Member Article

How to avoid work burnout in 2022.

Peter Boolkah is a business coach with over 30 years experience helping businesses grow. Here are his tips on how to avoid burnout in 2022.

2022 will see us playing catch up as the pandemic continues to affect business and commerce. We want to make up for lost time and last year some of us saw our work hours double to get our businesses back on track. Burnout is on the increase and is harming companies and their leaders. Businesses do need to recoup their losses but doubling the workload is unlikely to herald those results. It is unsustainable and will cause more longterm damage when that business inevitably crashes under the pressure.

A clear forward planning strategy will help. Consider delegation and automation and how it can help you move forward. You need to get more done in a shorter space of time so find the people and technology to help you do it. Run your business like a machine. Each cog in the wheel keeps the machine going. Find your cogs. Find people with different skill sets to your own to deal with the different parts of your business.

The world has changed. We have seen the biggest digital shift ever. We now have even more services and people available to us at the click of a button. As the world moves forward it is becoming increasingly obvious that we need to use technology more to save time and access expertise. Generally, as human beings we struggle with change. It makes us feel unsafe. When you feel resistant to a change, dive back into your belief system and question yourself. This might make your life easier. It might afford you time with your family. It might cut your costs. Focus on the positives. It is important to consider your customer or client. They might like automation. We must listen to our customers and identify their changing needs. If they are shopping or accessing services in a different way to the one we are providing, our business is likely to fail. There are examples of numerous household names where they have not stayed up to date with customer trends or engaged with new ways of doing business and they have gone bust.

Delegation is important. Entrepreneurs get to the top because they are extremely good at what they do. To grow beyond that, they need to believe that they can show other people how to do the job just as well. There is a limit to the amount one man can do. This is when burnout occurs. Spend money on good staff. Train them to deliver your vision. Do not cut costs by thinking you can do the job of ten men. It is false economy. You need to be the leader of a team that can execute your innovation. With structure and support within your business strategy you won’t burn out.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lucy Hood .