Trang Nguyen: How to beat fundraiser burnout
By Trang Nguyen
“If you feel ‘burnout’ setting in, if you feel demoralized and exhausted, it is best, for the sake of everyone, to withdraw and restore yourself.”
– Dalai Lama
Picture this scenario: You’re sitting on an airplane ready for takeoff. The overhead speakers crackle as flight attendants line up in the aisle to start the safety briefing. And you hear this all-too-familiar speech:
“We’ll be taking off momentarily…electronic devices should be turned off…find the exit nearest you…”
Perhaps at this point, like me, you’re half-listening while trying to settle in for a quick nap. But there is one sentence in the safety instructions that always stood out to me: “Be sure to adjust your own mask before helping others.”
I was six the first time I heard this. I thought nothing of it. Now as an adult, this idea of taking care of myself first, so that I am capable of helping others, hits me on so many levels. Taking care of yourself means knowing your limitations and setting clear boundaries. Defining your personal boundaries allows you to manage your workload realistically, gives you the space to recharge, and ultimately, prevents burnout. This rings true in all the roles we play—as a parent, a friend, a partner, a fundraiser. We are simply incapable of performing at our best when we continue to neglect ourselves.
Let’s explore some ways that we can define our personal boundaries.
“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”
– Stephen Covey
I had a colleague who used to say that the thought of a vacation stresses her out because she ends up working anyway—and juggling both work and a vacation itinerary is no picnic. We’ve all been there. How many times have you promised yourself that you’ll truly unplug, only to find yourself checking your email or agreeing to one quick meeting while you’re out of the office?
I remember asking this colleague, “If things were the other way around, would you schedule a skydiving activity during a client meeting?” Of course not.
I think part of the problem is the idea that work and personal tasks are conflicting priorities. They do not have to be; the solution is to prioritize and make room for both.
Prioritizing is an ongoing negotiation
I wish life were as simple as having a to-do list, calmly checking off each item, and at the end of the day, you’re done! Unfortunately, that is seldom the case. If you get one of these rare days, enjoy it! But it’s more than likely you’ll have interruptions and additional tasks added to your list on most days.
Do you know what doesn’t change, though? Your time and mental capacity—both hot commodities these days. And because your bandwidth is finite, your priorities need to constantly shift to make room for the important things—whether work-related or personal. When dealing with an everchanging (and growing) to-do list, it is important to be realistic with yourself.
How long does it take to accomplish a specific task?
If it truly takes under five minutes (like writing a quick email, locating a document for a colleague, or sending a meeting invite), do it now. It amazes me how much mental space these little tasks take up. I find it’s more efficient to just do it then and not have to worry about remembering to do it later.
Am I prioritizing or procrastinating?
Hey, no judgment here! We all do this. It is easy to put something off because something else is a ‘higher priority’—but be honest with yourself: Are you putting it off because you kind of dread doing it? I find it’s easier for me to block time off earlier in the day for these types of tasks— ‘necessary evils’ as I like to think of them. They truly are important and need to get done, so getting them out of the way allows me to get through the rest of my day without carrying that mental stress.
You know how people advise you to exercise first thing in the morning? This is the same concept. Get it out of the way and you’re less likely to keep pushing it off because you don’t enjoy doing it.
What brings the most value?
A task’s value is not measured by how much time it takes. For example, which task is more valuable to you: sending a handwritten thank you note to a major donor or filming a video to upload to your website? Both these tasks have value and take different degrees of effort. It is your job to determine which brings more value—and to prioritize your work accordingly.
When measuring value, it is also important to factor in the audience or people impacted. In the previous example, the ‘thank you’ card brings value to the donor and to your organization in terms of maintaining that donor relationship. The website video, on the other hand, is valuable for your organization’s branding and messaging and is probably valuable to your marketing manager who might be working with a deadline. Who the task brings value to can also help guide you as you prioritize your work.
Figure out which items on your to-do list bring the most value. Those items should be at the top of your to-do list.
Let’s revisit our vacation scenario for a second and see how all this also applies to our personal priorities. What value does a vacation hold—and for whom? Obviously, a vacation is valuable to you because you can recharge. It can also be valuable to others who want to enjoy some time with you. It’s even valuable to your organization and team because when you are feeling overworked, you are not performing at your best—and that is not fair to your team or to the community which you serve. It sounds to me that self-care time has great value to it! So why are you not prioritizing it?
Planning ahead so you can set boundaries
You’re probably wondering: What good is prioritizing my vacation if I still end up doing work during that time? I hear you. But I strongly believe that with these following tips and a little habit-breaking, you’ll be able to enjoy your vacation time work-free.
Let’s go back to my colleague and her fear of falling behind during vacation. We can all expect some level of ‘digging out’ post-vacation, but there are proactive things we can do to minimize that.
If possible, schedule tasks for either before or after your vacation
For tasks that cannot be rescheduled, make sure you assign them for others to cover while you are out
Set communication guidelines for your team
Block time on your first day back to catch up on emails, messages, status updates, etc.
Centralize communication
Let’s be honest. Even with all of your diligent pre-vacation planning, you will still need to catch up once you’re back in the office. To minimize your digging-out time, I find that it is helpful to define with your team beforehand what vacation coverage looks like.
For me, I prefer to have all updates in one location. I create a spreadsheet that is saved in a shared drive that everyone has access to. My team is able to add in notes, updates, questions, action items, etc. to the spreadsheet while I am out. Having all of this in one location allows me to get a quick lay of the land on my first day back. Before I even check emails or voicemails, I check my vacation spreadsheet. I can review anything that requires immediate action. This helps me prioritize my day and allows me to ease back into my work seamlessly.
Sometimes, you have to say ‘no’
You’ve probably heard the saying, “If everything is important, then nothing is.” As much as we all want to be helpful, it is your responsibility to yourself and others to only take on what you can.
Imagine this situation: On Wednesday, a colleague asks you to draft a report due on Friday. You already have meetings scheduled for the next few days, but you think to yourself, “I can probably draft it in between some of these meetings,” so you say yes. It’s now Friday, and you realize you didn’t get started on this because you ended up working on some urgent tasks that came out of your meetings. Not wanting to disappoint your colleague, you ask if you can get it to her first thing Monday morning. She says that’s fine. The report turns out to be much more complicated than you first thought, so you end up working on it throughout the weekend. You are now starting a new week unrested and already exhausted.
Sound familiar?
Before agreeing to any tasks, you should be asking:
How important is this task compared to what is already on my plate?
Is this a hard deadline?
Am I the only person who can work on this?
You’ll be surprised how often things that seem urgent can end up being flexible—or it may turn out that someone else can handle it. But to learn those things, you have to ask questions before you say yes.
“You can’t draw water from an empty well.”
– Emily Ley
I hope you found these suggestions helpful in defining your boundaries. Taking care of yourself is a necessity, not an option. It is not selfish or self-indulgent. We wouldn’t expect a car to run on an empty tank. So why do we push ourselves beyond our limitations?
So remember—adjust your own oxygen mask first, schedule that vacation, and learn to say no to make room for the valuable things.
Trang Nguyen
Trang specializes in digital marketing, project management, tool evaluation, and development operations. Before joining Aperio, she held positions at the Children’s Museum of Phoenix, St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance, and the Desert Botanical Garden.