By Del Albright, Sustainable Motorized Recreation Advocate
It is hard to
say no to helping a cause you believe in, but eventually, we say yes too much, our
plates become full, frustration hovers, stress builds, and burnout looms in the
forefront. As we continue volunteering, we are lucky if we do not blow a
gasket, toss a stroke, get mad, or just quit!
Once you burn out, you no longer
help the cause – you might even hurt it. So, my advice is to learn where your
threshold lies and not cross it.
Threshold is
an ancient word, dating to c.1000 and probably earlier. The term “thresh” was
initially meant to stamp on or trample and survive today in the verb to thresh
(wheat) and thrash. The “hold” portion is of unknown origin. The threshold is
literally the first place in a building you step into and has evolved to mean
any gateway.
Threshold
also means the magnitude or intensity that must be exceeded for a particular
reaction, phenomenon, result, or condition to be manifested – like burnout.
In our world
of clubs, events, rides, landuse politics, and organizational boards of
directors and leadership, we can’t afford to lose any volunteers to burnout, so
I’ve come up with a cure to help keep folks productive in the game.
Like Hunting
for Quail
One simple
key to avoiding burnout and staying effective is to narrow your focus and concentrate
your efforts. I like to think of our land use battles (and club politics) as a
quail hunt. A typical hunt consists of hours of walking, wearing yourself out,
then suddenly blazing away at a flurry of birds, usually missing most of them. But,
of course, the only one who enjoys this is the dog – who can’t stop
dog-laughing at your newfound state of frustration.
The fight for
trail access has reached such a flurry that many of us don’t know where to
start. So, we take the shotgun approach. We try to get in all the games. Of
course, we want to help out all our partners in other states, regions, and
clubs. So, we assist with letters, phone calls, emails, etc. Soon, we will have
an extensive filing system that may cover many subjects, letters, and meetings.
Then suddenly, we realize we’re up to and over our ears!
A similar
thing happens when we volunteer with Boards, Committees, sub-groups, social
network groups, clubs, etc. Work (jobs) expands to fill the space available,
which I borrowed from Parkinson’s Law – the old adage that work expands to fill
the time allotted for its completion.
And hey, what
about that lawn that needs mowing? And that car (4wheeler?) that needs
detailing; the significant other that is tired of you being at the computer
half the night; and the trails that need riding? Next thing you know, burnout
sets in. There are just too many battles to fight (and too many meetings to
attend), that your effectiveness drops off soon.
There are no
LED lights on your threshold of volunteerism. There is no yellow highlight. As
a result, you may not even know it is looming in front of you. So, just what
can you do right now to avoid crossing that threshold?
Five Steps
to Avoid that Threshold
STOP! Suppose
you’re a land use activist or organizational (club, school, church, board)
volunteer who’s been doing MORE than your share. In that case, it’s time to identify
your threshold, concentrate your efforts, increase your effectiveness, and
avoid crossing that threshold and burning out. Stop wiping out your energy.
Stop the onset of burnout. Here are some ways to do that.
First
Step: Choose and allow.
Re-affirm your commitment to the causes/efforts you believe in. We all need to
keep fighting the good fight. You can’t let burnout take you out of the battle.
Every letter we write, meeting we attend, run we run, and new member we recruit,
we make a difference. People we keep in the fight, no matter their role, make a
difference in the outcome. So, STAY IN THE FIGHT.
Choose the
jobs you want to tackle. Then, allow only those things that fit your “schedule”
to be part of your life.
Tell yourself
you’re going to do your part, just maybe a different part from here on. That’s
ok.
Second
Step: Identify
your best jobs. Decide what you’re really good at doing. Are you a letter writer,
a meeting person, an advisor to others, a volunteer leader who organizes others,
a writer in general, or just someone who wants to give money and stay in the
background? Find your niche—what you are really good at. This may take some soul-searching, but has a lot to do with identifying your threshold.
Third
Step: Let go. Drop
those things you’re not good at doing. Bite the bullet, admit it, and let
others who might be affected know you need to drop something. If you’re not
good at it, you’ll fight it more than fix it. So please don’t feed the monster
and keep it ugly; get rid of it.
Fourth
Step: Facilitate.
Help others pick up what you need to drop. The sensible thing to do is help
someone else take over those jobs for you. Find another activist to jump in
where you left off (or never really got started). Don’t just leave your
partners hanging. If folks depend on you, find a way to transition out of
something you’re not good at by helping someone else pick up where you left
off. It may take some “cards on the table” talks, but that’s better than
letting something fall off the table.
Fifth
Step: Grab your
niche! Focus your efforts on your niche. Now that you know what jobs you
want to keep and have gotten rid of the rest, you begin to focus. Concentrate
on getting really good at those things you’re now doing. Make every effort
count. Take classes if appropriate to improve your chosen niche. Get the
paybacks. Stay clear of your threshold. Make a difference.
We all need
to be doing our part in those volunteer efforts we believe in, like fighting
the land use/public land access battles or helping Associations and groups
grow, but we all don’t need to fight all the battles. And we certainly can not
keep volunteering until we have no time left for the rest of life.
We must identify
our threshold and avoid burnout in ourselves and our fellow volunteers. If you
follow the steps: 1) choose and allow; 2) identify your best jobs; 3) let go;
4) facilitate, and 5) grab your niche, you can stay in the fight, fight for
what you believe in, and make all our efforts more effective while avoiding
burnout.
HELPFUL LINKS:
DEL'S BOOKS (BURNOUT, LAND USE, WILDFIRE, DEATH VALLEY, AND MORE)
WEBSITE (HOME PAGE)
PINTEREST (BOOKS, ARTICLES, AND MORE)
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM
DEL'S ARTICLES (BURNOUT, LAND USE, LIFE, WILDFIRE, VOLUNTEERISM, AND MORE)
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