Hysterically crying in the middle of my office late one night as I hit absolute and total burnout, I said to myself, “I have to quit. I have to quit. There’s no other option for me.” Luckily, I did not quit – but we’re in the middle of this pandemic still. And if you are trying to juggle staying focused on your corporate career while having kids going back to school virtually at the dining room table next to you, or you’re so sick of seeing your spouse or other family members all trying to do your virtual meetings at the same time, you may be hitting that burnout; trying to keep hold of your corporate career while juggling everything else that’s in front of you.
And while I certainly don’t want to say that my experience of burnout and a pandemic are equal, the feeling of burnout and the feeling of having no options left are absolutely the same.
I don’t want you to say those same words – that you are going to quit your career. Surveys already show that women are twice as likely, if not more so, to be the ones to sacrifice their career in the midst of the pandemic, trying to take care of the family.
But did you know that for one year out of work, it does not equal just that one year of your salary? In fact, it can equal three times, if not more, than that; you’re missing out on employer contributions towards your retirement, medical health benefits, being able to invest some of your earnings, or even potentially having to take a pay cut when you return at a later date, setting you backwards. So I do not want you to feel like you are out of options, or that quitting is the only one.
If you haven’t had a chance, I really encourage you to go back and watch a handful of my videos over the past few weeks. I talk about time management (it’s not what you think it is), so go check out that particular video. I talk about asking for help, joining support groups, having more f-word in your life… which is fun, by the way! All of these things that you can be doing to make sure that you are staying in the survival mode. And yes, I said survival mode.
I am not asking you to be thriving during this time.
Look, if you are an executive, if you have a full-time career and you’re trying to manage everything else at home during the day while you are working, it’s not about thriving. It is absolutely about surviving, but there are ways to deal with it. Do not quit your job. Ask for help, reach out.
I offer a membership group each month, it is filled with amazing women that are during this time acting as full blown support for one another. If you’re interested, I have information here on my website as well. Bottom line though, do not quit your career. You can get through this! Even though it feels like there’s no end in sight, that we don’t know when everything is going to shift so family members are out of the house, kids are back in school – it will come back to that.
So as hard as it may be right now, find those ways, those other options, to get through it. I believe that you are strong enough to stay the course. Continue in your career, do the things that you can to keep moving forward.