what I perceived as a priority differed from his priorities. Today, I encourage my staff ask me these questions as well so I can help alleviate some of their stress and create a positive work environment.

5. Educate. Much of development and grant work occurs behind the scenes. Many people have no idea how much work it takes to make it look so effortless. A former co-worker of mine used the duck analogy – a duck looks calm on the surface while it paddles away like mad under the water. We do the same thing. If we never part the water to let people know how hard we work, how can they set clear expectations for us? I once tried to explain to the higher ups at an organization how many hours it would take me to write a federal grant. They wanted to give me 20 hours to write it; I told them it would take 100 hours. We settled on 50 with the option to extend it if I needed more time. It took me 75 hours – legitimately. I had no idea that they thought it would take so little time, and they had no idea how long it really took.

6. Push back – politely. When my boss would come to me with yet another project during a large federal grant project, I would politely remind him that I had a deadline that week that had to come first. (External deadlines work great for this!) Rather than say “no,” I would tell him when I could get it done. “I have this grant due on Friday. Can I start on that Monday morning?” If it could wait until Monday, then we both had clear expectations. If not, he could assign it to someone else. In reality, I usually got the grant done early and could get the new assignment started or completed early as well … a win-win, but on my terms.

7. Clearly communicate your boundaries. “I’m sorry, but I need to leave right at 5 today for an appointment” or “I already have that day blocked off for vacation” will assure that people do not encroach upon your time. With my staff, I often forget about planned time off or do not realize that the workday has already ended. People can only encroach on your boundaries if you let them. Don’t let them.

Now, you may have done everything correctly and still feel burned out. In that case, you might need to assess your work environment – particularly the people in positions of authority over you and your work – and decide if you can work within that environment or need a new one. Hopefully burnout will not sour you on the profession and positive work environments will allow development and grant professionals to thrive, not wither and die. And if you are one of those people in a position of authority, look at the environment you have created and how you may contribute to the stress and burnout your staff feels – and change it. Otherwise, you may find yourself continually hiring and training new staff.

You just read my thoughts. What tips can you offer your fellow development and grant professionals to take charge of their work environments and avoid burnout?