workforce
From powerless to pressure-proof
How to take control , restore wellbeing and optimise impact .
By Alison Coughlan
It ’ s not hard to see how people working in the health care sector can develop a sense of powerlessness with the inevitable constraints , pressures and compromises we can face every day in our work .
This might include a relentlessly busy environment with seemingly endless and complex demands and needs . The sense that there ’ s never enough time , energy , resources or enough of you to go around . Challenging interactions with colleagues and others . Exposure to stress , distress , suffering and even violence . Toxic cultures and behaviours that have become the norm . Challenges in work spilling over into our personal lives . Challenges in our personal lives spilling over into our work .
It ’ s easy to see how we could surrender to this as our ‘ lot in life ’, a consequence of our choice to pursue work in this sector .
The reality is that working in contexts where constraint , relentless pressure and compromises are the norm makes us vulnerable to burnout . Feeling a lack of control is also a risk factor for burnout and so it becomes a vicious cycle in action .
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TAKE CONTROL Whilst there are many factors that are beyond your control , there are factors that you can . You can relinquish control over your wellbeing to the circumstances of work and life and put it in the hands of others , or you can take control and choose to chart a course ahead that is better , more fulfilling and more sustainable .
Be 100 per cent responsible for you , the choices you make and the consequences of those choices – for how you respond to the circumstances of your life and work , and to the behaviour of others .
Do not take responsibility for the choices of others or for their behaviour . That is their responsibility and theirs alone to take .
Putting yourself first is , in fact , the only way that you can be of service to others in an optimal and sustainable way . A lack of self-compassion limits your capacity to sustain your efforts . It limits the impact you make and , as a result , also limits the connection between your work and your sense of purpose and meaning . It affects
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Be 100 per cent responsible for you , the choices you make and the consequences of those choices .
the lives and work of others in a negative way and ensures you become part of the problem , not the solution .
RESTORE WELLBEING The only way you can sustain yourself is through an active focus on and investment in your wellbeing . This involves showing the same kindness and compassion to yourself as you would to others by carving out time for rest and leisure and for things that restore and build your energy and wellbeing reserves .
Ensure that you are focusing on all the things that matter to you and that bring you joy and keep you well . See that as an investment in your resilience that will sustain you in your daily challenges and as you experience inevitable crises at work and in life .
Reject busy as a badge of honour and an excuse for not taking care of yourself – thinking you don ’ t have time to exercise , eat well or take a break . The reality is that improving your wellbeing and resilience will improve your focus , presence , productivity and your capacity to turn up in service to others . It will make you more effective than working long hours , trading sleep for work time and neglecting your health and wellbeing . It will ensure that a path to decline and burnout is no longer an inevitability .
OPTIMISE IMPACT Once we build our resilience and have energy and wellbeing reserves that support us , then , and only then , can we be part of the change we so dearly need in our sectors . Change that eliminates , prevents or reduces the factors that limit our effectiveness . Change that creates new norms and workplace cultures that support and promote worker wellbeing as essential to optimising impact . Every worker , in every role , at every level , role modelling a better and more sustainable path ahead .
You matter , the work you do matters , and your life matters too . The primary responsibility for you starts and ends with you , and you need to take control , restore wellbeing and optimise impact . ■
Alison Coughlan is the author of The Health Hazard : Take control , restore wellbeing and optimise impact .