Disrupting Burnout For Good

My busy season is almost over. I’m writing today from Canmore, AB, where I’m participating in a small summit on ending homelessness in Canada. In the past few weeks, I’ve also spent time in Ottawa with leaders of patient organizations and travelled to Winnipeg for a symposium on pathways to care for people with hepatitis C in Manitoba.

I’ve had the pleasure of many conversations with passionate leaders — and I noticed a pattern: they’re all angry.

We’re all angry.

I’ve been running this idea by people, and it seems to feel true: in the past, burnout showed up as tiredness or even apathy. But right now, burnout looks like anger.

As in, we wake up angry. Every little thing irritates us. Every thoughtless remark feels like a personal attack. Every request feels like a burden. 

If this isn’t you, I’m happy for you! But if it does, I hope you’ll find something useful in the next few paragraphs. Not answers — I don’t have those — but perhaps a few prompts that are helping me reorient my own thinking.

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