How volunteers can avoid burnout
So you're all excited or worked up about something and you decide it's time to volunteer and try to make a difference? That's great. But there's always a risk that you'll be overzealous, jump in to anything and everything with both feet and soon get burned out. And then you won't have much of an impact on anything.
If you really want to make a difference over the long haul, you'll look (and "think") before you leap and make commitments that overwhelm you or you just get tired of.
Five tips to avoiding volunteer burnout:
1) Know why you’re involved
Knowing "why" you're involved in something goes a long way to keeping you involved. It's that thing that will keep you motiviated. If the "why" isn't enough to make you want to "do", then "don't. If you don't know "why", you either need to figure it out or do something else.
2) Be committed
If the "why" isn't enough to keep you committed to the cause long term, you probably need to do something else. Commitment can keep you motivated when things get boring.
3) Be positive
Attitude is everything as they say, and it's not much different with volunteering. If you don't stay positive about what you're doing, you won't last long. All the more reason to be careful about "what" you volunteer to do. Make sure it's the kind of thing that you can do and still keep a good attitude. As a result you'll be more productive for the things you care about.
4) Be patient and persistent
If you're not patient, you'll probably get a bad attitude...won't last long and won't be able to keep at it long enough to make a difference. Remember, things don't always run on your schedule. Avoid frustration and you’ll be more effective.
5) Recruit others
Many hands = light work. The more people you get involved to work with you, the more you can get done...and the less you have to carry on your own shoulders. And more conservatives getting involved means good things for the conservative movement.
The purpose of this is not to wave you off of volunteering, but to get you to make sure to volunteer in a way that you're more likely to enjoy - and keep you involved in the long run.
Happy volunteering!
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(You can find tips like this and much more in my “Grassroots 101: Grassroots Training Series”.)
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