PRESIDENT Aquino told an impressionable bunch of students from Miriam College that he will not be putting on more pressure on his cabinet members concerned that they would suffer burn out.
This is what he said last Tuesday:
“The Cabinet is very hardworking, they’re very dedicated. You can’t ask anything more of them and perhaps I should learn to give them a little bit more breathing room. Baka naman ma-burn out lahat itong mga kasamahan natin sa gobyerno who actually do everything out of love of country. “
Burnout?
Helpguide.org gives a good definition of burnout: “A state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest or motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place.”
Articles on burnout do not cover whether the person in danger of burnout is competent or has been effective in his job.
Still praising his cabinet secretaries, Aquino also said “They can go into the private sector and really make tons and tons of money and have less controversies in their life and have a more peaceful life. But they chose to make a contribution at this point in time. So I really thank them from the bottom of my heart.”
Aquino’s statement betrays the Palace attitude that their being in government is a great sacrifice for them and that the people owe them.
Who forced them to join government, in the first place? Did anybody put a gun on their heads to accept a government job? Weren’t their decision made out of their own free will knowing that a cabinet position, granting that it is not as high-paying as in a private sector, comes with power and prestige which they obviously enjoy?
Don’t Aquino and his cabinet members see their job as an opportunity, a privilege, bestowed by the people only to a few?
But anyway, Aquino and his cabinet members could probably use these tips from HelpGuide in preventing burnout :
* Start the day with a relaxing ritual. Rather than jumping out of bed as soon as you wake up, spend at least fifteen minutes meditating, writing in your journal, doing gentle stretches, or reading something that inspires you.
*Adopt healthy eating, exercising, and sleeping habits. (That means stop smoking, sleep early and wake up early.)
* Set boundaries. Don’t overextend yourself. Learn how to say “no” to requests on your time. If you find this difficult, remind yourself that saying “no” allows you to say “yes” to the things that you truly want to do.
* Take a daily break from technology. Set a time each day when you completely disconnect. Put away your laptop, turn off your phone, and stop checking email.
* Nourish your creative side. Creativity is a powerful antidote to burnout. Try something new, start a fun project, or resume a favorite hobby. Choose activities that have nothing to do with work. (They are already doing that: shooting.)
* Learn how to manage stress. When you’re on the road to burnout, you may feel helpless. But you have a lot more control over stress than you may think.
HelpGuide also said “The most effective way to combat job burnout is to quit doing what you’re doing and do something else, whether that means changing jobs or changing careers.”
The last one is something that some cabinet members might want to consider.
