Busy executives must make time for themselves if they want to avoid burn-out
More than three-quarters of working men and women say they would gladly trade some of their income for more time flexibility. No wonder, the number of people suffering from burn-out has almost doubled in recent years.

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And yet companies are not exactly tripping over themselves to respond. Busy executives must make their own personal choices between the relentless pressure they feel at work and what they know they need for themselves.

Career stress when it remains unrelieved by strong relationships and self-care can do severe damage to both physical and emotional health. But what can someone with an eye on a top executive spot do when the demands pile up and the competition seems willing to go the extra mile?

Here are four basic strategies culled from executive coaches, counsellors and consultants who work regularly with executives who are under immense pressure.

Shape up
Executives must pay attention to their bodies with regular exercise, good nutrition, physical touch, and deep breathing. It’s a business imperative to put the names and numbers of massage therapists and personal trainers right next to financial advisors in the “essential numbers” section of the address book so that they can be contacted without any difficulty.

Keep in touch
Executives must pay as much attention to their relationship balance sheet as they do to the accounts at office. A useful strategy is to ask for regular feedback from friends and family. Most over-busy, under-connected executives are shocked to find that the people at home have got tired waiting for them, leaving them either in the doghouse — perpetually — or very lonely. They haven’t figured out what cutting-edge psychological research shows: resilience on the job comes mostly from having strong, supportive relationships outside work.

Like a prayer :
Medical research has found that time spent in activities such as meditation or prayer, keeps people healthy, alert and better able to concentrate at work. It’s the same in any field. When busy executives don’t pay attention to themselves, they undercut their performance, and ultimately, that of the company. As Dr Harold Bloomfield observes in his book The Power of 5: “It’s no accident that the word deadline contains the word dead; the human body is not well-suited to time-struggle.”

Laugh riot
Dr William Fry of Stanford Medical School recommends laughing 100 times a day to stay balanced and keep one’s mind clear. Most high-level career failures can be traced to the inability of harried leaders to see things in perspective and make informed judgments about what’s really important.

Burned-out executives don’t have the emotional reserves or the clarity of thought to stay ahead of challenges. Bad business decisions and bad personal decisions come from the same myopic place.

When executives ignore these four rules, they shortchange everyone, including their companies.

When they take the time to maintain this programme, they increase their power enough to keep up with the competition and experience real joy in their lives.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

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