Boundaries to Avoid Burnout – Part Two

How to Prioritise Your Time

Burnout is affecting more and more people as we continue through the last two years of ongoing uncertainty. Labelled as an occupational phenomenon by the World Health Organisation, burnout is so important to be aware of and to know how to avoid. Are you caught up in a rushed lifestyle? Do you constantly feel the pressure of a neverending to-do list? The strategies below will help you reclaim some time and freedom to restore balance to your life:

Firstly, let’s recap the three red flags of burnout:

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1. Physical Exhaustion This is where you’re not just tired from time to time, but feel a deep ongoing lethargy. Even after a break away, you still feel exhausted. It’s like
your battery reserves aren’t able to recharge.

2. Cynicism and Depersonalisation This is where you become increasingly detached and disengaged from your work. You find it difficult to derive the pleasure you once did or feel your work futile. You feel frustrated, cynical and disconnected from others and want to withdraw.

3. Reduced Professional Efficacy and Lack of Achievement This is where you notice your productivity dropping and even though you keep trying to “work harder” you feel increasingly ineffective. It creates a low sense of morale and sense that you’re not coping despite your best efforts. Rather than ignoring the signals, hitting the wall and having to take six months off just to recover, it’s vital to protect your own time and energy with powerful boundaries so you don’t head down that slippery slope.

1. Be busy on the right things – and let go of the pebbles and sand.

The rocks in the jar analogy explains that when you fill a jar with rocks, pebbles and sand, it’s critical to put the rocks in first. Otherwise, there’s no way you’ll ever fit all the rocks in.

This applies on a macro level: What are the rocks in your life? It also applies on a micro level: What are the rocks in your day? If you don’t have clarity on your most important tasks, you can fritter away valuable time on pebbles and sand (these are often urgent little tasks that somehow seem more important than they really are) which is what causes a sense of overwhelm.

If you notice that you’re always “busy,” but are creating time confetti, a term coined by Brigid Schulte, where you shred your time into such small pieces that it’s virtually useless, you need to set boundaries to protect solid blocks of time so you can be productive and feel a sense of achievement.

When you plan your week, be sure to identify what are the top three goals for the week. Rather than just have them on your to-do list, it’s essential to schedule them into your diary as an appointment, to block out that time.

If it’s scheduled, it happens.

Also, If you have a highly responsive role, constant interruptions or additional tasks being given to you, schedule extra time into each day for this. Do a time audit to see how many hours of responsive (but important) work you typically have and leave appropriate windows available in your day.

2. Sign off the day with your top five.

Everyone has some sort of to-do list but few people use them effectively. Two keys to manage your time well are to create your list at the end of the day and to ensure you
prioritise your list.

Set a recurring reminder to prompt you five minutes before finish time to reflect back on the day and make your list for tomorrow. Then, prioritise the top five things on your list, numbering them 1-5. It’s rarely the first thing you write on your list that is truly the most important.

I like to do this onto an A6 lined post-it note, adding numbers beside each item. Then, I stick it on top of my laptop. Since it’s the first thing I see each morning, it
becomes an external reminder to focus on the rocks rather than diving into emails, which are usually other people’s priorities.

The human brain is designed to distract you and make you want to tick off the quick, fun and easy tasks first. If you can identify the rocks and have them down in black and white it makes a huge difference to your day and prevents you shredding your time into tiny, useless pieces.

3. Delegate, Systemise & Negotiate

If you’re overloaded and overworked, you need to either delegate, systemise or negotiate.

Yes, even if you know you’re the best person to do the task, if someone else can do it 70% as well as you can, it is worth handing over – and definitely worth the time to delegate it correctly.

If you don’t have anyone to delegate to, systemise as much as you can and learn how to proactively manage your workload. It’s critical to develop positive, assertive communication skills so that when your boss asks you to add something to your plate, you can turn around and say, “Yes, I can do that for you. I do already have these four other projects to complete this week. Which one would you like me not to do?” or, “Which ones are the priorities for you?”

Often, others are unaware of total workloads, so it’s vital to get your head of department or your leader to help prioritise things and negotiate realistic timeframes while maintaining positive, open communication.

4. Choose your personal policies wisely.

Being able to say ‘no’ to things that aren’t a priority is perhaps the biggest tool you have in your toolkit. Get good at being able to confidently and politely say no when you’re asked to do something that doesn’t fit with your priorities.

It all comes back to what are the rocks in your jar. When you know what’s important, you can create personal policies such as, “Between 5-8 pm is family time,” “I don’t respond to emails on the weekend unless it’s an emergency,” or, “I always get outdoors for a break in the middle of the day.”

Having a personal policy sends a clear message to others that you value your time and yourself and invites them to do the same.

5. Disconnect to reconnect.

Technology has given us more flexibility than ever, but rather than saving us time, it’s created a constantly connected culture where emails, negative news, phone calls
and information overload follow us everywhere we go.

We have to be intentional to switch off from this. Choose to wield the double edged sword of technology well. Leverage it, for example taking dictaphone notes during walk and talk meetings, but also set clear boundaries so you can be present and really connect with the people in your life – both your colleagues as well as family and friends.

Multiple studies demonstrate the clear links between social media use and heightened depression and anxiety. If relevant, consider removing apps from your phone, setting digital limits on the use of apps that you know don’t add to your life or switch your household wi-fi off at a set time in the evening. Because technology is so addictive, we need external reminders to help us manage it.

Tony Gaskins says, “You teach people how to treat you by what you allow, what you stop and what you reinforce.”

Avoid responding to emails after hours, or if you do, use the ‘delay delivery’ function so you’re not creating an expectation for others to respond late at night. Set realistic
rules for yourself and stick to them. Some examples include putting your phone on airplane mode from 6-8pm and 9pm- 7am, charging your phone in the living room or going email free all day Saturday. There is no right or wrong, simply experiment and create the rules that work for you.

Remember that your time is yours, but only if you protect it.

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Lauren Parsons


Lauren is an award-winning Wellbeing Specialist who believes that everyone deserves to thrive. With over 20 years’ experience in the health and wellbeing profession, she is a sought after speaker, coach and consultant.
TEDx speaker, author, founder of the Snack on Exercise movement and host of the Thrive TV Show, Lauren is based in Manawatu, New Zealand. She specialises in helping schools and organisations create a high-energy,
peak- performance team culture, which enables people to thrive.

For more information, visit: www.LaurenParsonsWellbeing.com