Whether you are in a job or in between jobs there is an undeniable force that professionals find themself reckoning with more and more as their careers progress. I see this begin to creep in sometimes as early as the late 30’s but more typically it becomes more pronounced as people enter into their mid 40’s and early 50’s.
It is the feeling that comes after years of draining your emotional energy bucket repeatedly down below the empty line without appropriately replenishing it. Sleeping in on weekends or long weekend get always no longer do the trick. The first sign of this emotional fatigue setting in is that you lose the spring in your step, you find it more and more difficult to get excited or motivated to take on the mini battles at work or shift into that optimal RPM to tackle your job search. You find it increasingly difficult to repeatedly dig deep to make that extra effort. You are growing increasingly more and more emotionally fatigued. Initially you try to shake it off or dismiss it as a temporary state of mind but you find that it becomes a more frequent occurrence.
My theory is that the speed of life and work coupled with persistent information overload taxes the system over time unless people take the time to rest, reset and recover their stamina. The key is that this needs to occur on a regular and ongoing basis not just when your energy level becomes depleted. As we enter into the second half of summer, it is the perfect time to grab a tall glass of lemonade, a seat in the sun, and a calendar and sketch out for yourself a plan of activities, big and small that you will employ on a regular basis to keep emotional fatigue at bay. This is an investment in being able to bring the best of yourself back to your work (or job search), your family, and your community.
