My eyes were melting into my laptop screen.
7 hours a day on the laptop for my day job, then another 4-6 hours each evening staring at Word. Reading. Formatting. Typing. Proofreading. Formatting. Reading. Formatting. Formatting. And the funny thing?
This is what I usually thrived doing.
When working on our youth retreat book, I spent so much time (hopefully) perfecting it. The writing wasn’t a problem; I just had no idea how much time would be spent formatting the book.
First was formatting for the paperback version – page breaks, line spacing, headings, fonts, headers & footers, the cover, etc. Next came the Kindle version. This involved removing half the formatting of the paperback version, then re-formatting the other half. Then the Nook version. Then the PDF ebook version. By the end of it, my eyes felt like they were melting into the laptop screen.
Like I said though, I usually thrived doing this sort of thing. I’m the quintessential attention to detail guy. Not the clichĂ©d resume/CV, “I have great attention to detail” guy, but the for-real attention to detail guy. To the point where my Managing Director says I out-pedant her for spotting errors in documentation.
But I got to the point where doing something I enjoyed was making me wonder if it was worth the effort.
When we spend a lot of time preparing for something, it can be easy to feel like this. It consumes our life. We lay in bed and instead of falling asleep, our mind races with things to remember to do on the project.
This can be especially true when planning youth work events like youth retreats. We put an immense amount of time, energy and effort into preparing them – so much that we can end up losing some of the energy and enthusiasm. By the time we get to the youth retreat, the lack of sleep and extra activity wears us out even more. And by the end of it……..
So what can we do to mitigate this? Personally, since the youth retreat book was launched earlier this week, I’ve taken it more easy. I’ve not walked 40+ miles a week while working (more on that another time!) I’ve not spent all evening writing and formatting. I’ve not thought about the next book we’ll be publishing (How to create a free youth group website). Some of this has been enforced on me as we’ve had to spend the evenings sorting out a new car – see pics of the new Youth Workin’ It-mobile here.
And what about you? If you’re planning a youth retreat, youth camp or some other similar activity, book time off for after the retreat now. Don’t wait until you get home and realize you’re burned out, as you’ll make excuses for yourself having necessary paperwork or other projects to plan.
Book off at least two days and turn off your work cell phone. No, not on silent – off. No excuses. You’re going to be no good to anybody if you return to work still burned out because you were taking work calls, or texting to check up on things.
The sky isn’t going to fall in.
Your church or community center isn’t going to disappear.
No youth are going to fall into a well and not have Lassie about to save them.
On your time off, do whatever it is that revitalizes you. For Shae, it would be spending the couple of days reading fiction novels. For me – probably the same thing (although reading much more interesting books than her’s đ ).
What’s your thing?
- Going to the beach?
- Vegging out and watching cheesy movies?
- Playing sport?
- Hiking?
- Catching up with friends you never see as you spend each night doing youth work?
Whatever it is, build in that time now. Schedule the time off as soon as you’ve set the date for the youth retreat. I can guarantee – you’ll never look back on your life and think “Man, I wish I hadn’t taken a couple of days off to refresh”.
Question: What other methods do you have for avoiding youth worker burnout? Let us (and all the other youth workers reading this) know in the comments below.
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