Ms. Heinemann, you have been running burnout prevention courses for 18 years. What is most draining? The job? Not at all! It’s often a misconception to think: If I had another job, I wouldn’t be so stressed, exhausted and tired. What’s important to me is that it’s not so much what we do that matters, but rather how we do it. Our participants are nice, sensitive, conscientious people. People who take responsibility, get involved, and fulfill all the tasks that are given to them from outside. They always give their all and want to do everything perfectly. Ultimately, with all the stress, they lose a sense of themselves and their own needs. They no longer happen in her life. They have to learn to take control of their lives again: “I decide what I do and when.” Then the strength comes back.
It’s exactly these nice, committed people that you like. Society needs people like that. But just as they take care of their projects or others, they first have to take care of themselves. It’s like the oxygen mask on a plane: you should put it on yourself first because otherwise you won’t be able to help anyone else. It’s the same with burnout prevention.
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