Avery - 00:00

Work-life balance is about finding harmony between our professional duties and personal lives, something that seems even more elusive than ever.

Over the past decade, the lines between work and personal time have blurred, with technology making us accessible just about around the clock.

Economic uncertainties and job insecurities have also pushed many of us to work longer hours, constantly proving our worth.

The expectation to always be productive has soared, yet the support systems and resources often haven't kept pace.

And so this struggle isn't just about managing our schedules better, it's rooted in systemic issues that require structural change, like flexible work policies, adequate staffing, which I know you're really working on, but it's very hard as a non-profit to make sure that you're staffed adequately.

And then also talking about a culture that generally values that well-being.

And again, especially in the nonprofit sector, recognizing and addressing these broader challenges in a way that works for your organization is crucial for fostering a sustainable balance and truly supporting your dedicated staff to serve the communities that you do.

Avery - 01:09

So how do we do this?

Hi, I'm Avery Thatcher, a former ICU nurse, and this is not your standard stress management podcast where we just focus on those band-aid solutions like the benefits of meditation, mindfulness, and self-care.

You already know that you need some kind of recovery strategy to deal with your stressful life.

But what you may not know are all of the sneaky ways that society, our upbringing and our high achieving nature, and so many other factors contribute to our risk of burnout.

That, my friend, is what we talk about here on this podcast because you can't do something about a situation that you're not aware of, right?

So if you're ready to get out of the pattern of burning out, feeling better, only to burn out again, it's time for us to shut the light on the truth about burnout.

So let's start off by just talking about the origin of this work-life balance term.

Avery - 02:02

This concept emerged in the late 20th century during the 1970s and 80s thanks to Generation X, which you can learn more about on the episode that I have that talks about the generation gap.

The phrase originated in the UK, in the United Kingdom, reflecting a growing awareness of the need to balance professional responsibilities with personal life.

During this period, societal and economic conditions were evolving rapidly.

The rise of dual income households, increased participation of women in the workforce, and the shift towards a service-oriented economy.

Really heighten the pressures on individuals to juggle work and home life.

An originally work-life balance referred to the ability to divide one's time and energy between work commitments and personal pursuits.

And it was in response to these long hours and these intense work demands that characterized these corporate cultures.

Avery - 02:57

The aim really was to prevent burnout and to ensure people could maintain fulfilling their personal lives alongside their careers.

Back then, achieving work-life balance often involved setting clear boundaries between work and home.

For example, people would adhere to strict work hours, ensuring that they left the office on time, to spend evenings with family, They would be able to turn off and leave their work behind.

Weekends were reserved for leisure and relaxation, completely free from work-related tasks or anything that would remind you of work, and some companies began offering those flexible working hours and part-time positions to help employees better manage their responsibilities.

This historical context shows that while the term work-life balance might seem like it's more modern, the struggle to achieve it has deep roots that are driven by significant societal shifts and the persistent need to set boundaries for our personal wellbeing.

And we all know that boundaries are hard.

So this idea that work-life balance has shifted dramatically over the years is and maybe it's just the perception of it in our cultures and especially in the nonprofit world.

Avery - 04:07

And what once felt achievable is now often seeming like an unattainable myth.

Our work-life dynamics have changed so much with technology playing a huge role because we're always connected.

Emails, messages and notifications follow us everywhere, even in our downtime.

And the expectation to be constantly available and productive has become the norm.

Even if you try to avoid that culture in your nonprofit, there's still that expectation, also the FOMO, the fear of missing out on something important, that really keeps your employees engaged, at least mentally, even during their off hours.

And so these increasing demands really impact our time and our energy.

And so this brings us to the myth that individuals alone can manage work-life balance on their own.

Avery - 04:56

Because modern discussions often place the burden on us as an individual to balance everything through better time management or personal discipline.

But this ignores the bigger picture, the societal and systemic constraints that are making achieving this balance nearly impossible.

So again, with the economic pressures, with job insecurity and the ever-increasing workplace demands, especially in the non-profit world as you're working with maybe limited funding and smaller staff.

This balance can be really elusive and so in the nonprofit sector again these challenges are even more pronounced because the passion for the mission that your nonprofit has often leads people to work longer to have higher stress and that's compounded again by the limited resources and the high

demand that you have for your services especially in this economy and it's clear that achieving work-life balance isn't just about our individual efforts It does require systemic changes.

So even non-profit organizations like yours need to recognize and address these structural issues to help create environments that support rather than hinder our well-being.

And this is something that I work with different non-profits about all the time.

Avery - 06:06

Because there's really, we've got to look at it from the top down as well as the bottom up.

When we approach it from both sides that's where change really happens so much more consistently and so much faster.

So when we're looking at how to help your organization better support work-life balance, we have to look at things from a wider structural perspective.

Because for instance, employees in the nonprofit sector often experience high levels of stress due to that deep commitment to the mission combined with limited resources and high demands that we've been talking about.

And so this can lead to feelings of being overwhelmed.

In a lot of the employee engagement surveys that I do prior to coming in and working with the team, I see a lot of people that feel undervalued and feel like they're working extra And not being recognized or even noticed for the effort that they're putting in, not to the degree that they feel like

they're deserving.

Avery - 07:00

And this is frustrating for some leaders to hear because they feel like they're doing so much already to try and make sure that people know that they're valued and that they're appreciated for the work that they're doing.

But it's learning how to really celebrate those things in a way that's meaningful and that's something that we talk about in the workshops as well.

And so when these people are feeling undervalued this just makes mental health issues even more prevalent and really just drains their fulfillment energy which leads to burnout.

And so all of these challenges that we're facing really just show that achieving work-life balance isn't just about the personal effort on the individual level, on the frontline staff level.

It requires more broad changes in how we operate and how we support our staff.

So creating environments that prioritize well-being and that provide realistic workloads and proper support because I know that sometimes deadlines happen and you really just have to scramble to get things together but the proper support is really crucial for fostering this work-life balance for

your employees.

Avery - 08:11

And rethinking work-life balance in the nonprofit sector requires us to acknowledge and address its unique challenges and the deep passion and commitment and drive that really pushes nonprofits work does lead to burnout if it's not being managed.

And so employees that are deeply invested in their missions, frequently working long hours, trying to meet the high demands and limited resources, all of this dedication, of course we can see that it's admirable, but we also know that it is detrimental to their well-being.

And this means that you're going to have more absenteeism, you're going to have higher turnover rates, Increased recruitment costs.

All of these things do trickle down into the bottom line as well.

And I know that you care about your team.

You do want to have them feel better, have good mental health, feel really well supported.

So this is where we need to again look at the systemic issues.

Avery - 09:10

And the good news is that there's actually some small changes that can have a huge impact.

And this is what we talk about when I meet with the leadership teams is we talk about the different strategies that we can use to either address some of the sources of stress and work-life balance that are being thrown off for people if we can do something to fix them.

But for all of the things that we can't do something to fix, Like inflation and funding and how hard it is to find people to work for you right now.

All of those things are something that we need to learn how to manage and so this is where we're approaching it from a different perspective and this is where meeting with the leadership team And then implementing what we decide on with the frontline staff can be huge because leadership plays a key

role in modeling and encouraging a culture that values balance and well-being.

And this is where leading by visible example can actually be a very powerful way for your leadership team to show the rest of the workforce that this is what balance looks like and this is how you do it even in the role that you're in.

And so really it's about understanding the complexities of your organization and the obstacles that you're facing and to better address your organization's approach to work-life balance.

Avery - 10:35

I encourage you to take the organization burnout risk assessment quiz which you can find on my website thetruthaboutburnout.com And it just walks you through a couple of questions.

I think there's 10 questions in total and it helps you determine the burnout risk for your organization and that'll just show you how much you need to prioritize fixing the work-life balance structural issues in your organization.

So go ahead and check that out.

That's at thetruthaboutburnout.com and if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me.

I'm here for you.

Hold please.

I know that these end-of-podcast blurbs are generally really repetitive and only say, make sure you're subscribed.

Avery - 11:18

But this isn't like that.

Today, I have a little habit challenge for you.

Before you sit down to do your next work block, I encourage you to take 5 slow deep breaths for 5 seconds on the inhale and 5 seconds on the exhale.

Doing this helps us turn off our stress switch which then regains access to our higher level thinking brain which is something that we talk about in the free course that's included in the Productivity Partner app which helps you design your pre-work ritual.

And inside that productivity partner app, each day there's a mini habit challenge where I take 60 seconds to explain something like this that you can do in your day to become even more effective and impactful as a high achiever.

You can try it for one week for free by going to thetruthaboutburnout.com.

Give nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Avery - 12:08

Go give it a try.