WEBVTT - One question to ask to avoid burnout

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to avoid burnout by having something going

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<v Speaker 1>on in your life that you are intrinsically motivated to do.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm borrowing this tip, as I did in earlier one

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<v Speaker 1>this week, from my friend Neil Pestricha, who is the

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<v Speaker 1>author of the new book You Are Awesome, How to

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<v Speaker 1>Navigate change, wrestle with failure, and live an intentional life.

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<v Speaker 1>Neil shares a story that in college he wound up

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<v Speaker 1>writing for a humor publication called Golden Worlds. He and

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<v Speaker 1>his fellow students had a blast putting issues to gather

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<v Speaker 1>each week. He devoted countless hours to writing and editing,

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<v Speaker 1>with no compensation whatsoever, but he enjoyed it immensely. Indeed,

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<v Speaker 1>he enjoyed it so much that after school he got

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<v Speaker 1>a job doing comedy writing. It sounded it would be

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<v Speaker 1>perfect alas he discovered that once he was writing humor

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<v Speaker 1>for money, much of the alert was gone. Instead of

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<v Speaker 1>creative freedom, he had to write what he was assigned.

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<v Speaker 1>Instead of freely associating with friends to produce content they

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<v Speaker 1>personally found hilarious, he was scheduled to write with certain people.

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<v Speaker 1>He soon found himself unhappy and decided that he was

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<v Speaker 1>best off doing comedy writing mostly for fun. There's something

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<v Speaker 1>to this. Realms of research shows that when people are

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<v Speaker 1>intrinsically motivated to do something, they're more creative and tend

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<v Speaker 1>to work harder. Of course, there's nothing wrong with external

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<v Speaker 1>rewards per se. Most of us need to produce an

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<v Speaker 1>income if we're going to feed and house ourselves and

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<v Speaker 1>our families. We enjoy being praised and having our good

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<v Speaker 1>work recognized. The trouble is that when we orient ourselves

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<v Speaker 1>too much towards external rewards of any sort, this can

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<v Speaker 1>become a trap. For instance, Neil started a blog a

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<v Speaker 1>great many years ago to share his thoughts on the world.

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<v Speaker 1>He quickly realized that he could figure out how many

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<v Speaker 1>people visited to read those thoughts on the world, and

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<v Speaker 1>he became obsessed with moving that number higher. Pretty soon,

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<v Speaker 1>this led to a cycle of hitting a goal, still

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<v Speaker 1>feeling unsatisfied, and then setting a bigger goal. The ultimate

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<v Speaker 1>result burnout. So how can you avoid this? In an

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<v Speaker 1>article Neil wrote for Harvard Business Review, he suggests asking

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<v Speaker 1>yourself about any potential project. Would I do this for free?

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<v Speaker 1>And I'll suggest a corollary. If no one knew you

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<v Speaker 1>were working on this project, would you still find it interesting?

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<v Speaker 1>If your answer is yes, Neil writes, you've found something

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<v Speaker 1>worth working on. This is wonderful and it's a huge

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<v Speaker 1>bonus if you're actually getting paid to do it. I

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<v Speaker 1>know I feel this way about some of my projects.

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<v Speaker 1>I've always wanted to write books, and I still pinch

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<v Speaker 1>myself to realize sometimes that people pay me good money

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<v Speaker 1>to crank them out. But if the answer is no,

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<v Speaker 1>I would not do this for free, be aware of

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<v Speaker 1>This doesn't mean you do it, of course, but it

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<v Speaker 1>does mean that you should let paid work remain paid

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<v Speaker 1>work and not expect more from it than it can deliver. Instead,

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<v Speaker 1>keep asking yourself what you would do simply for the

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<v Speaker 1>pleasure you derive from doing it. You want to have

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<v Speaker 1>something in your life that keeps you intrinsically excited and

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<v Speaker 1>that you do for its own sake. Whatever that is,

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<v Speaker 1>it's worth spending time on because there's no risk of

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<v Speaker 1>burnout when you spend big chunks of your time doing

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<v Speaker 1>something you absolutely love. In the meantime, this is Laura.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening and here's to making the most of

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<v Speaker 1>our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

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<v Speaker 1>You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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<v Speaker 1>Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast pod. That's be the number four then Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>p o D. You can also shoot me an email

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<v Speaker 1>at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com

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<v Speaker 1>that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

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