Episode 134: The 5 Best Strategies to Prevent Burnout & Increase Productivity This Holiday Season
Do youโฆ
feel like your plate is always full, especially with the holidays coming up? Wonder how everyone else has it โfigured outโ?
If you're like us and have asked yourself these questions, todayโs ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐! ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ episode is for YOU. Life doesn't have to be this way. Work doesn't have to be this way.
Dive into these 5 strategies to replace burnout with more energy, intention, and l-o-v-e, LOVE.
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Email Erin: info@learntoimproveit.com
Erin Diehl is the founder and Chief โYes, Andโ officer of improve it! and host of the improve it! Podcast. Sheโs a performer, facilitator and professional risk-taker who lives by the mantra, โget comfortable with the uncomfortable.โ Through a series of unrelated dares, Erin has created improve it!, a unique professional development company that pushes others to laugh, learn and grow. Her work with clients such as United Airlines, PepsiCo, Groupon, Deloitte, Motorola, Walgreens, and The Obama Foundation earned her the 2014 Chicago RedEye Big Idea Award and has nominated her for the 2015-2019 Chicago Innovations Award.
This graduate from Clemson University is a former experiential marketing and recruiting professional as well as a veteran improviser from the top improvisational training programs in Chicago, including The Second City, i.O. Theater, and The Annoyance Theatre.
When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight-pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.
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Episode 134 Transcription
Erin (00:00):
Are you a leader searching for new and innovative ways to drive employee engagement and team morale through the roof? Do you wanna create a company culture where everyone feels seen, heard and valued? Hi, I'm Erin Diehl, business improv edutainer, failfluencer and professional zoombie who is ready to help you improve your it, your IT being the thing that makes you, you think of me as your keeping it real. Professional development bestie, who is here to help you learn from your failures. Stand tall in your power and improve yourself so you can improve the lives of others. Oh, and did I mention that we are improving your IT through play? That's right. I am an improvisational comedy expert who uses experiential learning to help you have your aha haha moments. Those are the moments when the light bulb goes off and you're laughing at the same time. So grab your chicken hat, your notebook, and your inner child because I'm gonna take you on a journey that is both fun and transformative. Welcome to the Improve It Podcast,
Erin (01:24):
Ah, the holidays year in at work, holiday parties, virtual parties, in-person, parties, presence for family, presence for your team, presence for clients, presence for vendors, white elephant exchanges, holiday cards, put up those decorations. We've got family drama, we've got family dynamics. Do you wanna press pause on this episode right now? Does anybody else wanna slip themselves swiftly into a spa and come out of that spa January 2nd, 2023? If so, my friends, you were not alone. This was literally a brain dump. This was the inner workings of my brain. And if you are like me, you're sitting here thinking about all of your to dos. And really what we should be thinking about is what we want to do, not our to dos put a want in front of those to dos. So today's episode is for you the improve it peeps who feels like they have to be and do all because you are people, people and you care about your people.
Erin (02:40):
Let me just tell you, our plate feels full. We have so many things on this plate, from the appetizer to the main dish, to that beautiful carbohydrate staring you right in the face saying, eat me, eat me. It feels like a lot. We are stuffing ourselves to the brim with things, my friends. Today's episode is for you because I feel the same way and I have developed some tips and some tricks to help me this season. Now I wanna start off with this. Why does this magical season in the world in time sometimes feel so miserable? And if you were like me and you've asked yourself that question, I want us to dive into these strategies because life doesn't have to be this way. Work doesn't have to be this way. Y'all know I keep it 100 on this show, so I'm gonna keep it 100 for you.
Erin (03:48):
I am going through not only this holiday season, but a very specific season of my own life. I am on a healing journey of self-awareness and self-acceptance. And I really truly don't need to add any more things or to-dos on my plate that don't align with my personal mission and values. And you know, I'm a recovering perfectionist and people are turned feel flu. So today's tips are gonna help you prevent burnout and help you increase your own productivity this holiday season. And I've got five and get Ready team, because I'm coming in ha ha, ha. Hot today with these five strategies. So without further ado, let's get right to it. Get a pen and paper. If today is a show that grabbed you just by the title, it means that you were meant to be here. It means that this episode is going to carry into your life, it's gonna spill into your life because truly these tips come straight from my heart, from this mouth to your ears.
Erin (05:06):
And I hope that you take at least one of these with you and implement them. So number one, people pleasing is in the past. You can shorten this for p p equals past. We're not talking about a toilet reference. We're talking about pay, pay, people, pleasing friends. I am truly a work in progress on this one. I am working on this in my own life. So we're gonna talk about people pleasing as a through line for these five strategies. But really and truly, I am a recovering people pleaser. Let me just say what I've recognized about myself is that I started people pleasing at a very young age in order to survive, I moved very in very pinnacle points in my childhood. And during that time, instead of wanting to feel disharmony, because I literally moved when I was in third grade, I moved again when I was in ninth grade.
Erin (06:12):
I moved again when I went to college. I knew no one at any of these places in order to fit, to just survive. I wanted people to like me. And so I recognize that now. And now that I can recognize that, I realize how this pattern has not served me in many areas. It has served me in some, because clearly I love people and I love helping them and helping you, but it's also been a detriment to me and many others. So when I feel myself people pleasing, which meaning doing something for somebody else, I take a step back and now I say, what does Erin need or want? So that's what I want you to think about this holiday season, when work, when life, when all of those things combined feel too much, I want you to take a step back and say, what does blank want?
Erin (07:16):
What do you need or want in this moment? And if it's something that you wanna do, go ahead and move forward. Make it, make it happen. Do the thing. But if what is being asked of you is not in alignment with where you're at, or you just honestly don't feel up to doing it, ask yourself, if I don't really want to do this, if it's not a hell yes, and it is a no, am I willing to bend? Is this something that I could get value from? And if you are willing to bend, move forward. If not, we'll get to it. Number two, say no and let it go. So before I move into this concept, I really wanna make sure that number one, your first strategy pp equals past is stuck in your brain. We are no longer doing things that don't serve us.
Erin (08:20):
When you think about that plate, I'm gonna get real metaphorical here. Y'all just bear with me cuz this is improv. It's finest. When you're thinking about everything on that plate and you're like, listen, I can't eat gluten, but grandma's pour gluten all over your plate and you're like, if I eat this, I'm gonna have the worst stomach ache. Don't eat the gluten's. Recognize what serves you for what you need right now. And that brings me to strategy two. If it's a say no and let it go, this is so easy to say out loud. It's so much harder because as people, leaders, as people who love people, we care deeply. We're empathetic. We want them to be able to feel and to know that we love and care for them. But sometimes saying no is saying yes to something else that will serve you. So let's say you're asked by a team member to go out after work and you don't wanna do it because Netflix is calling and your jams are calling and you just don't wanna do it.
Erin (09:36):
You say no and you let it go. Or maybe you don't feel like doing holiday cards this year because you're not into it. Don't look at every holiday card that comes in the mailbox and wish that you had done one. Be grateful that you have friends that send them to you, and allow yourself to be grateful to yourself for giving yourself time and space and energy to give to yourself and not to those cards. Or maybe you've said a yes, but you're wishing you said no. So for example, let's say, uh, you were asked to volunteer at your kids' school and you really didn't wanna do it, but they needed volunteers. But it means you gotta leave work for a half day. And so you're at the event grunting all the way. Ha ha saying no even after you've committed is okay.
Erin (10:37):
No is a powerful word. Word. And when we say no, we have to recognize that that no to someone else is a yes to ourself and what is serving us. So this leads me to number three, the third strategy. Love over fear. Love is greater than fear. I want you this holiday season to choose to see things differently. So for example, maybe you have a family member that you know you're going to see over the holidays and they always make you upset. Just they have this way of saying something that will get under your skin and will drive you completely bonkers love over fear. And maybe that family member is coming and they're coming to see you in like four or five weeks. You're not even seeing them yet, but you're festering on it and you're like, oh, Susan's coming. Sorry, Susan's, I always just used the name Susan Susan's coming.
Erin (11:53):
I really don't wanna see her over the holidays. And we fester and we think about it. What we're doing is we're actually putting fear into our brain, which the acronym for fear is false evidence appearing real. We are creating a story that has not yet even happened. We're creating something in our minds that may or may not come to fruition. Maybe Susan shows up and she's in a relationship and Susan is living her best life and is so happy. But you remember Susan from last year and you're not excited because Susan last year said a comment in front of the entire family that made you want to crawl under the table and get into the fatal position. So when we choose to see things through this lens of love versus fear, when we choose to say, I'm going to love Susan, when I see Susan, instead of create this narrative that doesn't exist, we're actually choosing our own existence. So when we see these things through this positive lens, it allows us to look at situations and people differently. It allows us to trust in ourselves, in our inner voice and not the voice of our ego that is provoking and putting that fear into motion. It is a nicer way to live. Love is greater than fear. Choose again and choose a more kind and loving thought.
Erin (13:38):
This brings me to the fourth strategy, which friends, this one is so, so, so important. Check in with yourself, let me say it again. Check in with yourself. You have to check yourself before you wreck yourself. All right, let's just put that out there. This concept goes back to people pleasing the number one strategy. What boundaries do you need to put in place for this season of life that you're in? So as I'm recording this, literally right now, for me, I am in a very interesting season of life. And I'm not just talking about the holidays, I'm talking about personally, and y'all know I keep it a hundred. So here we go. I am in what I like to call a cocoon stage of healing. And that means I'm doing a lot of interpersonal work. I'm looking at some old patterns. I'm looking at some unprocessed emotions and repressed emotions that I've been carrying with me that are no longer serving me.
Erin (15:03):
And I'm actually gonna talk about this the beginning of next year as I've continued to process, I definitely wanna share with you what I've learned, but just that sort of tidbit for you is very interesting to know because this concept of checking in with yourself is so crucial in this cocoon stage. I am emerging myself with podcast books, all the things that I need in order to move forward. And once I emerge a butterfly, okay, butterflies equal breakthroughs. You didn't know that. Butterflies equal breakthroughs. I wanna give you an idea of what I mean because I will emerge from this and I will share with you. But in the interim, I, I wanna just give you some insight into what this means to me. And hopefully this can help you. So I have recognized that I try to be a lot of things. I try to be everything to everyone. I wanna be the best mom. I wanna be the best wife. I wanna be the best boss. I wanna be the best facilitator, the best speaker. The best podcast hosts the best, the best, the best.
Erin (16:15):
And all it causes me is stress, because I'm just giving. And yes, I work out. Yes, I meditate and I give to myself. But the energy is mostly focused outward. Those moments, those two things I mentions, exercise and meditation. That's 45 minutes of my day. The other 16 hours are dedicated to others. So checking in with myself means again, asking myself, people pleasing myself, myself. What does Erin need? What does Erin want? And I'm checking in with myself on a daily basis, on an hourly basis. So at the end of the night, one of my horrible toxic traits is scrolling social media. Erin does not need that right now. She needs more podcasts that are about self-healing. She needs more funny, hilarious shows that take her mind away and allow her to relax. She needs more bats. What is the thing that Erin needs to do?
Erin (17:34):
And this doesn't just mean at the end of the day, this means always. So if I'm asked to do something that's outside of my scope, I ask myself first, what do I want? And it's not necessarily more about what do I want in those moments. It's importantly about what do I need? So for example, a friend asks me to go out to dinner. And I know that when we go out to dinner, we have multiple glasses of wine. I love this friend. I enjoy their company. It's a great time. But right now, is it the time for me? So when I ask myself, what does Erin want? Yeah, it would be great to go have wine. I love a glass of sauvignon blanc. I love appetite. I love food. I love to eat. Yes, I would love that. Erin would like that. But what does Erin need? She doesn't need glasses of wine staying up late. She needs to go to bed early. She needs funny shows. She needs blankets. She needs snugs. She needs couch time. And she needs time to just be.
Erin (18:40):
People don't leave jobs, they leave leaders. And this is a harsh truth. When leaders are the single most important factor in accounting for an organization's performance, is there a magical pill that can keep employees engaged, retained, and even assist in attracting top talent? Yes, my friends, that mystical medicine is you. Studies have found that people with positive energy produce substantially higher levels of engagement. They lower turnover and they enhance the wellbeing amongst all employees. In my interactive keynote, I see you how to use improv to attract a company culture where all feel seen, heard and valued. I use my research and extensive experience and improvisational training to help you realize that the energy you put into yourself is a direct correlation to the energy you give to others. And the energy that everyone in the organization gives out is what magnetizes a culture. We all feel included.
Erin (19:47):
This keynote is perfect for large teams and large scale events. In this 60 minute interactive and high energy session, I'll teach participants how to discover their power within and how to harness it on a daily basis. They'll learn the power of empathy and how to use it as a leadership tool and how to measure their energetic levels using high five b I b e s. That's high. Five five. If your organization wants to create a safe space free of judgment, we're all feel seen, heard and valued, then this is the experiential at electric session for you. Email us at info, learn to improve it.com to learn more. I see you improve it peeps, I see you.
Erin (20:42):
Another example is a work related example. So I recently had a client who asked me to do something outside of the scope of my contract. Now let me say this. I love to hit objectives. I wanna go above and beyond, but this was quite an above and beyond ask. It required me to get up super early, literally the night before. This client asks me to get up very early. The next day I get an email at 10:30 PM asking me to be somewhere the next day at 7:30 AM versus me showing up at our agreed upon time at 11:00 AM And I get this email at 10 30 at night for the next morning. What does Erin want? Aaron wants to say yes because she wants a happy client. But what does Erin need? Erin needs to do what I've committed to because getting up early means getting my entire morning out of W.
Erin (21:43):
It means that I won't be in the best place mentally or physically to execute what I've agreed upon. So I said no. I said no and I let it go. And let me tell you, as a recovering people pleaser, this was so hard for me. But it ended up being the very best thing for me because when I showed up to do the work that I agreed to do, I had worked out, I had meditated, I had eaten breakfast, I had gone early to see what was going on before I got there. And I was calm and present. If I were to have done what was asked of me, which was outside of the scope of what we agreed upon, I would've been tired. I would've been disheveled. I would have been annoyed that I was there and that would've bled into what I was there to do.
Erin (22:32):
So checking in with myself has really allowed me to make decisions from this place of love, not fear. It's allowed me to give grace and compassion to myself. And if I cannot give this grace and compassion to me, you best belief, I cannot give it to others. So what does checking in with yourself mean to you? I want you to think about an ask that has been made to you recently, something that somebody has asked you to do. And I want you to think about, did you check in with yourself? Did you do what you wanted to do or what you needed to do in that situation? And the next time something comes up either personally or work related, I want you to do that. I want you to say, what do you want to do? But more importantly, what do you need to do?
Erin (23:31):
And that need is what is most important here. It's what do I need to do in order to make sure that I'm aligned, that I'm not people pleasing, that I'm not just saying yes because this is what this person wants of me. And if I say no, how can I let it go and make sure that I am really in that moment choosing love over fear. Finally, this leads me to my fifth and final strategy and prove it pees this one. It might, you don't have a favorite kid, but this might be my favorite. Let's just say that I only have one child. So this is easy for me, but this is my favorite of all of them. And it's number five, boundaries are beautiful. Let me say that alliteration again. So like an actor's warmup, unique New York boundaries are beautiful. This holiday season pulls us in many directions that plate run us over.
Erin (24:43):
We need another little bowl to catch us with all the things that people are throwing on that plate. You need like a side bowl to catch the mashed potatoes that are coming over the plate. This metaphor has gone too far. I am stopping it now. But let's just say we need boundaries. My, I said I was gonna stop. I'm gonna keep going. My son has these um, toddler plates, right? And they have dividers and them. So you know, you put your peas here, you put, he doesn't eat peas. You put your fruit here, you put your veggie here, you put your meat here. That's what I'm saying to you about boundaries. You need lines in the plate. You need lines in the sand. And if some food spills over the lines, it starts to get messy. Nobody likes to eat everything mashed together unless it's fries dipped in ranch.
Erin (25:42):
Okay, this, this metaphor y'all has just got just gone out the window. What I'm saying is boundaries are beautiful and if we don't have them, life gets way too messy and we don't even know where to go. So I wanna share with you my own boundaries that I've put into place and hopes that some of these may spark an interest for you, but I wanna give them to you because for me, this is a new concept that I am strongly focused on. I've had them since I started this business. However, I have really gotten very, very careful with my boundaries and very specific with them as I've grown this company and scaled it. And also as I grew my family, because you can't be everything to everybody. So my boundaries look like this. They look like not checking email before the start of my morning.
Erin (26:43):
So it means getting up. It means giving to myself first, working out, meditating, getting dressed with an awesome playlist before I do anything that anybody else wants me to do. It means putting my phone on airplane mode during peak work hours, or even better putting it in a different room. I know some of us have children in school. For me, it feels very, very easy when I know Jackson's at school and John's working in the other room from home. It's harder to do this when John's outta town or when Jackson's at a play date or something with our babysitter. So I get it that sometimes this is hard. This takes practice. So it depends on your level of safety with the people that you need to make sure you're in touch with. But if you can do this, it will allow you to focus on what you're there to do, which is the work.
Erin (27:43):
A third boundary for me is not responding to text immediately. I used to do this. I used to want to just check it off the list. And also I realized it was a super form of people pleasing. Text did not mean that they need an automatic response. I have started to let texts just sit on my phone and I will give myself an allotted period of time to get back to people when it works for me. Now, this can't be the case in some situations, but for the majority of my day, I don't respond to texts until the end of the day. And I do it all at once. Because when I'm just sitting there working and I respond here or I respond there, I respond. It's exhausting. My brain cannot do it. So that's a boundary that I've set, which has been working and I love.
Erin (28:38):
I've only been checking and responding to emails for 15 minutes a day. And for some people who work in their email, this is very difficult. I have realized that 15 minutes of dedicated time in the morning to my email has provided me with sanity. It has provided my brain with an opportunity to focus on other things. And it allows me to focus on my priorities, not the priorities of others. Another boundary is setting my phone in the bathroom. I used to just set it across the room and plug it in the dresser across from my bed. That didn't work because then I would just have it and know it was there and somehow I would end up picking it up. So I had to put it in the bathroom at night when I go to bed. So I can't look at it, I can't scroll.
Erin (29:35):
I put it down at 10:00 PM cause I do use my phone for quite a bit of things. But this boundary has been wonderful because I'm actually picking up books instead of my phone to go to bed at night, which is helping me say yes to better sleep habits. I've also set a boundary by not saying yes to things that I cannot commit to. I can't volunteer at my kids' school all of the time. I can't say yes to every kid's birthday party. I cannot say yes to something that I don't know if I'm gonna be able to do. So I've been starting to say maybe I'll let you know. And that has worked for me in spades.
Erin (30:21):
I also started knowing that I can't spend a ton of time with certain people's energy. And this sounds harsh, but I'm just gonna say it. This is a boundary and it's a very strong boundary for me. There are certain people who we all go through certain stages in our lives who may have been at a different stage in life when we were really close, and perhaps the stage that they're in and the season that I'm in are not connected. And the energy that I want in my orbit has got to be uplifting and I have to feel like I am receiving from it, not just giving. So for the people that I feel like it's a two-way street, I'm gonna make so much space and time for others who I feel like I do the heavy lifting, I'm gonna spend time, but limit that time.
Erin (31:16):
And another boundary is I only allow myself to consume content that serves where I'm at in that season. So that might mean unfollowing certain people or brands that I don't necessarily need to see or want to see who don't bring me joy. It may mean not watching certain shows that trigger certain emotions. It may mean not scrolling at all. So I want you to think about the boundaries that you have in your own life. And here's your homework. I want you to write them down. Okay? I want you to write them down. And if right now you're like, uh, the list is blank, Aaron, I get it. I started with zero as well. But we need these dividers. We need these lines in our plate to make sure that we are getting the nourishment that we need. Look at that metaphor coming back y'all. She brought it back.
Erin (32:24):
She brought it back. So think about this. You cannot be a people pleaser and be productive because you're just gonna spend your day wondering, worrying and doing for others. You cannot overcommit and say yes to everything and be productive. Busy does not mean that you are productive. You cannot be afraid and be productive. When we choose that love over fear, we are actually allowing more good things to come our way, which is productivity, my friends. And you cannot be unaware of your emotions and be productive. So if you don't check in with yourself, you're just gonna keep going. And let me just say this from a side note. I did that. I did not check in with myself for a really, really long time. I disassociated, I'll talk more about this in future episodes, but I threw myself into work and achieving and it really caught up with me.
Erin (33:42):
It'll serve you for a minute, but it cannot serve you a lifetime. And finally, my friends, you cannot not have boundaries and be productive when all of those things start to spill over and mesh together. You don't know where to go, where to start, friends, all of these strategies will serve you. I know that they are heavy. I know that there's five of them and it seems like a lot. So I want you to do this. I want you to pick one. And like I said, I don't have a favorite child, but if I could say one that would really serve you and help you start, it would be to decide what your boundaries are and then commit to them. Small, tiny actions will create big results. So just by setting that boundary and not spending time with that person who brings you down, ugh, that's one little checkbox next to helping you be a better person.
Erin (34:50):
And this will not only serve you this holiday season, my friends, this will serve you a lifetime. I wanted to give you these strategies now today, because I know we're coming into this really busy time. But take them into heart, put them into motion, and let me know which one you decided to go with and how it's serving you. Friends, I do have one ask of you today. And this is not people pleasing, I'm actually check it in with myself. What does Erin want? She doesn't wanna ask you this, but what does Erin need? She needs this. Please leave a review of this show on iTunes. If it spoke to you today. I ask that of you because reviews allow to see that we have this awesome improve at Pee's family. And that's how we book awesome guests for you on this show. They can't see download numbers, they just see the reviews. And so when you leave that review, literally a team of humans do a happy dance. And if you screenshot it and send it to me and say it's yours, I'll send you a personal video just telling you Thank you. I'm checking in with myself. Didn't want to, but I needed to say that because I deeply care about you and I'm learning all of these things and I know that I'm learning them for a reason. I'm here to teach you what I've learned and I wanna keep doing that.
Erin (36:22):
So be proud of yourself for tuning in for today. I hope that you put one of these motions into play immediately. And you know what I'm gonna say? Keep failing, keep improving. Because this world needs that very special it that only you can bring. I am so proud of you. Give yourself a hug. You should be so proud of yourself. I'll see you here next week. Hey friend, did you enjoy today's show? If so, head on over to iTunes to rate and subscribe. So you never miss an episode. Now, did I mention that when you leave a five star review of the improvement podcast, an actual team of humans does a happy dance? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. That's right. So leave a review for us on iTunes, screenshot it, and send me an email at info learn to improve it.com. I'll send you a personalized video back as a thank you. Thanks so much for listening and prove it peeps. I'll see you next Wednesday.