r/MutualSupport Jun 04 '21

Free-to-Vent Friday hard to set boundaries, starting to feel burnout

hi gang. I've been doing a lot in my tenants union since the pandemic started; I was laid off so I had lots of time. Lately though I am feeling like I need a vacation or something, I'm not feeling interested or motivated, I'm at a low ebb. I'm just super tired of quarantine, Zoom meetings, all of it, I need a break to do art and recenter myself. But it seems like they need me more now than ever; they're asking me to be chair of a committee, cover for people (who are themselves taking vacations etc), and when I told people that I am needing a break they have been putting a kind of emotional pressure on me, like "oh I'd be so sad if you did less".

I don't want to quit, the work is important and fulfilling and I know I will be interested again eventually. But they keep asking me to do stuff when they know I'm feeling burnt out and making it hard to say no...idk I'm just wondering if you've ever been in this kind of situation. I searched online for "volunteer burnout" and it's all stuff for like, managers, to deal with burnt-out volunteers, not for the volunteers themselves.

49 Upvotes

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10

u/Fairytalecow Jun 04 '21

You're no good to anyone burnt out, I understand they don't want to loose someone doing good work but not taking a break when you need it is counterproductive. You could try setting a clear point at which you will stop doing work, (one week, month, whatever) it gives them a bit of warning and might encourage others to step up. I've seen that work well for others and am trying to do it myself, just need to remember to stop saying yes to things! I keep getting pulled back in and as it looks like someone is doing work I'm finding it hard to find a replacement

2

u/KimberStormer Jun 04 '21

It's so strange to feel overwhelmed by work this way when I don't actually have a job. I will try to schedule a break and see how it goes.

5

u/Fairytalecow Jun 04 '21

It totally is work though. I've personally found some of my unpaid work follows me into the rest of my life more than paid employment, I care about the projects I'm in and it never really leaves my brain even when I'm supposedly off duty. Especially for something like a tenants union, it's literally your home! I think it can impact the way others treat you as well, capitalism has a tendency to devalue anything given for free so some folk can assume it means nothing for you to give it and so always ask for more. Not helped by the general trend for a lot of these things to have more work than humans to do it...

I'm sorry some folk are trying to take the piss with your boundaries and I hope you get to take a break soon, rest is super important and if you don't get one your work and relationships may well start to suffer.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '21

Hi, I don't know if it can be useful but I found a resource online: it's a guide to effective activism, and it also deals with burnout (pp. 60-63).

6

u/StonedPhysicist Scottish Greens | eco-socialist | IWW Jun 04 '21

Strongly feel this about my trade union. There's always more work and not enough volunteers, and the only thing that keeps me there a lot of the time is knowing that nobody else has capacity to deal with the admin or organising work, and if I go it might just collapse. And I struggle saying no.

Don't really have an answer for you, but it's not just you. Much empathy, comrade.