Tim, a young professional who participated in the Covid pandemic crisis teams.
Tim earned a degree in biomedical sciences. When the Covid pandemic hit the world, Tim was asked to join one of the crisis teams. He felt that he could make a difference for his country at his young age, and he gladly agreed to help out. But the core action of crisis teams is to manage crises, and that is a challenging responsibility.
Tim explains: “I am someone who likes to make a positive contribution to society. At the same time, I am someone who wants to stay in control. This is not always the best combination in crisis situations. It required many more hours than what I was contracted for. My supervisor even thought I was working full-time. This shows how hard I was working to get everything done. I was responsible for several processes, and I was anxious about making mistakes. In many cases, it involved people’s lives, which added extra pressure.”
Tim continues: “Of course I made mistakes. And despite my fear to speak up and tell others I made a mistake, I decided to admit that I had done something wrong after all. I think this has been my wisest lesson. By communicating, we could jointly find solutions rather than letting things spiral out of control. Actually, keeping your mistakes to yourself is the biggest mistake.”
“Actually, keeping your mistakes to yourself is the biggest mistake.
At that time, Tim was working incredibly hard. He was driven and trying to make the most out of the limited knowledge available about handling a pandemic. That created a lot of pressure, but because he felt he was contributing to something important, he pushed through. Writing advisory documents that ultimately went unused was also not motivating. Slowly, his role in the crisis team started to wear him down. At one point, he spoke to a friend who mentioned his girlfriend was at home with burnout. Tim asked what her symptoms were. Trouble sleeping, dreaming about work, and becoming emotional randomly. This opened Tim’s eyes.
When do you know your limit has been reached?
“I was experiencing the same symptoms. In recent weeks, I had forgotten my keys twice and felt tears welling up at the strangest moments. That is not like me at all. I was terribly shocked. Not being able to rely on your own brain was such a scary thought. This had to be stopped.”
Something had to change. Tim was becoming overstressed and did not want to experience full burnout. As his default is finding solutions, he had decided he wanted 2 weeks of rest, a brief pause. With that message, he called his managers. The first manager was fine with it. The second manager saw things differently. Tim had responsibilities that could not be handed over in times of crisis. Together they found a solution where Tim did not have to take on new tasks, allowing him to still get some rest.
Not the best solution, but still a reasonable compromise. “I felt so relieved. I can’t even remember the first couple of days of that rest period. I was so tired. In retrospect, I am very glad I didn’t spiral downwards.”
Tim now knows how it feels and he has learned to recognize the burnout signals. Through logical reasoning, he understands: I need to stop, so I can still be of value afterwards. “You need to stand firm and tell others: this is too much; it’s getting out of hand. Working hard is fine, but no more than 60-70 hours per week. My generation (Gen Y) loves to be an expert in something, but I’ve learned you need to be replaceable and share your knowledge. It’s nice if your manager is aligned with you and helps share responsibilities.”
“I’ve learned you need to be replaceable and share your knowledge. It’s nice if your manager is aligned with you and helps share responsibilities.”
What made Tim especially feel good during his 2 weeks of rest were the phone calls from the other manager: “Every two days she would call me and simply ask: How are you doing? Not with the intention of getting me back to work, but a human question focused on me. To this day, I am grateful for that, because it made me feel like I mattered.”
Later on, Tim also shared his story with other colleagues on the crisis team and half of them reacted emotionally. They recognized many of his problems but had not spoken up. Tim remains undiminished in his enthusiasm and as a driven professional. “I would love to join a crisis team again; the high is very contagious. But only with shared responsibilities. Again, it is proven: every experience makes you stronger and especially wiser.”
Tim’s name has been changed for privacy reasons. His real name is known to the editorial staff.
