The Why of Work
I was reading Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide for Caring for Self While Caring for Others by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky and Connie Burk this weekend and found myself struck by a reflection question posed of why. Why are you doing the work? We get so lost in the day to day doing that we sometimes lose the why.
Since the pandemic began, there’s been an increase in dissatisfied workers changing careers and even more folks feeling stuck where they are and not knowing where to go next. This is part of burnout. When you’re burnt out, you lose your creativity. So, it feels hard to imagine yourself doing anything else, because you can’t think of anything outside of what you’re doing. So, I want to invite you to ask yourself why you started doing what you’re doing.
It could be because you were interested in the field, you like to help people, the benefits or money provide security, or it felt easy enough that you have flexibility to live your life outside of work. Once you identify the why, notice if it’s still true. If it is, then what is making the other parts seem unbearable? Do you need to create more boundaries? Are you going beyond your capacity? If it isn’t true, what would make your job worth it? What would you be doing if you had no restrictions? What are skills you have in line with that?
Most of us need to work to survive, so how can we step back to figure out how to make it survivable. If you feel stuck and you have the ability to PTO or other time off to get back to feel less stuck, I highly encourage you to! I also want to remind you that feeling burnt out and stuck isn’t a personal failing. We live in a society that has taught high expectations for work, which often leaves us beyond our capacity. This has only been magnified in a time when our coping skills have been greatly altered and our lives so dramatically shifted. So, slowing down and relearning our capacities is part of this recovery process.
As always, take what is helpful and leave the rest. I hope you have the week you need.
