Most burnouts happen at work to high performers.
There is a simple reason behind this.
High performers are trusted more, and hence they are entrusted with ever-increasing loads of harder and more sensitive work.
This goes on and on until a tipping point is reached.
The solution? Learn to say no.
This is harder than it sounds. After all, taking on more and more hard projects is how high performers progress at the workplace.
However, there is a fine line here.
The hardest lesson for high performers to internalize is that they simply cannot say yes to every request, winding up with piles of work they cannot finish.
They become victims of their own competence.
The solution:
- Keep a running checklist of all your projects and tasks. Not only will this help you remain on top of your work, it will also form a quick resource you can pull up whenever your boss hands you a new task.
- Whenever you get a new task, add it to the checklist, and estimate the time it will take to complete.
- Communicate this to your manager, along with a request for clarification on the prioritization of tasks. If you have a POV on the prioritization, by all means, discuss it with your boss.
This approach will ensure your boss has an always-on, clear understanding of all the tasks you are handling.
This will also make prioritization discussions easier, so you can focus on more high-impact work.
