Chapter11: HowtoAvoidBurnoutinaRemoteTeam 127 Chris Gallo, Support at Highrise Thefeeling creeps up and the next thing you know you’re answering your first email at 6:45 am and replying to another one at 9:15 pm. Burnoutisreal. Don’t fight it. You can’t win. Agreat analogy that I’ve found useful is to think of work as grocery shopping. You don’t drop everything and go out to the store the instant you’re running lowoncookies.Ifyoudid,youwouldwastealotoftimeandenergy. You make a list, find time to go to the store, and stock up all at once. But with work, we’re constantly plugged in, always checking email, and dropping everything when we don’t have to. Like your grocery list, most things can wait until tomorrow. Set aside time for workandrest.Donothing.Anddon’tfeelguiltyaboutit.Yourmindwillreward youlater. KyleGray,ContentMarketingManageratWPCurve I am most vulnerable to burnout when I lose track of what’s important in my work. It’s hard to say no to tasks or opportunities and stay focused on what is really valuable in my work. I start to take on little extra tasks and projects that I think are important, but are just distractions. Before I know it I am spinning a bunch of plates and the quality of my work and my life start to suffer. Days where I jump between different tasks, projects and emails leave me feeling exhaustedandstressed. There’s a couple of things I do to refocus: • Identify what is essential and what’s not - For me that is creating content, anythingthatisnotcreatingnewcontentneedstogetcutout.Settingclear goalshelpskeepyouontrack.Mygoalsareverysimple:Ineedatleast10 posts published on the WP Curve blog each month. • Get organized - I plan out my next week and book time for the important things. When the time is blocked out in advance, it’s easier to say ‘no’ to distractions.Italsomeanslesscreativeenergyiswastedmakingdecisions in my day.