How to prevent burnout
There comes a time in everyone’s career when they start to feel the warning signs of burnout. It can sneak up on you if you let it, some of which are:
Feeling physically exhausted
Feeling detached from your work
Losing your sense of motivation
Declining work performance
According to a 2019 Gallup study, 76% of full-time workers in the United States reported feeling burned out at least some of the time. And that’s before COVID-19 hit, so those numbers are likely greater now.
So if you’re one of the many people out there suffering from burnout, you’re not alone. Now that you’ve recognized the problem, however, it’s important to take action against this silent destroyer.
Here are five ways to stay in balance and prevent burnout from even happening in the first place:
Know your limits
We all have those colleagues who can pull all-nighters in a week and not miss a beat. I did that once, in college, and fell asleep during the final. I learned the hard way. That’s not me, and I’m not afraid to admit it.
With burnout, it’s all about the ancient Greek maxim “know thyself.” Do you know the signs of when you’re starting to burn out? I”ll share mine below, but I encourage you to think about what triggers you notice when you’re about to face burn out.
For me they are:
Annoyance: Getting annoyed can happen to anyone. Maybe you have that coworker who always hums the latest pop song, or that one that breathes too heavily into the mic and needs to be muted. But if you catch yourself feeling annoyed excessively, perhaps it’s time to look at your situation and ask, “Am I taking my work too seriously?”
Working lots of hours: Burnout is usually a result of no play and all work. Have you been working over 40 hours? 60 hours? 80? If so, you might be pushing the limits of your own internal expectations for work, which may be driving resentment towards it.
Short-tempered: This comes with the feeling of resentment, and annoyance, but shows itself externally to your team or colleagues. Notice yourself negatively expressing your thoughts more frequently?
Difficulty disconnecting after hours: One of the biggest signs of burnout for me is an inability to disconnect from thinking about work, even though I have free time. This prevents me from being present in conversations with family or friends — a major red flag for burn out.
Make sleep a priority
I can’t emphasize the importance of sleep enough. When I was younger, I didn’t know how much sleep I needed at night, but noticed I was much more productive on days when I did get a lot of sleep. There’s more energy to be present at work and in your life when you sleep. There’s more energy for the people and things you love. When you make sleep a priority, it has a compound effect on a lot of the other decisions you make in a given day.
Everyone has different levels of tolerance when it comes to sleep and if you’re the kind of person who needs more to be productive, then prioritizing is a must. You can’t operate at your highest potential if your body doesn’t have the energy it needs, and according to the National Sleep Foundation, the average adult needs between seven and nine hours each night. .
Working out is a must
With COVID-19, there’s the added risk of putting on weight due to the stress of the situation we’re all in. For me, that’s not an excuse to ease up on my workout regimen, and that’s why I’ve incorporated running into my day.
Is it as fun as working out with friends at the gym? Definitely not. But I do it anyway because my brain needs the dopamine.
If I don’t workout for a few days, I start feeling symptoms of burnout. I’ve learned that even during COVID-19, as long as I’m doing something that elevates my heart rate every day, I can work longer hours and extend the time before I start to show symptoms.
Cut back on alcohol
If you like to drink, working from home can be a great excuse to over indulge after the workday, because there’s not much to do, and you don’t have to worry about driving since nothing’s open — but increasing drinking may be a bad idea.
As a rule, I try to avoid drinking alcohol during the work week. It disrupts my sleep and prevents me from reaching full REM. It also makes the liver work extra hard to flush out all those toxins. And I notice I’m a bit slower the next morning. Although unwinding to relieve stress is a necessary part of preventing burnout, the question you’ll need to ask yourself is if you can find an activity that adds fuel to your work and life, instead of depleting it.
Take your vacation
There’s a scary statistic out there. 55% of Americans don’t use all of their vacation. COVID is making it even harder, because many of us are avoiding traveling.
There are times when I approach burnout even when I’m getting enough sleep, avoiding alcohol, and working out. When this happens, I take a trip with my family somewhere—somewhere that connects me with nature and allows me to completely disconnect from email.
Disconnecting from emails, texts, and the internet helps set boundaries for yourself during your vacation. Too often, we treat vacation like a partial work week, which doesn’t allow the body and mind to fully recharge.
When I go into nature to forget the world exists. Whether it’s camping in the forest or spending a few days by the ocean, being in nature reminds me how simple things can be, and how little we really need to be happy. I’m much more energized, much more refreshed and symptoms of burnout fade away. It’s taken me many years to admit that I can’t just push through all of the time, and now that I live life according to my truth, it’s never been more joyful.
So how do you deal with burnout? Reply in the comments below or @theomarproject on Twitter.