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Boundaries or burnout: you choose

Occupational burnout occurs in all professions and ours is no exception. Many in our line of work root their motivation in values, a sense of mission and the people they serve. But sometimes we can be overwhelmed by these responsibilities and that’s when the burnout spiral is about to start.

Let’s get together in small groups, break the silence around this topic, use our collective intelligence to address the issues that can lead to burnout and learn how to tackle it. We are a community of people who care for other people - let’s also care for each other. Have you ever experienced burnout? Do you feel you’ve once been on the edge of it? Do you question how your actions could help prevent it, for yourself and others?

In this workshop, speakers who’ve either experienced burnout or are currently working on preventing it (or both) will share their personal experiences, and you are invited to do the same in the form of an anonymous personal experience letter. These letters will serve as a basis to collectively identify situations, behaviours, and mindsets that can lead to one feeling that they can no longer cope. Speakers will share examples of actions that anyone can take and the session will end with a call to action: how can we all, in our organisations and in our positions, help reduce burnout and care more for people at risk?

Session speakers

Malvina Artheau
Freelance - co-creation practices and projects
Artheau Accompagnement
Toulouse
France
Having been close to burnout a couple of times, I became more and more interested on how organizational changes, at the institutional level, could help prevent those situations where skilled, talented, good people were feeling miserable. I didn't loose neither my health, or my bicycle, nor my home... but I did quit my job. I now help groups to better collaborate and find their own solutions to a more humanistic way of working.
Raquel da Cunha, Ecsite
Strategic Project Manager
Brussels
Belgium
A burnout halted my PhD journey. (I guess you've heard a similar story before.) I was lucky to talk to the right people and take the right steps to get out of it with a positive twist. Since then I've been mindful of taking all the precautions not to let my job & career be the source of harmful distress. What I wasn't expecting was that my personal responsibilities could become so overwhelming to the point of, recently, experience the first symptoms of burnout. Since then I've been exploring minimalism as a way of intentional living. I will share my journey with you, and I am looking forward to learning & be inspired by your stories.
Events Manager
Berlin
Germany
I did not realize 12 years ago, when I replied to a call for explainers, that I am signing up for an adventure of a life time. I changed jobs almost every year but I never left the science centre. Did I ever feel burned out? Many times - and I was told that I am coming out of it like a Phoenix. But how many times can one recover from their ashes? I am a leader and I share this vulnerability of high performing, mission driven people with my team. I want to learn how to make them safe from fire.
Alejandro Mancilla - Culture in Motion
Senior Project Specialist
Culture in Motion
A challenging project is what keeps the curious mind alive! But at the same time challenges can become overwhelming. I´ve been a freelance exhibition designer and producer for more than a decade now, facing the most diverse challenges: from impossible timings to impossible to produce designs in combination with multicultural teams, politics and a highly competitive landscape. Learning how to navigate and make the most of a hyper-connected reality with no physical or time boundaries can be an opportunity to develop incredible projects. But the real challenge is learning how to align your offline and online duties without burning out.
Project Manager
Ljubljana
Slovenia
A love letter : All the interesting topics to explore, developing new activities and adding meaningful content, exploring the reactions of the visitors and being inspired by their AHA and EUREKA moments. And lets no forget the funding you have to obtain, write a project proposal or two, persuade your team that they should share the same enthusiasm as you, and all the literature you have to read that you stay on track… continuously learn, continuously grow, continuously explore,… just keep on going….stay curious,…inspire….work hard it will pay off… and forget about yourself… Lucky my body managed to develop an efficient defence mechanism against my love relationship with my job. Luckily I've learned to read the signs and from time to time manage to stop. Breathe for the moment and jump into the puddles….so that my love affair can continue. That was