Break

I don’t purchase it, but once a week my brother does.  That is the Financial Review.  I had some time this morning and I was looking at it.  An article in there caught my attention.  It was on Burn Out titled “Burnout: You can’t see the calluses on your brain”.
I guess such a thing catches my eye because it was something I spent so long avoiding at all costs.  It was something I also tried to avoid others experiencing when it was in my power to do so.
Merril and I always have a decent break at the end of the year.  For some the likes of four weeks is unheard of. Yet both of us know without a decent break we will burn out.  I remember someone saying at work that in holidays, “week one I am winding down and week two,” (if it is only a two-week break) “I am winding up again.”  To me week two is the start of the holiday.  Some cannot afford that luxury.  I could and did.
There was something in the article I found really good.  They said at work the employer has the responsibility to return us better then they found us.  There is a great emphasis on physical safety and less of an emphasis on mental health.
These days, with technology the way it is, the line between work and home can be very blurred.  It seems work will have us working 24/7 if it can.  In my opinion that is a recipe for disaster.
When I was in charge of something, I watched people closely.  The last thing I wanted was for someone to burn out.  It really is a lose lose thing to me and that is just from where I stand.  The cost to the over worked one could be much greater.  In the short-term things are rosy.  Long term is a different story.
One place we closed over January.  There ware people who expressed interest in using the facility.  I felt bad saying we were closed, but I reckon I would have felt worse if I had opened.  If my mental health suffers others suffer.
Apparently the World Health Organization (WHO) is recognising it as a problem.  It is actually an epidemic.  Sometimes goals need to be achieved and require time input to do it.  To me that is fine.  I think it is a problem when it is seen to be that way day in and day out.
I can only talk from my experience but I have found that my mental problem always finds a physical manifestation.  Many physical problems stem from physical causes and not all physical problems start in the brain, but some do.  If it is within my power, they are the ones I will try to avoid causing.
I have my own threshold as does everyone.  I am fooling myself if I think my threshold does not exist, but only I know really.
I do believe it is really important for an overseer to watch those they are responsible for.  Sometimes there is a need to tell someone to take a break despite their objections.  They may think they know best, but often tell tail signs are being ignored.
 A rest is not necessarily sitting on a tropical Island doing nothing, but it is time away from activities that tend to consume.  Burn out to me does no one any good.  Over the top hard workers are the hardest to convince.  But often their crash and burn is the most spectacular.