The Ontario Broker - December 2019 - 19

CSR SOS is an ongoing series where we look for
experts outside the insurance industry who can
provide helpful advice to front-line brokers on
the issues they face daily.

W

inter in Toronto is testing, to say
the least. By the end of our short
days, temperatures typically
reach -10 degrees Celsius. With the wind, that
number can dip below -20.
The weather back in December 2014 was typical:
generally overcast, cold, with snow. At least
that's what Google told me. Severely burned out,
I stayed indoors for almost the entire month,
stepping out of my house for only the occasional
slink to my neighbourhood coffee shop.
My body needed all 31 days to recover from a
year of chronic stress that went unmanaged.
Throughout this slump, my mind was restless.
I was desperate for answers. I needed to know
how to prevent myself from experiencing
this level of crushing burnout again-sitting
at home and withering away was hardly a
sustainable option.
I spent my days poring through all the available
research on the subject that I've since compiled
into The Burnout Gamble: Achieve More by
Beating Burnout and Building Resilience. I
read about how stress was indiscriminately
affecting people all over the world, impacting
productivity, health and wellness; I familiarized
myself with the stories and experiences of
others who had also encountered burnout.
My findings were shocking. Consider the
following:
*
*
*

According to an Ipsos study, 500,000
Canadians miss work each week due to
mental health concerns.
The World Health Organization has called
stress "the health epidemic of the 21st century".
In China, 1,600 people die each day from
working too hard. They even have words

WWW.IBAO.ORG

for it in different Asian countries: "Karoshi"
and "Guolaosi" for instance, translate to
"death by overwork".
According to Ernst & Young, onethird of full-time workers globally say
that managing work-life has become
increasingly difficult.
According to Gallup, $300 billion is
incurred in lost productivity due to
absenteeism, turnover and healthcare
expenditures.

*

*

While burnout has been widely discussed as
a societal problem, it hasn't historically been
viewed as a legitimate medical condition.
But earlier this year, the World Health
Organization reclassified burnout as a
medical diagnosis.
During my research in 2014, I discovered
the 12-Stage Model of Burnout developed by
psychologists Herbert Freudenberger and Gail
North that offered a framework to understand
how my unhealthy relationship with stress
brought my life to a grinding halt.
1.

THE COMPULSION TO PROVE ONESELF

2.

WORKING HARDER

3.

NEGLECTING NEEDS

4. DISPLACEMENT OF CONFLICTS
5.

REVISION OF VALUES

6. DENIAL OF EMERGING PROBLEMS
7.

WITHDRAWAL

8.

ODD BEHAVIOURAL CHANGES

9. DEPERSONALIZATION
10. INNER EMPTINESS
11. DEPRESSION
12. BURNOUT SYNDROME

When we push our productivity to its limits, we
can easily find ourselves teetering on the brink
of burnout. And there's a fine line between being
in the zone and falling down the slippery slope of
mental, emotional and physical exhaustion.

19

The result of chronic workplace stress is
that you stop managing your priorities
and instead let your priorities manage you.
Though it may start intentionally, it soon
becomes instinctive. When this happens,
you've been emotionally hijacked and it's
difficult to see things as they really are.
You go into protection mode, and until the
perceived threat or trigger has dissipated,
you'll remain in that place. Over time,
these reactions can lead to acute anxiety,
depression, irritability, fatigue and other
health issues ranging from heart disease to a
lowered immune response.
Here's a simple visualization to help us lead a
balanced life: a bucket.
Imagine your health and energy are a bucket of
water. In your day-to-day life, there are things
that fill your bucket up-inputs like sleep,
nutrition, meditation, stretching, laughter and
other forms of recovery. There are also forces
that drain the water from your bucket. Outputs
like lifting weights or running, stress from work,
relationship problems, or other forms of stress
and anxiety.
If you want to keep your bucket full, there are
two options:
1. Refill your bucket on a regular basis. That
means catching up on sleep, making time
for laughter and fun, eating enough to
maintain solid energy levels and otherwise
making time for recovery.
2. Let the stressors in your life accumulate
and drain your bucket. Once you hit empty,
your body will force you to rest through
injury and illness.
Recovery is non-negotiable. If you don't make
time for your wellness, you'll be forced to
make time for your illness. You can recover
on your own terms or on the terms burnout
sets when it inevitably catches up to you-the
choice is yours.

DECEMBER 2019
http://WWW.IBAO.ORG
The Ontario Broker - December 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Ontario Broker - December 2019
