248. Apply SPF: Fired Up vs Burnt Out Artwork

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Secrets From a Coach - Debbie Green & Laura Thomson's Podcast

248. Apply SPF: Fired Up vs Burnt Out

August 01, 2025 • Laura Thomson-Staveley & Debbie Green • Season 20 • Episode 248

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Welcome to our 5-part Apply SPF (Self-Preservation Focus) series where we start with three simple ways to stay fired up instead of burnt out this summer and beyond.

• Plan your day backwards instead of forwards to stay energetic and honour your time boundaries
• Reframe your language from "have to do" to "get to do" for a quick shift from victim to agent mode
• Catch pessimistic thinking using Seligman's method by shifting PPP to TIE

The placebo and nocebo effects demonstrate how our thinking impacts our physical wellbeing; Summer's natural daylight and opportunity can remind us to lighten our mental approach

Our call to action this week is to write a list of all your amazing attributes, what makes you Hot Stuff and to remember that: you matter!

Speaker 1: 0:03

Secrets from a coach Thrive and maximise your potential in the evolving workplace. Your weekly podcast with Debbie Green of Wishfish and Laura Thompson-Staveley of Phenomenal Training Debs Well, actually, debs is off on a little summer break, so she's left me flying solo. What could possibly go wrong? What we do have, though, is we've got a little postcard from Debs, which is our call to action, our trademark way to end off each of our episodes. So welcome to our five-part focus, which we've called Apply SPF. We're recording this in summertime, and summertime is traditionally the phase of the year where we might have some downtime. You take a moment to reflect and get set up. Then, for many organisations, what is a peak period after summer? We've called the SPF self-preservation focus. So what does it mean? To have a great summer? And this is a compilation of all of our top tips that ourselves and our team have combined over the years so we can have a really great summer, with you at the centre of it. So this first in our five-part focus looks at fired up or burnt out, and we're going to look at three tips for responsible working. So lay back, enjoy the vibes, and we're going to look at the power of three, three things that we can do simple tweaks that mean that we get to the end of summer feeling even fresher than we do at the power of three. Three things that we can do simple tweaks that mean that we get to the end of summer feeling even fresher than we do at the moment.

Speaker 1: 1:56

Okay so, spf tip number one planning the phase of time backwards. So this is something that in the early days of our pod we would talk about quite a bit. So let's say you've got a big day ahead Maybe it's the day before you're about to go on some annual leave and you've got an impossible task list to get through. Planning the day backwards can actually help re-energize and reframe that to-do list in that moment. So let's say you know that you need to end the day at 6pm rather than planning the day forwards, so from 8 or 8.30 onwards, for example, and what that can run the risk of is maybe slower working at the start, and then it all becomes a bit panicky at the end. Planning the day backwards just tricks our brain into number one, already thinking you've achieved it. So you get a bit more hope and a bit more positivity and the main thing is you're far more likely to adhere to that end boundary if you've planned it backwards. So if you know that you want to be wrapping things up at 5.30, what does that mean at five o'clock, what does that mean at 4.30, 4pm, 3.30 and so on? And what that can also give is a bit more confidence to maybe negotiate out of a meeting or to reframe something. So the first top tip is if you've got a big day where you need to clear stuff off before you get into downtime, what many people tell us is they're so frazzled by the time they get to some downtime because it's been really hectic and the run up to it, so frazzled by the time they get to some downtime because it's been really hectic and the run-up to it that actually planning that day backwards is a really simple little trick that just gamifies it a little bit In your mind. You've already achieved the day you're planning it backwards, which means you're far more likely to feel a bit more positive about the day ahead and, most importantly, honour that boundary that you've set. So what might that mean for your next big day that you've got Planning the day backwards? Really simple SPF top tip, putting you at the centre of your day.

Speaker 1: 3:57

The second top tip is just reframing your language a bit so that to-do list that you've got. Sometimes when we're just surrounded by things that we need to do, it can really weigh heavy on us. And part of that summer daylight time is to remind us of the lighter side of life. So here's a little simple reframe what do I want to get from today, rather than what do I have to do today. And it takes you out of victim mode and puts you into agent mode. And even the language of I have to do this today flipping the word have into get has a remarkable difference in our kind of level of optimism. So actually I don't have to do this today, I get to do this today. And that simple reframe can be a really smart way of being able to shift our perspective from being overloaded and burdened with things to do and it shifts us into that idea of actually I've got an opportunity here. So as part of that summer and who knows, it might be something that's a bit of a habit that when you kind of get into the autumn stretch, the winter stretch that you can take forward. So rather than what do I have to do today, reframing your to-do list, what do I get to do today, I don't have to do it, I get to do it, and that simple shift can really uplift our mood, reset our energy and it takes you from victim into agent mode. So what might that mean for your week ahead? Rather than I have to do X Y Z, I get to do X Y Z, and just note the difference that brings to your heart, mind and soul.

Speaker 1: 5:41

And the third tip in our SPF fired up versus burnt Out. Looks at catching maybe some of our thinking patterns, so catching pessimism before it takes hold. So how much news are you consuming at the moment? There's not a lot of reasons to be cheerful, no matter where you are around the world. At the moment, bad news sells and the challenge with bad news is that potentially is shifting towards a negative balance in your brain. If everything feels like it's, you know, in a bad state, then it can start to be a bit pervasive, that sense of sort of gloom. And again, summer is nature's reminder that actually there's a lot of opportunity and sunlight out there. And being able to catch those, some of those negative thinking, can be a really useful habit. Check it, catch it, change it if you think there's something that maybe isn't a comfortable thinking process.

Speaker 1: 6:37

What Martin Seligman talked about in his negative, pessimistic and shifting to positive optimistic concept was around watching out for these three Ps. So the three Ps is when either you're catching yourself or others, this sense of permanence, pervasiveness, powerless, so everything's doomed. It's been like this forever and it's never going to change and there's nothing I can do about it. And that's not a great state for a human to be in, particularly if you're there lying on a sun lounger and trying to enjoy your time. If actually your body is there but your mind is caught up in all of these kind of horrible thought processes, then that's a really stressful holiday break. So being able to shift this is what Seligman was talking about shifting from three Ps and he calls it Thai thinking, where Thai stands for temporary, isolated effort. So if you can find your brain starting to spiral, so you're trying to concentrate and read a book and enjoy the sunshine around you, but actually your head is taking you into some really gloomy places, being able to catch it. Actually, what else has happened this week that was good? So remind yourself that this is temporary, isolated. What other things are going on, not just this thing? And again, it's a reminder that actually there's more than just this negative aspect that's going on at the moment and effort, what's one thing that I could do that would make it a bit better. And it takes you into that kind of coaching mindset of moving things forward rather than being kind of stuck and feeling powerless.

Speaker 1: 8:11

I think what's really interesting is when we take learnings from one industry to another. So the pharmaceutical industry has got loads of research looking at the power of the placebo effect. So if I think this pink pill is going to take my headache away magically, it will even quicker than the drug could have crossed the blood-brain barrier, because there's something about that belief of I think that's going to help. So our body makes it. So the opposite of the placebo is the nocebo. So the nocebo effect is where I believe so strongly that this is bad for me that my body will make it so. So let's say you've eaten a bit of chicken and you don't think it's cooked properly, your body might start to make you feel queasy because you believe it so strongly. You've made it happen. So the placebo and the nocebo effect are just a little heads up on actually the impact our thinking process has on our sense of comfort in our bodies as well. So if you've got some well-earned downtime but you're finding your brain is kind of getting away from the deck chair and getting into horrible things, then practice Seligman's thinking tool of shifting from the three Ps is powerless, is permanent, is pervasive into that Thai thinking.

Speaker 1: 9:26

It's temporary, it's isolated and if there's some effort that I can put in to make things a bit better. So none of these are quick fixes, but they're all just reminders. Summer is typically the time that the universe reminds us, wherever you are in the world, that the seasons change. Summer tends to open up more daylight hours and opportunity. But if you're finding time that the universe reminds us, wherever you are in the world, that the seasons change, summer tends to open up more daylight hours and opportunity. But if you're finding that actually you're feeling a bit burnt out.

Speaker 1: 9:50

These were three top tips to help fire us up. Plan the day backwards. You'll fall more likely to end it when you want, particularly if it's a day before going off on a holiday and you've got lots of things you want to do. Reframing your to-do list into what do I want to get from today. I don't have to do it, I get to do it and it just uplifts our sense of empowerment and catching maybe some of that pessimistic thinking. We can't make the world a better place by clicking our fingers, but we can feel a little bit better in ourselves and take the advantages of a bit of downtime in summer, if you're lucky to have that to bounce on fired up for the autumn winter ahead.

Speaker 1: 10:28

I've got a postcard from Debs. So Debs has said, in true coaching fashion whilst you've got a bit of downtime and if you can feel you're getting a little bit frazzled, a little bit burnt out, then fire yourself up by reminding yourself of all the amazing attributes that you've got. So what Deb suggests as a call to action for following this episode is write a list of all your amazing attributes, what makes you hot stuff, and remember that you matter. So thank you, debs. Postcard from your summer downtime, and I'll see you at the next episode where we're going to be looking at the oxygen mask rule. Three tips for prioritizing yourself. And that goes out to all of us. People pleasers out there. How do I ensure that I apply that same duty of care that I do to others to ourselves. So enjoy the summer week. I'll see you at the next one to ourselves. So enjoy the summer week. I'll see you at the next one.

Speaker 1: 11:29

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