Getting Through 2020 By Anchoring in Strengths

Zoom fatigue. Work from home fatigue. Parenting fatigue. News fatigue. COVID fatigue. To sum it all up, 2020 has been a year of fatigue, along with stress, worry, anxiety, and even eventual burnout for some (or maybe many?) of us.

But the world keeps spinning, worldwide pandemic or not. People are still expected to work in some capacity—be it in person or virtually. Even when roles or responsibilities haven’t changed, the “where” and “how” of them probably have. Change has been this year’s constant, and it’s been an exhausting, wild ride that most of us just want to get off of. 

So what are we supposed to do? How do we stay engaged with our work when all these scary things are happening around us? And how long will this go on?

These are just some of the many questions taking up space in people’s minds. With no end in sight, and few answers to be found, how do we stay strong and motivated in the months ahead?

From a CliftonStrengths perspective, Gallup’s research has shown the impact that strengths have on well-being, specifically in times of change. They offer us an anchor, a rock to cling to as we navigate the murky waters of 2020. As we continue moving through this year, and whatever the next has to bring, here are some ideas for how you can use your natural talents to help stay grounded and motivated in uncertain times.

Use your strengths to craft an engaging, meaningful routine

Away from the natural structure of a nine to five office workday, routines have become more important than ever. Even though the shift to work from home happened months ago, many are still struggling to establish a solid schedule that’s easy to stick to. One way to build a routine that works, is to look at your top five and make sure you’ve taken them into account when building your plan. Does your routine align with your strengths? Are you tapping in to at least a couple of those strengths early on in the day? Examples of what that looks like in practice: 

If you’re strong in the Deliberative strength, try to build in some morning time for focused work and introspection. You’re someone who enjoys gathering your thoughts and making careful, considered decisions. Having some space early on to sort through your thoughts will leave you feeling more confident jumping into the rest of your day.  

For people with Input, similarly to people with Deliberative, you’re going to want to carve out a window to do your research, learning, and investigating in the morning. Part of what lights you up is being able to share your findings with others. If you’re doing the bulk of your reading and researching late in the day, you may not have anyone to share those golden nuggets of wisdom with.

As a part of the relationship domain, anyone strong in Developer has probably felt the full force of how isolating virtual work can be. To build a routine that is both motivating and alleviates that sense of isolation, people with Developer should plan to take one daily action to support their colleagues. Be that an appreciative email, a Zoom check-in, or even creating open “office hours” to mentor others, make sure to factor in time to think and act on that impulse to develop. 

 

Reset expectations by embracing bite-sized goals

Despite what some might have you believe, now is not the time to try and consistently operate at 100% or reach all your stretch goals. In a year that has thrown us curveball after curveball, time, energy, and motivation are in short supply. Rather than aiming big and burning out, now is the time to celebrate the small wins. And when those wins feed into your strengths, that’s even better. Ideas for re-setting goals through strengths:

Individuals with Empathy are sponges for others’ emotions, and needless to say, people’s emotions are heavy right now. You won’t be able to carry everyone else’s burden, even though you might want to. Set smaller goals for how you can show up in a way that’s sustainable. Even asking the small but powerful “How are you doing, really?” can go a long way. Make a list of micro-steps that will help support your colleagues without completely draining your battery.
If Restorative is in your top five, you’re probably looking around at all the problems that could be fixed—and because so much of how we’re working right now is new, there are probably a lot that could use your critical eye! Exhaustion will be imminent if you try to bring that restorative approach to all the new systems, processes, and procedures that have emerged (not to mention you’ll probably frustrate your colleagues). Prioritize what’s most important, and take small, simple steps towards improvement.

People with Woo are likely missing those opportunities to meet with new people, forge connections, and build relationships. While you might not be meeting pre-pandemic quotas of attending networking events and getting out into the mix, you can still meet more modest goals in a time when any win is worth celebrating. Relish those opportunities to connect with new people, whatever that looks like right now.

 

Be extra mindful of when your strengths slip into the shadow side

In times of stress, it can be easy for the shadow side to make frequent appearances. Self-awareness around how and when your shadow side presents itself will help avoid those unnecessary conflicts and misunderstandings that can be so deflating. When a negative thought or emotion comes up, filter it through the lens of your strengths. Has your strengths shadow side snuck up on you? Ways that shadow sides might show up:

Those with the Competition strength might be comparing their work to what their colleagues are doing, and judging accordingly. Remember that everyone’s capacity is different right now, and that people are facing different challenges and struggles. While you thrive on comparisons, avoiding constant comparisons to other people’s performance right now will alleviate the need to “win at all costs” (which might end up costing you your well-being!)

People strong in Positivity may be trying a bit too hard to find the silver lining amidst all the chaos. Too much of this positivity in uncertain times can start to feel off-putting to those around you. Make sure to process the negative emotions as well as the positive ones, and to validate others’ experiences by acknowledging that yea, some things right now are not great.

Achiever’s love to get things done, so they might be trying to keep their work output at the same level as pre-pandemic times. But this is not a normal time we’re going through. It’s ok, and even important, to adjust your productivity expectation to match the moment. To prevent that strong desire to achieve from eventually becoming burnout, embrace very clear boundaries and stick to them.