How to avoid burnout at Makers?
Insights on avoiding stress and burnout from my experiences as Chief Joy Officer at Makers
Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress that leads to a lack of motivation and a breakdown of health.
Christina Maslach, author of The Truth About Burnout, has identified six factors that make a person more likely to burn out — workload, control, reward, community, fairness, and values.
I’ve witnessed the journeys of many Makers over the years, and these are some things I’ve noticed about mitigating burnout:
Work Overload
Makers is a fast-moving environment. Students almost always feel behind in the amount that they have to absorb as there’s so much to learn each day. The course is designed that way. I encourage students to try to make peace with doing your best, as stressing about not being able to complete everything ultimately slows you down.
Learning is the point, not completing everything. It’s easy to get caught up in the Makers journey and forget this. As long as you’re doing your best and focusing on learning, not completion, you’re likely to be progressing in a more optimal way.
There’s a fine line between pushing yourself and over-doing it. With proper attention to self-care, you can be sensitive to that line and avoid burnout.
Lack of Control
At Makers we value a sense of autonomy in work and learning. Students engage with self-led learning which means they are in control of their journeys. You’re expected to set and take charge of your own goals, which is quite a new concept for most (especially those coming from traditional education, where there are generally clear hoops to jump through). It can take some time adjusting to that and can sometimes leave you feeling out of control.
Certainty is a core human need but is often a rare commodity at Makers, as the curriculum is deliberately designed to keep you on your toes as you have a series of coding curve-balls thrown at you — being aware of this helps prevent burnout from creeping in.
Remind yourself to trust the process and reach for what is certain in your life: your support network (Makers staff/resources, cohort members, family, friends, hobbies, values etc.).
Drop expectations that you might have had about how the course should go for you and try to be present, while allowing the process to take you on the journey. If you value a high level of control in your life then this is the perfect opportunity to practice being flexible and adaptable as those qualities rank high in what makes a great developer.
Insufficient Reward
Many Makers feel that just choosing and engaging with the journey is rewarding in itself, and that’s so wonderful to see! But, like certainty, overt reward can be a rare thing at Makers when it comes to your day to day learning challenges.
In our fast-paced learning environment, it’s common to feel somewhat behind a lot/most of the time. It’s easy to overlook what you’ve already achieved as you race on to the next thing. It’s essential to acknowledge achievements and growth along the way as a way of keeping your morale up.
Humans thrive on progress more than goals, so don’t wait until all your boxes are ticked to give yourself a pat on the back. Tune yourself to reasons to celebrate daily. High-five small and big wins.
Keep the bigger picture in mind when you get caught up in day-to-day frustrations. Your biggest reward, the reason you became a Maker, is in the making, and it’s coming through what you’re going through right now.
Disconnected from Community
Humans are social creatures. We have an innate need for a sense of belonging. Makers’ community is our strongest asset and a big reason for people joining the course. I’ve had students confide in me, about their stress of not feeling like they ‘belong’ at Makers or in their cohort. It’s painful, gets in the way of learning and contributes to burnout.
My encouragement to them is to shift their thinking in the following way: Stop seeking belonging and give belonging. There’s a good chance others feel the same way, so how can they create a space of safety and belonging for others? That way they move the negative focus off of themselves while realising their ability to uplift others and create belonging for themselves and everyone.
At the same time, practice allowing others to support and encourage them also. At Makers, belonging isn’t bestowed upon you. If you are there, you belong there, and it’s up to you to claim your space, just as you are.
Unfairness
Feeling unfairly treated can be a big drain on your resources especially when you feel disempowered to change it. That’s why at Makers we encourage communication and feedback so strongly. We want everyone to feel empowered to voice themselves for any reason: whether it’s a concern about a peer, Makers, or a personal issue.
Speaking up can be difficult, so we try to make it as accessible and safe as possible to voice your concerns. My role in particular, as Chief Joy Officer, includes supporting students to feel empowered to report their concerns. Communication and assertiveness training is included in the Emotional Intelligence Curriculum. Private 1:1 sessions are available to assist as well.
Our coaches and staff are all dedicated to making the Makers experience as beneficial as possible to our students. We have a code of conduct in place to ensure a safe learning environment. The key is to speak up if you feel something is unfair — we must shed light on a situation in order to bring about resolve.
Inactive Values
At Makers we practice Extreme Programming (XP) Values — Communication, Simplicity, Feedback, Courage and Respect. I see how students thrive when they apply these values. They are amazingly useful with coding but are equally applicable to life in general.
What are your values? What principles do you live your life by? What matters to you the most? These are the things that underlie your motives and therefore it matters that you define them and use them to guide you.
Values are a grounding force. Values are important decision-making tools for your life on a day-to-day basis and with regards to your high-level goals. Without them we can feel lost, void, “in limbo”, maybe even meaningless. Again, an energy-sapper that, if left to continue, invites burnout.
Inactive values deplete the spirit. If you don’t know what your values are, take some time to find out what they are, and practice making decisions that line up with your values.
In summary:
- Prioritise self-care: stick to a routine, make use of the meditation and yoga classes, take breaks so that you’re balanced and optimised to handle the workload.
- Focus on what you do have control over, not what you don’t.
- Make use of the resources around you, don’t wait until you’re overwhelmed to reach out.
- View growth as a reward. Celebrate your progress along the way.
- Use your peers/community to become a better version of yourself. Have fun.
- Embrace a “one step at a time”, flexible mindset and be kind to to yourself.
- Know your boundaries, know your rights and values as a person and as a Maker — the Makers community wants you to feel empowered.
