How to Set Boundaries and Banish Burnout with Rachel Bearbower

Hello, this episode is sponsored by my friends at Kila, a comprehensive fundraising and donor management software that will help you expand your reach, increase your fundraising revenue, and foster a dedicated community of supporters. Now, several of my clients are currently using Kila, and they continue to be impressed with how easy it is to use, how affordable it is, and most importantly, the results that they see and the impact they're able to create. Now, Kila is hosting a free webinar led by me on June 6th, how to drive donations and get engagement using social media. It's totally free, and you can get all the details and sign up at www.jcsocialmarketing.com backslash-kila. That's jcsocialmarketing.com slash Kila. See you there. Hello and welcome to Nonprofit Nation. I'm your host Julia Campbell, and I'm going to sit down with nonprofit industry experts, fundraisers, marketers, and everyone in between to get real and discuss what it takes to build that movement that you've been dreaming of. I created the Nonprofit Nation podcast to share practical wisdom and strategies to help you confidently find your voice, definitively grow your audience, and effectively build your movement. If you're a nonprofit newbie or an experienced professional who's looking to get more visibility, reach more people, and create even more impact than you're in the right place. Let's get started. Hi everyone. So excited to have you back for another episode of Nonprofit Nation. I'm your host Julia Campbell. Today we are going to discuss strategies and tips for how to take back your time and banish burnout. And I have a guest here that I've been really excited to have on the podcast, and I know a lot of you know Rachel Bearbauer, and she's the founder and CEO of Small Shop Strategies, a nonprofit consultancy focused on teaching executive directors how to detangle their systems so they can focus their time and energy on building relationships and raising more for their causes. And in just the last three years, Rachel has built a community where over 100 executive directors are showing up for themselves and learning how to boldly fundraise, tell better stories, and become even more impactful change makers. And I love this piece of the bio. So I have to read this Rachel. You can also find her doing chores on the farm. She lives in Iowa and helps run a 500 plus acre property. Rolling her eyes at one of her three rescue pups who've probably eaten something they shouldn't have and meal prepping. Oh my gosh, I always want to meal prep, but I never do. So maybe we can talk about that later. But Rachel, welcome. Hello, Julia. I am very excited to be here. I'm sure you don't need any other introduction, but tell me about where you started a nonprofit journey and how you landed on the work that you do today with executive directors. Oh my gosh. Well, to be honest, I started by accident. I was working for a financial institution. I was planning to be a financial advisor. I had plans to wear a power suit. And that just came crumbling down when I realized how much it sucked. I realized it wasn't for me. I actually quit my job in a meeting. In a meeting. In a meeting. Yeah. I'm not doing this. Yeah. I will say that it wasn't maybe my most proud moment, but it was real and it was honest. And I left that job. I was living in Boston. I left Massachusetts, went back to Washington State and had heard about this organization, like this nonprofit thing. And I was like, okay, it can't be that hard to start a nonprofit. Famous last words. And I mean, if I had done anything about, you know, just how hard it is to run an organization, I would have never started one. But I was so naive and just so driven that I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and then founder executive director years later, here I am. And getting to where I am today is because I started by teaching what I know. And that was how to be an executive director in a small shop. Well, tell us about this organization. It's called Girls on the Run. And so it's a national organization. And so I founded the chapter that was local to my community in Washington. But it's a youth empowerment program for girls and teaching them life lessons through running, which I'm not so much a runner right now, but I used to run up mountains for fun. So it really that just the lessons you can learn through running really spoke to me. That's so cool. Yeah, I'm not a runner. I did used to run. But I love the name Girls on the Run. And I think that a lot of my listeners can definitely sympathize with the doing everything on your own and being underfunded and wearing all the hats. Certainly that's something that a lot of the listeners of my podcast, my clients can sympathize with. So I've took your productivity challenge, which we'll talk about. And what I thought was so interesting when I've been reading a lot about your work is that I know that you have a problem with the word productivity. So I do as well, and I'm trying to find a better word for it. But you write on your website and you write this to executive directors, you know, you already put enough pressure on yourself to be productive all the time. But I'm here to show you the tools and strategies to work smarter as in work less. Corn doesn't produce 24 seven 12 months a year and neither should you. So can you tell me more about sustainable nonprofits versus quote unquote productive nonprofits? I think I've always been somebody who has embraced kind of a seasonal mindset and then becoming a farmer that has basically become my life. And to be sustainable, to continue to do what you want to do, you have to first know where you are and then know where you want to go. And I think most organizations, and at least the people inside of them, they're drained and they're scattered, and they are overstretched. And so to me, a productive nonprofit is an organization that is trying to do more with less. It's a nonprofit way, continuing to do more and more and more and be more productive. It's more. It's always more. And there's always more to produce. There's always more to do. There's always more time to fail. Exactly. And I think a sustainable organization is really figures out. So there's the idea of a sustainable organization, but sustainable impact. Okay, so you have to strike this balance between figuring out what you do, and then doing that and doing that really well, and then doubling down on that. And usually, where you want to go is that sustained impact. And I don't want sustained impact to be confused with being content, because I think that in our organizations, we are constantly trying to do good. We are making systemic change. This also means being uncomfortable. You are doing it consistently. And when we create sustainable impact, we are creating more room for greater generosity. And greater generosity means deeper and more meaningful relationships. And we can just continue to do what we are doing even better. So I think the simple answer is not doing as much. And doubling down what you're doing really well. And I think that that's where I struggle with productivity, because I'm like, the word productive, because it means more. And I don't think we need more in our place. I totally agree. I love, well, I have kind of an addiction to quote-unquote productivity books and blogs. But I agree, I think it's not about producing more. It's not about quantity. It's about quality. It's about spending time in the right areas, on the right things. So in that vein, sort of while I have you here, when do you think executive directors should look to hire, if you founded a nonprofit, or even if you're a marketing person of one, when do you know that it might be time to take some things off your plate? Well, probably immediately. Probably immediately. Yes. I think I can take this advice as well. I think it's also important to not only understanding what your organization does well, but what do you as a leader do well? And where is your zone of genius? I think that we keep trying to wear all of the hats. But we don't look good in all of the hats. I mean, I actually look good in a lot of hats, but that's... I don't have hats, but yes, I get it. But we should not be wearing all of the hats. We should pick our favorite ones. What's your zone of genius? Stay in that lane and then find someone. And I think this is where we sometimes go wrong with our hiring. We hire someone who we think is going to, but maybe doesn't know as much as us, or we're going to teach all of the things. I want to hire someone who is smarter and faster and better at whatever it is that I want to hire them for. But can I write a fundraising letter? Absolutely. Is there someone out there who can write it even better? Yes. And I want that person. So figuring out your strengths and your zone of genius, which I love to say is zone of genius, and how can it really best fit with other people's zone of genius and what they do best? Sort of like for me, my taxes are not my zone of genius, unfortunately. I can't do everything myself. Editing a podcast, not my zone of genius. So really figuring out where you can create more impact by taking those kinds of things off your plate. So we know, I mean, anyone listening to the podcast, like there never seems to be enough time. And it doesn't matter if you are a consultant, or if you are working a full-time job. But I work with so many nonprofit development and marketing directors, and they're often juggling marketing and development at once, full-time, or if you're an ED, you're juggling all the things. So what are some of your favorite time-saving tips to work smarter and not harder? Give us as many as or as few as you want. Yeah. So what I am always trying to teach is to create some clearly defined systems. So the systems within your organization, like, and when I say systems, I don't actually mean like all of the technology. I literally mean like, how do you operate? How do you as a human operate? How do you stay organized? How do you manage your calendar? How do you manage your operations? All of those pieces are essential to running an organization. And if any of those are out of alignment, then chaos ensues. And so really clearly defining what your systems are, and using them, but then also having that flexibility for them to evolve as you evolve. And, you know, actually one of my, something that I actually teach inside the challenge is creating these boundaries. And we always talk about boundaries, but creating boundaries for the start and the finish of your day. And so I call it a sun up and some downward team. And so if you think about your systems, okay, so you have kind of four main systems. So you have your calendar management, you have your project management, and you have your operations management systems, okay? So three different systems that kind of keep your organization going. And those are all kind of technology, technology based, okay? But then you have your executive management. And for most of us, most of us do our best work inside of software. Like we are and a lot of people because we are people, we are human, okay? So you have these three technology system based systems, and then you have your human based system. And there's always this friction between the technology and the analog. And so it's figuring out what is the balance. And one of those things that I teach is creating your, your morning routine. And I'm not talking like, you know, get up at 5am and do your job. And I'm not talking about, no. Yeah, no, don't do that. I mean, do that. Whatever routine you want, I agree with you. Yeah, go for it. But figure out, like, how do you take the things that are inside your three systems and put them into an analog system? And for me, so most people, that's writing a two list, okay? So how do you take the information that's in those systems and create an analog system? And then, so that's your morning routine. So then you stay focused in that analog system throughout the day so that you aren't getting distracted by the systems, like being in your email, by being in your calendar. And then at the end of the day, creating that same routine, but opposite, taking all of the post-it notes and the, you know, the notes that you wrote in your calendar or on your, you know, in your notebook and on your to-do list, and uploading them into the software that is designed to help you do your job better. So, it's a sum up creating that digital to analog system and then a sum down that analog to digital routine. So by doing that, you're creating very clear boundaries of like, stop and start to your day instead of just trying to work all the freaking time. We can't do that. We're already burned out. We're already talking about how we can't do more. Like, we've got to stop and start our day. So I have a question for you. I'm taking notes because I'm, you know, a solo, I wouldn't say solopreneur, but I'm a solo person running my own business. And the boundaries piece gets very fuzzy. And I know for a lot of us, especially when we work from home, there are fewer boundaries. Like, I've worked from home for a very long time now, like 13 years now. So I do have, you know, my office, I can close my door, I can shut down my computer. I'm actually, you know, very good about not checking email at night. I've gotten those habits and I've kind of gotten into the shutdown. And I love that. What is it? Sum up and sum down routine. But for those of us that have difficulty saying no and creating those boundaries, do you have tips for us? Like, how can we tackle this always on culture? And how can we tackle those constant slack notifications and the boss emailing us on Sunday? Or how can we even just tackle the guilt that we feel maybe not working on projects after hours? Yeah. So we are in a culture where it's you feel like you always have to be on. I worked it while I was building my organization. I was also working in another nonprofit and I was working at a humane society. And so I felt like if I wasn't working, I would literally like animals would die because I was not working. That is some serious pressure. And when you are doing the kind of work that you do, I know that there are so many incredible organizations out there that are providing just amazing services and literally changing people's lives. Yeah. At the cost of their own. And I think that it's so important for your work is important. It is always going to be important. But who's going to take on that work if you can't? And are you really doing your best work? I say all of that. And yet at the same time, we still keep doing because we are giving people, we have these, you know, these servant hearts that just want to keep giving. And so I think that kind of goes back to the very first thing we were talking about, which is organizations that do really well are really, really focused on what they do well. And I think so many of the organizations that kind of are just like always going and like never have time wearing all the hats is because you're trying to be all things to all people. And I think when you can get really, really clear on what your goals are, it makes saying no a lot easier. Because if you don't know what your goals are, then you're like, I can do that event on a Tuesday night, even though I was planning to go out with my friends that I haven't seen in two years. Yeah, yeah, I can do that. What if you knew that you weren't going to that event is not your focus? Like, that's not what you should be doing. Like, you know what, I can't do that tonight. I, we're focused on this going to that event is not, is not what I need to do tonight. You know, being able to say no or when a board member brings up this great idea and you're like, you know what, great idea, but not what we're focused on right now. We're focused on this. Great idea. We'll table it. Yeah. Yeah. It's also deciding what is best for you, figuring out what your non-negotiables are. Is it picking your kids up from school? Is it taking your mom to physical therapy? Is it having lunch with your grandma once a week? What are your non-negotiables that feed your soul? Prioritize those first. Then understand what your energy blocks are. So when do you work best? I had a concussion a year ago and I'm still navigating. It turned my world upside down. I had to relearn all of my productivity system. Like, I had to relearn them because my brain is literally why I're different now. So I used like my focus time was like 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and like, that's when I got my best work done. Now, if I have like a meeting at noon, I stress until noon and then I have used up all my energy stressing about the meeting. I have the meeting and then I'm just like exhausted. So then great. I've gotten one meeting done. So what used to work doesn't work as well. Actually, my time when I am just like in flow is later in the afternoon. So that is very different and my schedule is not designed for that. And I also need more sleep because my brain just takes longer to recoup. And so by figuring all of that out, figuring out what your energy blocks are, what are your boundaries? Like not working past 6 p.m. I am having a couple of days where I don't have meetings deciding what those are for you and layering that into your calendar. That also helps when someone's like, hey, can you go to an event after work? You like, nope. No, that is a boundary. And think about future you. I always think about future me. I don't remember. It was probably on and I was talking to you about this earlier, Jenny Blake and her fabulous book, Free Time, but her podcast also called Free Time. But think about future you. So when I say yes to an event on a weeknight, future me hates me because they're like, oh gosh, I just want to put up a jam as weeknights. I want to be with my kids and watch TV and just, you know, do nothing. Weeknights are tough, especially coming out of the pandemic. So I agree with you. Think about future you. What would future you say does an 8 p.m. event on a Thursday sound good? Or not? Because you're just going to have to cancel. Yup. I think the other important thing to that is like knowing that. Like if you don't know that exactly, if you don't know that, you're going to constantly say yes to things. Yeah. And then starting to say it out loud. Like the first time that somebody was like, hey, can you do a meeting on a Tuesday? And I was like, getting the words out of my mouth. I was like, I don't do meetings on Tuesday. They're like, oh, no problem. One would be in one of the- They always understand. People understand. That's incredible. So saying those out loud, saying those things out loud, like not only reinforces it to you, but then reinforces it to everyone around you. I also think that even if you are not in charge of your schedule, like if you work for a supervisor and executive director, if you explain that you're do better work in the afternoon and you just want to do email or admin or stuff in the morning, I mean, for me, mornings are the most productive. I think I don't know if that's true for the majority of us, but for me, the mornings are most productive. So I've worked, you know, I've worked as a development director. I've worked as a director of development and marketing. And I would always tell my boss, like, the morning is the most productive time for me when I can write grants, when I can write appeal letters, when I can get that email newsletter out, when I can really focus on strategy and that kind of thing. So if we meet, why don't we meet after lunch? Because if we meet in the morning, you'll give me a task list of 10,000 things and it will kind of like derail me. So I would love to like work on my work and then we could meet at maybe noon or afternoon and even just advocating for myself like that. I think a lot of my supervisors, you know, respected that and said, Oh, fine, that's great. Like I do my best work in the morning too. Or they appreciate the honesty and also the boundary setting, but also that you know when you do your best work. Because I would hope that we work in an environment where everyone's lifting each other up to do their best work. I would hope 100%. And if you're an executive director, if you're managing a team, have a conversation with your team, get their buy in. Do we just not have meetings before noon or do we have a full day that like we don't do meetings? Full day, no meetings. Yeah. Company policy like, Oh my gosh, because as we know, meetings mean work. So like you go to a meeting, you get 95 things to do. And then if you're in meetings all day, I mean, I've had this happen, client meetings all day. I have a stack of work, but then I need to actually do the work that came from the meetings. Yes. So you can't just have meeting after meeting after meeting, because it's just going to constantly pile the work on. But something else that you talk about that I thought was really interesting, you talk about building resilience. I just think this is such an important topic, because, you know, we experienced a collective trauma. We're still experiencing it with the pandemic. So how can we build this resilience? How can we get our mojo back? Like, how can we get our motivation back and our productivity back? So I think you've just hit on something that has taken me a really long time to understand. When we think about resilience, resilience isn't building back. It's not getting back to where we were. It's choosing to bravely move forward, even though you're headed in a direction that you might not know where you're going to end up. And I really, really, really like this idea that we are most resilient when in community. We are most resilient when in community. When in community. We think about resilience has become this like buzzword of like a thing you have to be. You know, you have to do it on your own. Resilience has to come from within. And I do believe that there is an element of truth to that. But I also believe that resilience, like if you are feeling alone and afraid and isolated and unclear of what direction to go in, you're not going to figure out by just like looking inward, you're going to go to your friend who has been there before. You're going to go to your family who is going to support you. So we are most resilient when we are in community. And I actually, so I've looked at the opposite of resilience because, you know, non-profits are executive director of people, like we're trying to be resilient. But what is the opposite of that? And the opposite is rigid, frail, and inflexible. I was hearing those words and I was like, you know, we think about our organizations as these organizations that have come out of the pandemic was so much resilient. And yet at the same time, we are so stuck in our ways and we have to keep doing things the same way. And we are inflexible and refusing to change. And you know what that creates? Fragile! You're going to break! Right. And flexibility causes breakage. I think within the pandemic, you know, there was this kind of like banding together and working together and creating these, like coming up with these creative solutions to these short-term problems. And I think that there's just incredible stories and I think there is so much value in that. And I think there's also so much value in the long-term effects of being in community and being resilient together to heal from that trauma. Oh, that's just, there's so much to unpack that. I absolutely love, what you said. I agree. I think that we use the terms like productivity and resilience in these almost defensive ways and these sort of traditionalist ways that are kind of outdated. And we need to embrace them and take them back and really unpack them and think about what they mean to us and especially to the nonprofit sector, which is so different from a lot of other sectors. And I know that you've written the four things that most successful nonprofit organizations and successful EDs have in common. So just to kind of tie it all up, can you tell us a little bit about these four things? Yeah, absolutely. So they're very simple and they're probably things that you are already working on. But the first one is having a clear fundraising offer that goes back to kind of everything that we were saying, like getting super clear on why you are the only organization who they do what you can do and help your donors understand the impact that they can make. Donors don't want to fund process. They want to fund impact. So tell them what they're funding. Get clear on that fundraising offer. Show up consistently. This is where a lot of organizations struggle as they know are all excited and they get everything ready and get everything going and they're good for like a month or so. And then just fall off social media or fall off like sending out that newsletter, fall off communicating with their donors. Showing up consistently means setting up the habits and routines to be able to do that so that you are feeding into your systems to be able to do that. So show up consistently. Set up your systems and technology. Figure out what they are. Remember systems doesn't necessarily mean technology. There's lots of different systems inside of your organization. And then the technology side, there's no technology that is perfect. Like there's a lot that can do some really incredible things but just pick something. Really just pick something and stick with it and figure out how you are going to work with it. And then the last one goes back to that resiliency which is lean on your support system. You are human and if you are feeling isolated, if you are feeling kind of just like you don't have your footing, a conversation with a friend or a conversation with a mentor can go a really long way but you shouldn't feel like you have to figure this out on your own. And there is so much knowledge and so much experience. And a lot of that was what I'm trying to do inside of my community with executive directors but find your community and lean on them. So those are my four things. I love that. So tell us about your productivity challenge and where people can learn more about you and connect with you. Yeah. So you can head to smallshopstrategies.com forward slash challenge. Very simple. A lot of great animated gifts just not interrupt you but the gift game is strong with Rachel. And I've spent far too much time finding the perfect gift. I do too. I love gift. It's important. I want to. I love your gifts. There was one back to the future one anyway with Doc that I really loved. So just so you know someone pays attention but anyway. I appreciate that. But yeah, head to the challenge. It's free. It's a choose your an adventure. You can do the daily challenge with five challenges five days or one challenge per week. And I hang out on Instagram. So that is where I'm at. I don't do most of my teaching on on social media anymore. Most of my teaching is happening on my email list. So if you're not on my email list, there's about a thousand ways you can get on it. Sign up for anything. But that's where I do a lot of my teaching and then inside of my community. But I do show up on social media to kind of just share what my thoughts are. Share the gross things that my dogs bring from the field. I love your reels. It's ask smallshop strategies on Instagram. Yes. Add smallshop strategies. And then I'm also on LinkedIn. Sometimes I try to be maybe I'll be better in the future. I'm going to create that consistency. And I'm just at Rachel Bear Bauer. Fantastic. Rachel, thank you so much. Oh, and your dog is sleeping. I can see. Oh, so is that one of your rescues? It is. It is Morty. He is my 100 pound lap dog. Oh, my gosh. So sweet. So you can't see this on video. That's the perk of being the host. But Morty just looks completely comfy and so like just passed out like tired. Unimpressed. Unimpressed. He's reclaiming his time. I love it. Yes, he is. Awesome. Okay. Well, everyone, I will put the links in the show notes to the challenge, to the website, to the Instagram. Rachel, this was fantastic. I really appreciate you coming on. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me, Julia. Well, hey there. I wanted to say thank you for tuning into my show and for listening all the way to the end. If you really enjoyed today's conversation, make sure to subscribe to the show and your favorite podcast app. And you'll get new episodes downloaded as soon as they come out. I would love if you left me a rating or a review because this tells other people that my podcast is worth listening to. And then me and my guests can reach even more earbuds and create even more impact. So that's pretty much it. I'll be back soon with a brand new episode. But until then, you can find me on Instagram at Julia Campbell, seven, seven, keep changing the world. You non-profit unicorn. You can find me on Instagram at www.guitar.com. And I'll see you in the next video. Bye. .