Staying Healthy and Motivated
Back to: Helpers Care for Themselves
You as a voluntary helper have to keep in mind that you just can help others when you also care for yourself. Staying healthy, motivated and energetic is not a matter of course. We would like to give you some guidance supporting you in caring for yourself, your health, motivation and content. It is essential to be aware of the risk of mental overload and to know how to protect your individual resources.
Practical Insights
We asked volunteers, which situations they experience as burdensome and how they cope with difficult situations. Watch now!
Developing Realistic Expectations
When starting voluntary activities many helpers have a very idealistic attitude. This attitude can be helpful and supportive but on the other hand it can be a source of disappointment. You have to know that in the framework of your volunteering post you will have to face unavoidable frustrations: Sometimes your protégés are unable to integrate themselves into the host society, in other cases authorities refuse to give support, refugees are deported to other countries or regions, asylum claims are rejected – all these incidents can cause intense emotions of compassion, guilt, disappointment, frustration or anger.
In order to avoid permanent disappointment it is advisable to realise your expectations and potential sources of frustration at an early stage, in the best case already before you start your voluntary work. You should also clarify your expectations with the responsible organisation and be aware of potential complications and obstacles. In general, it is useful not to expect too much and to focus on modest successes instead of failures.
Handling Multifaceted Tasks
As a volunteer in the field of integration you are confronted with versatile and sometimes challenging tasks. You have to show high personal involvement, to spend time and energy and to find a way to combine your voluntary work with your job, your family, your personal interests and other aspects of your life.
- make clear agreements with the responsible organisation referring to your tasks and their limits;
- record important details in written form, e.g. beginning and end of tasks, needed time, responsibilities, financial framework;
- know contact persons to address in case of questions or queries;
- ask for regular meetings with other helpers for exchanging experiences and supporting each other;
- attend trainings offered by the responsible organisation, e.g. for stress management, intercultural competences or health protection;
- ask for information material facilitating the communication with the target group, e.g. multilingual information on the accommodation and contact persons, pictographs, contact data of interpreters.
Organising Yourself
You can do a lot to organise your voluntary work in a useful way. You should not leave the management of your activities to chance but to consciously plan what you have to do.
- Even if you have to do several things at the same time you should try to get only one thing done at the same time. Multitasking increases stress.
- It is essential to think about priorities of your tasks: What is important? What has to be done urgently? What can be done later?
- If you are overloaded you should send clear signals saying: I have no time now, I cannot take over anything else!
- Inform others when you are overstrained, ask for help and accept support.
- Dare to reject tasks if you have too many things to do or if you do not like to fulfil them1.