When it okay to disengage?

Let's Talk Parks Podcast: Stories of Purpose-Driven Parks and Recreation Professionals

Today I want to talk about something that I think is really important, but I couldn't really find anyone talking about this at all. Its the idea that sometimes it's ok to be disengaged at work. As a supervisor, you never want your employees to disengage. But if you are a high achiever, intentionally disengaging can be a good thing. It can prevent you from burning out. It can prevent you from making irrational decisions.It can prevent you from resenting your job.

Engagement has to do with how motivated you are at work. Apparently only 13% of employees are engaged. When you are engaged, you are excited to come to work. You are full of ideas, of energy, of enthusiasm. You are moving your organization forward. You are making valuable contributions. You are aware of the big picture, and you are motivated every day to help get your organization to a better place.

That means 87% of employees are disengaged. Many of our listeners are highly engaged employees. After all, they are listening to a podcast about the field. So knowing that you are usually really engaged, I want to recognize that we all have seasons of motivation, right? Some of us experience waves of energy and enthusiasm for our work on a weekly, monthly, or annual cycle. If you take time to notice your patterns, your moods, or your work output, you will find that it goes in cycles. You can't be ON all of the time. You are not a machine. So knowing this, you can know that trying to be engaged ALL of the time is actually a recipe for burnout.