The Huddle - Episode 72 - Addressing Installer Burnout

This week the guys address the physical and emotional burnout that an installer can experience, and different ways to prevent and handle it.

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The HUDDLE is where the flooring industry can get together and talk about everything! Lead by Paul Stuart from Go Carerra who is joined by Daniel and Jose Gonzalez from Preferred Flooring.

https://www.preferredflooringmi.com

https://www.stuartandassociates.com

what's up floring family welcome to the Huddle com at you every Tuesday 3 pm

Central to discuss maintaining forward progress in your flooring career today with me Mr Daniel and host

J Gonzalez from preferred flooring in Grand Rapids Michigan how's it guys how how's how's

Grand Rapids today it's actually kind of warm out it's like it's kind of nice

it's 56 that's like summertime it's it's hot outside well you guys were uh I don't

know if his last podcast or the previous it was snowing out it snowing yeah it was two weeks

ago oh man well we are in the Midwest and you guys are too so it can change

that way we happen to have some nice weather over here perfect weather to discuss

today's topic of installer burnout um it's not not your typical

topic we we uh go into but um because I just don't think it's

discusted enough because there's a lot of nuance to it is it install or burnout

uh from from a aspect that they still want to be you know they still love flooring but they just been you know

it's the summertime and you got got them working on seven days a week trying to get school projects

done uh or traveling all over the the nation doing different projects um or is

it actual you know just sick of being in the flooring

industry uh chatting with you guys just a minute ago I mean I mean I don't know

that I've ever experienced as an installer the the like I want to be out of this industry side but I have been

burnt out like worn out and I don't know if there's a lot of

um a lot of uh remedies to that outside of taking some time off we all need to

we all need to recharge our batteries and um I thought it was interesting earlier I was watching a podcast about

being in the Flow State and like performing at your highest and how

important rest and Recovery is to being like a top performer in whatever

you're doing whether it's installing floors or uh you know being in the trades or whether it's working in an

office and uh I thought it was really interesting uh just a piece that came out of that

the difference between relaxation and Recovery relaxation is

going home and kicking on the tube and you know throwing back a couple of beers at the end of the day and Recovery is

actually disconnecting and and like getting in some silence and some some

getting out of your own headp space and and trying to you know disconnect from

the world for a minute thought that was kind of an interesting

um interesting take on it but how do you do that as an installer and like what

are the signs how do you even know as a company when you're installers or when a

particular installer is burning out what are the signs of

that um always late missing forgetting things all the

time not caring about your stuff I mean those are those are signs because I mean

we just experienced it so I mean we're gonna continue to experience it but most recently just experienced it and the

signs started happen months ago um even after time before time off was was there

but and I know because I was I was his dollar I I remember like I

I remember just oh well oh well I'll worry about that tomorrow you know like

stuff like that but then then all it does is compound everything and put you in even worse spot um talk about punch

list and stuff like that you can like when someone's typically doesn't have a lot of punch list items and then that

next job I mean sometimes you know it takes a lot out of them and at the end of that job it's like man we got a bunch

on here and then you you actually realize like yeah maybe some people are overworked but

that's it's hard to say because I've seen I guess everyone burns out at

different times right because I've seen it where it's like come on guys you're not even working a full 40 hours a week

on the job site so how is this burnout even happening

right now well that's that's what makes it a complicated thing is because it's not always work hours it's it can be the

particular they they could be working beyond their skill set and really you

know working on stuff that's really difficult for them to to do that's where

I found the most if it frustration slash install or burnout would be when I was

doing things that were super challenging that I was probably installing beyond my

my knowledge or beyond my ability and still had to figure out a way to get it done I know we all get there on certain

projects sometimes um but the the details is what I have seen the most in

our company is it's like the little details that guys usually don't miss um

that get missed it's like those turns into punch list like you said but it's

the it's not like the whole job looks terrible or something it's the detail stuff I had a a project where um just

recently where went in and replaced some some carpet tile on a project that that

had curled it was a manufacturer defect it was a claim we went in was able to

leave the vinyl base well when they cut some of the tile uh you know they cut

through the base on a couple of locations they left it instead of

replacing 8et of Base uh the rest of the whole thing they didn't cut through they

cut through a couple spots and they thought I I could almost guarantee you the thought was like h no one will

notice or you know let's prop it up on there look can't even tell can't even tell yeah the first vacuum hits it and

you see the cut you know and we had to go back and and replace you know eight

or 10 feet of Base where that particular installer that was doing that wall uh

you know decided to leave it and it was a night job because you're trying

to you know go in and replace something you just installed a month ago and so it

turned from a project to a occupied project and so now you're trying to move stuff and you're having to move you know

some furniture around and replacing things and and it it was clear to me

that you know we probably shouldn't had them work that day and then have them go work four or five hours at night

honestly hindsight it's always 2020 um but you know it's those kinds of

things where it can be just a day um where you got to be cognizant of of

your cruise you know and and uh because we all try to deliver great products to our you know in end of the day try to

deliver great projects I should say to our clients but you

know Duty calls and you try to try to satisfy time frames and everything else

and so all these things come into it that make it complicated but you know I wonder what if there's anybody out there

that's had true like because I've heard of those guys just like I'm getting the hell out of flooring I'm just done and

I've seen some guys do thata that buddies of ours have done

that like they call say everything's for sale everything's for sale you want it

uh are you sure yep I'm sure okay and then we buy a few things and a year

later they're like yeah I guess I'm just gonna do it again but I'm only gonna do this kind of flooring now it's like yeah

I've had those guys too like hey I'll do your carpet top I don't do anything else like I said like

the hours and what actually you

know how people feel about things like we got Paul on YouTube right now he is talking about he's the guy from the ukuk

and he he says that health and safety is burning him out you know trying to

follow every single thing down to a te and it's like well if I can't do this

this way like I've been doing and trying to switch everything over and and on top

of that um not feeling like you're you're not getting paid what you're worth for the

project you're doing right so that that could be a big thing too but at the same

time that's what it's this is all about is knowing that knowing what you're worth and and charging for that that way

you don't have to feel like that yeah that's one of the key aspects

of the hammer rating for the installer I mean that whole thing was

to really give the good installers that ammo behind them hey if you got a a

great hammer rating a great Kudo rating then oh you know you you're going to

make more money um in the areas where go career is used heavily that's been

proven true and you know p in the

um pay I wonder how much the the attitude towards

flooring guys on projects uh plays into it because we're we're a disruptor on on

a job because we have to take up the floor the floor space and so it's when

you're constantly fighting for your next area and you know when I first got into

the business it was it was different

like it was understood and gc's like it seemed like it was

more like they wanted to get out of your way now it's like more like you got to

fight to get them out of your way um I don't know if that just condens schedules or if it's a multitude of

things but man when you're fighting all the time for space that can play into it

as well you know like 100% I just want to do my job man get out of my way the

line that I use a lot uh in scenarios like that is I need the floor to do the floor I can do 200 square feet pretty

close same amount of time I could do 2,000 square feet it's just you you make me start and stop uh the the less

efficient we're going to be and then we're going to be here longer so it's either you cleared people out for one

day or they keep moving all their stuff around multiple days uh you know and

it's just it's hard to get it's hard to get people to understand that

yeah well that's that's obviously the battle we got to fight for our installers as companies but at the the

same time you know I hope this reach some GC sometimes

and they can hear the frustration that that comes across and and that we have to deal with we we only want to come and

do a good job but fighting for space is is uh you know an added like pressure on

the installer to especially when it's like oh you tell tell me when you're

going to be there well like you just had that that gets

frustrating that gets frustrating for a company but it also gets frustrating for the guys on site um but you know another

part to that is like every time that an install installer has a new

thing to have to like speaking to Paul's um comment from

YouTube every time you have to do a little bit more and this safety thing has you know obviously gotten much more

critical over the last 10 years than what it I mean I remember go to job sites not no hard hat

like it was it was just like if if I have to wear a hard hat you're not ready for me that's how we that's what we used

to say and that just doesn't fly anymore and um so I know a lot of guys still

struggle with that that piece like safety is a big

piece of what the gc's are looking for these days if you're working for gc's but even building like some of our um

end users they they want you to be safe and so they're starting to adopt even like

that kind of an attitude towards it maybe not as Hardline but we've got some

owners that they want you to have the proper safety gear and high viz vests

and everything when you're on their on their property they want to be able to to differentiate you just by looking at

you like he's working construction somewhere he does he that way it's not

like what is this guy doing in our building yeah but all those going into play with what a what a guy has to

juggle on site um I always recommend just swallow swallow hard safety is not

going anywhere you might as well adopt it and embrace it and you

know go to a job site with everything on be prepared there's we don't fight with

our guys anymore about it it's just this is the rule um but outside of that a lot

of the the the burnout that I that I've seen or that I've talked to some guys

about is the frustration like you said with pay and never getting ahead that

never getting ahead part I think could be visited back to some previous

podcasts about financially knowing your worth but also I know some guys that

have you know some Crews that have been paid very well that still constantly seem to struggle and I think that's just

you know go watch some previous podcasts about you know handling your financial

situation better because as you know money is one of the hardest like

stressors in anyone's life and if you don't if you're not handling that right

then the rest of it can go be very stressful and you can be like ah

and like you said Jose the I've had plenty of guys I have witnessed guys

leaving and then they come back I only have one guy that I know of uh that was

certified good carpet installer good sheet vinyl guy

um that quit went driving trucks and he's still driving trucks today five

years later I quit for a little while too because went to electrical for almost a year um and tell us about it

obviously you had a reason well that was more of a that was more of a atmos

atmosphere right like there's a lot of pressure on me to pick people up and you

know and when then when when I was picking people up in the winter and everybody one

person runs five minutes late another person runs a couple minutes late next you know now the people I'm picking up

because they're relying on me to get to the job site um now we're you know half hour 45 minutes

behind it comes down on me then it didn't matter what I it didn't it just

didn't matter right came down on me and I think everybody that was a that was a Tipping Point like you know what I just

don't I don't want to pick anybody up anymore then like I just don't want to do it um yeah that can get old yeah and

and this is you know a long time ago so uh times definitely changed and um you know there's probably a lot more in

between to the story than that but in a nutshell that was it right It's just

sometimes added responsibility and then and then when nobody cares that responsibil was added to you and they

don't see what you got to deal with when they're not around um makes you just not

want to care for them anymore don't want to pick you up yeah they don't want to

be your chauffeur you're a grown man what what do you do when your sub Crews

sh I you know showing some of those signs of burnout is there is there do

you guys ever get to that point where you're like we need to loosen up on giving this crew so much work because

some of their quality is is it when the quality starts to come

down because that's what we do and I don't know that it's at effective because then the damage is already done

it's almost like you got to look out and see that that yeah

I'll be honest I don't I don't know about that point because we don't we try to do the majority of everything in house so yeah the work for Subs is few

and Bar in between um and I will say that uh there's one or

two where I always feel like the work that I have for them is scheduled

they're like so busy and it's like oh I guess I'll fit it in like look you can't fit it in I like I don't I don't want

you to squeeze me in right honest about that because if something goes wrong on

the other job guess what you're not showing up for mine or carrying that that burden on your

shoulders into our project too and I don't want I don't want the explosion to

happen on our project I don't want it to happen I want to be priority right and you know

and every that comes down to scheduling and and knowing what you can do and and

making sure you schedule yourself correctly and that don't take on too much work for what you can you know but

I've I've had plenty of Crews like commit to

projects and I don't think that it was really considered whether they could you know

fully they fully commit but whether they could perform that project to the to the

degree uh that we wanted um and that comes clear we but it if we can identify

it earlier we might be able to do something about it but by the time I've identified

it it's like they're already they're already doing those

things that are going to cause the problem yeah so that what you just said

though like we as Subs right when we were labor only and and doing

that I would say that there was a hard I had a hard time balancing that because you either have too much work or not

enough and we had to say what time of year is it what are we

shooting for where are we at how are the guys doing can we take this on or no and

sometimes they sometimes the answer was no sometimes it was like you know I just I don't care that it's gonna be slow in

a month I just don't want to do it right now I don't want to deal with that and

well I appreciate the guy that are are that know their schedule and know what they can get done in a given time we had

a scenario come up where guy committed to a

job had the whole project lined out I mean all the information when he

accepted the project um got about three qus of the way through it and had another job he had to go

to and pretty much left us high and dry we to go you know get somebody else

to do that job and that's not necessarily burnout but it it that's what leads to it because he knows he's

letting one of his main companies down you know and that can't feel good

to him but at the same time you got to look at the what you can actually get done and commit to your projects and

make sure you have to schedule and then schedule some time off for yourself I I know a lot of the time when I was

installing as a sub I I took on everything it didn't matter man I work

any hours all the time and you know I

burnout might be the right answer at the time I just thought I was tired you know

but give yourself some time off to to recover I know you guys you know you you prioritize family

and I think that's a big part of this too you know people who prioritize family and understand they need that

family time and they need the the time with their loved ones um tend to you

know manage this a little bit better than than others we but like I said

that's that's what we do though it's if I know we're going to be going somewhere I will work a million hours between this

time and this time so that way when I do leave everything's covered so maybe it is working up to that burnout point just

in that little bit of a time but then also taking that time to kind of reset

Daniel yeah you kind of know you have that recovery time coming right around the corner yeah like he worked till

midnight last night uh uh in the field we had a a guy uh quit on us yesterday so he went out worked till midnight

right he intentionally put himself in in a burnout mode but that was so that way

the the crew who had to go wrap up the project today didn't burn themselves out um

yeah some people are are are mentally strong enough to do it and re set in the

morning some people are not some people just hold on to to um they dwell on on

on something something's eating them um and and a lot of the mental burnout comes from like you said overextending

your ability right uncomfortable situation for extended period of time but also it's lack of communication

because if you're not expressing yourself whether you're sub and employee um uh even gc's if they don't express

themselves I've seen them blow up at the end of if you're not expressing concerns and you're not bringing things to anyone's

attention and nobody knows but you or nobody knows but the crew you're working with because that's the tendency is the

vent to who who you see every day right but nobody's ever relaying that that can

also lead to burnout um and communication is part of it like you

got to communicate these are my thoughts these are my feelings these are my concerns I'm not really into it mentally right now I don't know why but I'm going

to keep pushing on um what can we do to help me out what can we do to make some changes so that way

you can put your best foot forward I think that we we're talking about

burnout right but I think there's he's talking about mental burnout and then there's physical burnout so I think there's two different kinds of burnout

because good point because physically I think it's a lot easier to go out there

and burn yourself out physically but mentally it's when it's like becomes real drastic where you know especially

on the business owner side and then when you're running Crews like when we were labor only even and then having to go

home and handle all the paperwork and then I think that side is is really a

lot more taxing personally because when I was just installing I didn't have to use my brain as much I just went out

there and you know beat up my body and yeah you get tired like you said yeah I'm tired I'm tired but then you wake up

and do it all over again the the mental side is where it's like I mean there's

been times where I'm sitting at my desk and I'm just like I'm just I'm going to

go do something else for you know an hour or so because mentally you just can't handle

it anymore and it's just like that hour break just relieves so much pressure

that you have built up in your head yeah yeah it's one of the one of the reasons

we we with our hourly Crews we require like a lunch period we've had had to

fight that over the years where guys work through lunch and they're just like H just want to you

know they just want to um whether whether they actually work through lunch

or not we don't know uh other than you know they're still clocked in

and but doing that every single day um a

it's a safety problem we want them to reset a little bit um but it's also

important to just kind of get away at some point in the day you talked about an hour away it could be 20 minutes away

I've stepped away from the the computer just to get my thoughts and and quit

looking at the ding thing um but I do agree with you when you when you're

bridging both sides is when it gets really tough when you're trying to when I was subbing and I'd get home and have

to like do an hour's worth of paperwork or figure out you know my receipts and trying to because I tried to do job

costing even then I wanted to know whether I was actually profitable on the job and if I had to buy a a new tool

just for that project then you know I was calculating that and doing the

paperwork side on the back side of installing that that can be taxing and so you got to mentally

um I don't I don't know that there's a great way to handle that unless you got somebody that can give you some help and

it's a muscle it's a muscle right like you it's something that you have to

practice and you do get better at it right the things that that you you miss in the beginning you don't miss after

you get a little more practice right because it becomes second nature it's like installing you didn't go out your

first time and flash cove and weld right you went out probably 20 times uh on

your first flash or Flash C W before you walked away from one seam or one vertical uh weld that you were like I

did that right some 20 times 50 times like I know is everyone hits those

milestones at different points but that's what it is it's that muscle that you have to you got to exercise it and

get better and come up with your own system that works for you using other people's ideas maybe but um that that

was the that's the hard part just understanding I've hit a brick wall let

me walk away for a minute and then come back refresh like back in the day I used

to say it all the time look I am really mad at this right now this is not working for me I set my

tools down I set them down nice right because that's me trying to reset set my

stuff down nice and say I'll be right back I'll be back in a little bit I've been there and maybe not set my

tools down so nice before I I think it it was more maybe it was me but I know Crystal

does it too it's like you gotta come do this I'm gonna go do something else you know what I give up I give up

right now please help me and some people do that yeah it's

certainly nice if you have somebody that can come you know pick up the

the I I found the most frustration when I'm trying to pattern match carpet than

almost anything else um it wasn't matching and you're trying to stretch the tar out of it or whatever and you're

working on a time limit too because that adhesive setting up Y and you you just got the phone with the tech rep and he

said no that's within tolerance and you're working to try to

make this thing look as best as you can um oh I've gotten so far frustrated if

there's a a day burnout I've certainly been there I was ready to like just go join the tellers at the at the store I

was working at you know asking people who walk by how much do you guys make where are you I'll be the

greeter but I I I think that um you know it's not a super deep subject I mean at

the end of the day we we work with our hands as installers or you work with

your mind as an installer as well and certainly those two when you're working them together and you're doing something

complicated just being cognizant going into it that that day is going to be

challenging preer preparing yourself sorry I couldn't get that out but preparing yourself for that day and

knowing going into it it's going to be it's going to be one of them days it's it could be rewarding if you're properly

you know prepared but um I also see that as a a big part when

when we're installing getting prepared for our day our tools are right you know

there's nothing more frustrating to me than when my helper or somebody would leave like patch on my trials or glue

all you know those things and you're going in first thing and you're cleaning tools up and like taking care of your

installation can help a lot taking care of your tools um but you know like I

said it's not a super deep subject it's just being cognizant of it and having a few little you know tricks and I think

taking a a breather and I know it can get hard to take a breather when you got people breathing down your neck to get

the job done but at the same time how much more valuable can you be if you come back and you're super engaged in

what you're doing and that goes for whether you're in the office or whether you're installing in the field yeah yeah

Rollin says that he can't stop for lunch because it makes him feel more lazy than just working straight through and that

George eats enough for both of them which I agree but I I think it's it depends on

the person yeah on the person right because because I will get something to eat but I'll be working take a bite work

over here take a bite and just keep on going right and um I just actually listened to the book again Leaders Eat

Last and that's kind of like you got that one too that's a good one I um I

didn't realize you know how much of this stuff we had in our minds already

because like in the field I was always like you guys go to lunch I'm just gonna stay back here I'm GNA set everyone up

that way when you guys get back you just keep on going and then maybe I'll take 10 15 minutes you know but

if if I don't set us up right now right then you know we're just going to be at

at a stand still if everyone just leaves so so so the that that's it right you're

constantly constantly having progress being done and and size of the crew the

person right but um I some people just don't need that mental break that long of a mental break

or to get away from it at for for a full lunch right I I don't know I'm one of

those people well maybe not every day I'm just saying that there's when you feel that coming

on understanding that and saying you know taking a half hour

away can reset your mind and I know

plenty of guys that like to work through work and and get home early um or you

know get off a little early I understand that but if you're

working a a full day um having a little break can help but not that each you

know everybody's a little bit different is different John says that he takes one hour religiously and if it's nice

outside he'll go for a 30 minute run that's how you know he's crazy because he like he runs for fun who said

that the Florin nator y bro did you just say you use your lunch break to go

running that he's the no wonder he's the that's that that's Soldier right there

baby whatever clears your mind hey what's cool is that he found a way to do it you know what you know what I'm

saying like if that works for you we had a guy he's retired now but he brought

the same thing for lunch every day he never left the job site to go eat but

you were not he would go if it was nice outside he go sit on find a place to sit

down outside eat his peanut butter and banana sandwich and that's that's what he's

going to do and it was religious

each to their own the key I think is just knowing yourself well enough to to

whether it's go for a run sit and eat your peanut butter and banana sandwich or whatever it is uh to reset

yourself I kind of want to try a peanut butter and banana sandwich now I'm not gonna

lie you know it was every day you know you made me think you made me think of you know we're maybe the burnout happens

because we're just all creatures of habit right we're all creatures of habit and and if your routine gets messed up

so many times during a day during a week it really messes with you mentally the mental drains you physically because you

don't have any energy um or the the physical right if you're physically being pushed to your limits more often

than what you're used to then maybe that's the burnout there too so maybe matter creating that um expectation that

something's going to go wrong something's gon to be different but trying to maintain that structure for yourself I don't know you may me think

well I can tell you one thing that you know the constant push for production in

our industry that that's a real thing and that's constantly you know I know we do it as a

company to our installers we want a certain we need a certain amount of stuff done and it's like this constant

need for production and you know there's jobsite challenges

that they have to face that go along with that production

and I don't know that there's a great way around that that's construction these days timelines have gotten shorter

the expectation for what you do in a day has gotten more and that pressure is

right there on the people on the job site trying to get it done for you the best we can do as companies is

you know have our install backs and and at the same time still have an

expectation that's reasonable um that's a fine line though right I

think like when I was in the field what I would do was I would jam-pack the

front end of the week so that way by the end of the week it was all right you know let's have a all right day on

Friday but I'm seeing like um especially some of the younger people it's they

exact opposite it's always hey we'll just do that tomorrow we'll just do that tomorrow and then by Friday it's like y

you still got to get done today man like there is no hey we didn't we're not going to finish this job today it's it

has to get done and you didn't plan yourself so I don't feel bad for you that you're working till 8 o'clock

tonight that's really I don't because you left at three o'clock on Monday three o'clock on

Tuesday some of this burnout is self- sabotaged just it

and it's real like yeah you can do that to yourselves you can burn yourself out

like just by that doing that day-to-day thing where it's well that that's just

right with the planning we talked about earlier I mean planning a project is planning the whole project for that week

you know and and that's a good point I mean when

you're if the job has to be done and you're pushing you're kicking the can

down the road sooner or later that you know that's got to be dealt with I mean it's got to get it's got to get done

um you know you talk a I talk a lot about it with our with our project

managers about like being cognizant of what we're expecting out of the

installation uh cruise we have on a job but not from the burnout side if I'm

honest it's more of like try to manageing try to have have proper

expectations uh and managing the expectations of our client and being

upfront with them you know we can't get to that part this you

know that far this week or whatever the scenario is on a particular project but that's that's really where you got

to we're in a professional business and it's important that we're professionals

about it and that you know the six PS I think I've said before it came from uh

guy that started a a big company here in in our city uh Rena Center he he his

name's Tom delin and he he uh you know his deal was the six piece was proper

planning prevents piss Bo production and you know at the end that speaks to right

what you were saying Jose is like plan a little heavier in the beginning of the week and make the end of your week a

little bit nicer going into your weekend if you don't have to work and uh but

hour Friday than a four hour Monday I tell you that yeah you know do I want a 10 hour Monday depends on what I did

that weekend I guess right but if my extracurricular activities are causing me to drag out a Monday because I don't

feel good or I'm just like mentally out of it then maybe I need to reassess what I do on the weekends that affecting not

only my Monday but my crew's Monday and everyone else's Monday like you know and

that's the thing too is have I been that person 100% I've been that guy I've been

on a job Sate with this dude like dudee he went to go sleep in the van I gotta go sleep what I gotta go sleep I'm I'm so

sorry like I me and it was like 100 degrees that day too so I was it it

wasn't a good sleep either woke up looked like I peed on

myself um it's just you know I just wasn't well that's I mean fair fair

point that you know how we treat ourselves over the weekend then that goes back to like relaxing or escaping

versus true recovery like the gentleman who goes for a run I forget his name

that just commented the Florin nator the Florin nator yeah that's that's still even he's

exerting his body he's doing it in a different Manner and that that that's he

says that it resets his brain to focus on the task at hand and that's where you get the mental right because I feel the

same way um I'll go work out at 6:00 am. and it's like being there for you know

that half hour 45 minutes that I'm there sets kind of sets the pace for the day

and it's like that's my alone time and the one thing that I used to do when I

when I was feeling the mental burnout or even physically is I used to say hey

let's go to the park I'm gonna pitch you some softballs I'm gonna put my gear on and I want you to hit the ball at me

what I watch it hit the ball at me no matter where I throw it aim for me please and it's like that sounds stupid

right but I was escaping mentally physically I was doing dumb stuff like

that's pretty dumb uh but I was getting my reps in I was escaping mentally and I

was so happy to let all that out like all that sweat everything that I did for

that two hours or three hours however long I was out there practicing like that was my Escape I get it I get the

run I think I think exercising and moving your body intentionally yes is a

great way um to to manage your your burnout it talking about office and even

installers I mean the the the Escape or the the whether you do it

in the morning or at the end of the day like moving your body

intentionally uh is is a big thing our um our controller at our office every

morning runs a stretching routine for the entire anybody there the installers

are there join in uh sometimes they're a little bit more um reluctant when they

are there just shy almost but uh you know a lot of the office staff is

joining her every morning just moving their body doing some stretches I know

some job sites even require that that's more of a safety thing but you know

getting your head in a different mind space I mean we you can you can do multiple different

things that I I think what's important is just just recognizing it so it

doesn't just keep getting worse and worse worse and worse and before you know it you're ready to just quit

everything yeah and that that's where you don't want to end up I think that recognition has come I

mean you got to be able to to verbalize your your feelings and your worries and

um not only to everyone around you but yourself like I'm burnt out right now like we

were talking crap about you because you said you look a little tired you're a little tired right like hey perfect you know yeah I've got the

allergies eye allergy stuff going on so I've been blinking dry eyes all that

good stuff my eyes are burned out like like last night I was here until one o'clock I was working on my niece's

exhaust right was I tired yeah I was tired I kept telling myself I said

there's three more things there's three more things you know but I knew that it had to be done I

didn't realized that it was that she had been sitting without a car for that long so found out what the issue was found a

remedy said I'd take care of it and I felt inclined to do it right that was my

zen it was something totally different from the computer from install from from

the world I don't do ex work every day mix it up guys go for a run at

lunch come back well I I know the the subject this week was not super deep it

was super you know surface oriented but um

one of the things it's you know I I remember sitting at um CFI and one of

the guys talked about he he's just burned out and I

asked what that meant and he's just sick of the same old Sam same and I'm like

you are in charge of your life brother you got to mix in a new a new a whole new uh

product to start installing or something like if you're just burned out that way

um but I think if I've learned anything

it's it's getting away a little bit um whether it's on a day or a week or or

planning your your job to where you have a nice weekend um you know each each

project project is different each scenario is different and we all

have to manage Our Lives as best as we can but being cognizant of it um I hope

none of the installers out there are reaching you know that point we got some holidays coming up and hopefully

everybody can spend a you know a wonderful Thanksgiving and and a little

bit of time off together with your family but uh you know prioritizing your life is a a piece of of having a job and

having a career as well as if you're independent installer running a business

and um I know that that stress that that pressure and the pressure to produce

both for the job and for your family and uh it can get overwhelming sometimes but

hang in there and find some some ways to truly recover yeah and and don't don't

be afraid to say you're not available and I think back in the day we were so

worried about people not calling us back if we said that we can't that we it was hard for us to say no but um I just I

just had a project they're like really need this done before the holiday and I

was just like I'm sorry my hands are tied the best I can do is the Monday after if anything changes I'll let you

know but that's that's the best that I can do we're we're we're we're packed right now and there's a holiday in there

and sometimes the burnout is planned because that's what I did yes it is

planned everyone this is the first required weekend that we've

worked long time like but I was like hey we have this project this is my plan

is to we have to start on Friday and be done on Wednesday but then I'm paying you for

two holiday days and you have the weekend yeah can we do this yeah and

then someone quit on us yesterday so yeah damn it all right well guys I think we've

pretty much like I said chatted through the complications and signs and some

tricks there's no magic here it's just being cognizant and and maybe getting

away it's nice that a few people you know it's first installer I think I've T

that's commented that he goes for a run uh but that's that's excellent I mean

however you can manage the stress and and the demands of a project and the man's of life more power to you I know

now that I think of it he does kind of have a forc gun beard coming in now doesn't he I just felt like

running all right guys well I'm gonna cut this one a little bit short this week thank you is always for joining and

I appreciate your in input joining I I don't even know why I say that I mean like you guys are the Staples of this

deal and and I again appreciate you guys so much if you're the stapler we're just

the Staples you're the whole stapler I don't know Ashlin might be the actual stapler because she makes sure

I'm on Q2 I know getting text uh is anyone gonna start joining

soon all right guys well have a good week and we will see you guys next week

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The Huddle - Episode 73 - Charging What You're Worth

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The Huddle - Episode 71 - Sustainability, Recycling, & Going Green