Reduce Burnout–Connect to the Mission

I was speaking at a nonprofit last week, and I wanted to share one of the things that I shared with them.  Burnout is a serious problem in nonprofit organizations, just as it is in for-profit businesses.  Burnout reduces productivity, efficiency, and overall satisfaction, in addition to creating stress and anxiety.  One important way of reducing burnout is to reconnect to the mission of the organization.  Why do you work there?  This is especially important in departments that are more distant from the organization’s mission.  In nonprofits, IT divisions and development divisions may have little contact with the people that the organization helps, which means these people may be in greater danger of burnout.  Whatever your position, whatever type of organization you are in, connect back to the mission of the organization and think about why the organization exists and why you work there.  Remember, you want to be fired up about your job, not burned out.