If you’re feeling emotionally exhausted from caring for your employees, know that you’re not alone. Your feelings (or lack thereof) are valid. Many managers are finding that their empathy ebbs and flows. This is known as compassion fatigue: a deep physical and emotional exhaustion accompanied by emotional pain. But there are interventions available to help you mitigate the risks of compassion fatigue.

• Make self-care a routine: At a macro level, self-care is about getting ample sleep, eating well, spending time with the people you care about, doing the things you love, and taking the occasional vacation. If you ignore yourself, you compromise your ability to manage your reactions, be present for your team, and empathize with others. On a micro level, there are little ways you can care for yourself even on the busiest of days. For example, one of my clients blocks time for a quick walk outside at lunch. Another starts his meetings at 10 minutes past the hour to ensure he gets a break between them. These short diversions can give you a significant boost.

• Practice self-compassion: Self-compassion is simply treating yourself as a friend when you hit a setback or challenge. It’s a simple skill, but remarkably difficult for most of us. Many people mistakenly shun self-compassion, worried they’ll become complacent and undermine their success. Research shows that self-compassion makes you a better leader, and can equip you to handle increased emotional demands.

• Protect your emotional state: Hearing and witnessing others’ pain and difficulties can be hard, especially if you’re naturally empathic. While empathy helps you connect with others, it also makes you prone to absorbing the emotions and moods of those around you. The contagiousness of emotions has been well established for years. However, a recent study showed that listening to others vent at work not only led to negative emotions in the leaders on the receiving end, but also increased the likelihood that they would mistreat others later in the day. Most importantly, the research showed that leaders could mitigate these adverse effects. How? When others share their pain and problems with you, focus on actively seeking out additional information to understand the situation. This can shield you from some of the damaging effects of compassion fatigue because it leads to cognitive empathy, rather than emotional empathy.

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Reflection: Have you ever experienced compassion fatigue? Would you want to add something to the list in ways one can prevent and handle compassion fatigue?

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