🤯 🥵 5 Tips To Avoid Burnout 🧘🏾‍♂️ 🏃🏻

“Burnout” is a particularly hot topic right that I am constantly being asked about. This state of constant stress where it feels like no matter what you do, you can’t break out of the slump. Or when you’ve been feeling out of sorts at work, and not quite sure why – maybe it’s that you are always tired, feel disengaged and unmotivated most days, or constantly checking how long it is until you can log off. Or maybe you find yourself snapping at colleagues or family or friends (something you never used to do) and feel that there's never enough time to get everything done, feeling perpetually behind and demoralized.

These are classic signs of burnout. During times of crisis, when we are all so hyper-focused on the work at hand (whether professional or otherwise), minimizing exhaustion and the stress that contributes to it needs to be at the forefront of our minds now more than ever to recognize the signs early and take steps to avoid a complete burn out by following these 5 tips:  to recognize burnout so, as you may begin to identify it, you can take the proper steps to work through it.  

1. Know What Burnout Looks Like For You

Stress affects us all in different ways and in more ways than just our minds—it works its way into our body, behavior, brain, and emotions. When we are overly stressed for long periods of time, it’s important to note what burnout looks like for you BEFORE it happens and to recognize the signs to decrease the impact. Some telltale signs include:

• Behavioral signs: poor sleep, insomnia, detachment, apathy, feeling isolated, being overly reactive, or tearful.
• Emotional signs: constant anxiety, negative feelings like anger or cynicism, fear, sadness, and irritability or anger.
• Cognitive signs: lack of focus, difficulty concentrating and over-analysis of events.
• Physical signs: pain and fatigue.

If you’re burned out, job performance will likely suffer, your behavior will shift, and you’ll be too exhausted to function.

Burnout is an epidemic in our culture. In fact, one in five highly engaged employees is at risk for burnout. But it doesn’t have to be this way. 

You can catch burnout before it happens, even if you’re a chronic overachiever!  By recognizing the signs, you will be able to better help yourself and help others prevent a dangerous, often painful burnout. Right now it is crucial to understand that it is OK and healthy to show vulnerability, to access the resources and support your need to try to unplug. Pushing yourself past the point of exhaustion will only decrease creativity and effectiveness. 

2: Sleep. 

A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything. Prioritize sleep and get 7-8 hours of sleep every night. Lack of sleep makes you lose focus, decreases your cognitive abilities, makes you more moody, and increases your stress levels. Sleep is the number one solution to avoiding a burnout. If you miss a full night of sleep, make it up with naps or meditation within the next 72 hours. Insomnia is one of the symptoms of burnout, and when you don’t sleep, your brain doesn’t function at its prime. Getting too little sleep also has other serious consequences, including lack of judgment, increased likelihood of car accidents, and development of chronic diseases like cancer, hypertension, diabetes, and depression. 

Getting enough sleep is crucial to your health and happiness, so don’t skimp on it, or let your work cut into those precious hours! Science has proven that adults need 7-9 hours of sleep nightly to function optimally. Of course there are times in your life when its harder to get more sleep – like when you have a new baby or small children, or you are in crucial point in your workplace where all hands on deck are needed or when there are some personal situations going on.

But research time and time again has demonstrated the less sleep you get the worse your focus becomes, your cognitive scores go down and you increase the chance of getting sick and the likelihood of you being someone who is not only stressed all the time but someone who causes drama on teams or in social situations also increases and less sleep changes you into someone sometimes so intolerable... the more intolerable you become the more you feel you are burning out. Trust me it’s vital you prioritize sleep again. There are some great apps to help you also – some of my favourite are “Calm” and “The Tapping Solution” both apps have great meditations and stories and music compilations to help you wind down. You and I both know how good it feels to be well rested  - you feel like a whole different person. So get some sleep. If you have a rough night, try to take a 10 minute nap during the day if you can.

3: Help Others

While it’s important to look inwards and balance oneself during stressful times, looking outside at others can make a huge impact as well. Reaching out to colleagues and asking how they are may make that person feel like they aren’t in this alone and sharing mutual experiences can create a healthy bond.

Remember the buddy system from your youth? It’s time to buddy up again. For managers, make sure there are strong organizational strategies in place to spread the workload evenly and ways to balance if things fall too heavily to any one team member. Recognize the additional burdens of those providing care for ill or elderly family members, children, or family members with special needs.

Managers should have more regular huddles or check-ins with your team, including one-on-ones. Ask what’s one good thing that happened within the last 24 hours. Validate your employees’ emotions when confronting challenges.  

Beyond workload, encourage your team members to engage in self-care that revitalizes them. To make this more approachable, consider integrating self-care strategies into team engagement exercises—ask team members to take a midday walk to enjoy the sunshine, or journal a question of the day. Managers are already using technology to maintain workloads, but they should also be looking at technology to help enhance self-care or maintain personal check-ins with staff.

Managers play a significant role in the burnout rates of their employees. They can be on the frontline of helping team members by balancing workloads, recognizing family needs, and encouraging self-care. Checking in on the team and having individual meetings can bring attention to positive things that have happened in the last 24 hours, or by working together, perhaps figure out solutions to stressful situations. Now is the time to be an empowering leader, no matter what challenges each day may bring.   

4: Say No. 

If you are heading towards burn out you should start being more picky about what you are saying yes to. Unless you can make a good case to yourself about why you MUST take on this project, new opportunity, say no or set boundaries and conditions that benefit your well-being and regain control. Most burnout comes from overcommitting ourselves so we have to be more attentive to this.

Approach the offers like a business: analyze it to see if it makes sense, and put some deep thought into it before you ever say yes. You don’t need more projects. You need greater focus, discipline, learning, and progress on your current path and priorities. Start saying no!

I used to be a total ‘yes’ girl. I’d take on every project, speak at conferences every week, and travel a lot in order to avoid disappointing clients. The problem was, the more I took on, the more it began to wear on me. About 9 years ago I had travelled back and forth between Ireland and Costa Rica and US over 13 times in a 10 month period before I hit a brick wall- crashed and totally burned out.

It can be easy to say yes to everything, especially if you have that go-getter mentality. Trust me, I know. But it’s important to say no to some things if you’re going to stay engaged, excited, and energetic about your work. Choose what’s most important to you (or most necessary to your work), and stick to only those events or projects. Check out our blog on 5 Tips On Setting Boundaries. 

Remember to Block Focus Time. If you are constantly checking email and replying to people, then you are losing focus and decreasing your productivity. Create a few blocks of time each day and only check your messages during that time. The rest of the time, focus on real work – create, learn, connect, lead. Remember the more you are checking in constantly the more you are checking out of the productive work you could be doing with your projects.

Also don’t forget to Ask for help. Achievers are terrible at asking for help. Lean on your friends, family and team more often. Their support can ease the burnout and make life more enjoyable too. You are not the only one who can do what you do; if you believe that, then your ego has taken over. Ask for help and delegate as much as possible so you can focus on your top priorities, become more effective at what matters, and lead a life filled with joy, contribution and well-being.

In this current work environment of physical distancing and teleworking, there can be a tendency to work independently. Being independent can be important but being too independent can lead to burnout. Humans need personal connection. Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness.

5. Take Time to Take Care of Yourself

Time is precious these days, but everyone needs to take time for self-care to boost your immune system right now. This can go beyond sleep, exercise, hydration, and good nutrition. Prioritize. Do what’s most important and let the rest go. Don’t feel like you have to do everything at once. Bite off manageable chunks of larger jobs.

Do what you can and don’t stress about the rest. Find shortcuts that work for you. If you don’t have time to clean the whole kitchen but you feel better with a clear counter, just de-clutter and let that be enough. Repeating positive thoughts may ease your mind.

Simplify and combine your efforts. Make fewer trips, especially as we are not supposed to be engaging in non-essential errands. Acknowledge that the day will not go as planned and take a breath. Getting upset won’t help you or anyone you are caring for or working with right now.

Take breaks and disconnect. If possible, check the news once a day. Add decompression breaks into your schedule. Recognize the bright spots. Identify three good things that happen each day, perhaps through journaling.

Practice Relaxation Techniques: Anyone is susceptible to burnout. Whether you’re feeling good, on the verge of a difficult time, or already there and flat-out burnout, there are ways to help ease the stress that comes with these difficult times. Learning how to reset your stress response is critical. Practicing stress management techniques are fitness for the brain. With practice, they can help you to recover faster from stress to prevent negative effects.  Moving meditations like yoga, qi gong, or tai chi are always techniques that are helpful during any stressful time. 

Exercise: It may seem counterintuitive to leave work in order to work out, but exercise is crucial to your mental and physical health. Regular exercise reduces levels of stress, improves self-confidence, prevents cognitive decline, increases productivity, and improves memory. The satisfaction of knowing you’re taking care of yourself, and the improved energy you’ll get from getting up and moving rather than sitting stationary at a desk all day, will help prevent that physical and emotional exhaustion that causes burnout.

Laugh: Don’t worry; be happy! It’s been proven that laughing relieves stress and has many positive short-term and long-term effects. Actually, every study conducted on laughter has produced positive results. And it’s hard to be cynical and angry when you’re laughing so hard your sides hurt. So interact more with the funny guy at the office. Plan a catch-up date with your funniest friend. Go see a comedy. Literally laugh the stress away!

Socialize: Spending time with people outside of work gives you some much-needed emotional fulfillment. Only socializing at work, and making work your entire life, will leave you burned out and emotionally detached from those people you would normally hang out with on your days off. Try scheduling regular social activities, whether it’s Sunday brunch or a weekly movie night, albeit virtual with friends or family, to keep you engaged and active.

Keep these steps in mind as you go about your new work routine. By recognizing the signs of burnout you will be able to better help others prevent a dangerous, often painful, burnout while also protecting yourself. Right now it is crucial to understand that it is OK and healthy to show vulnerability, to access the resources and support you need, and to try to unplug. Pushing yourself past the point of exhaustion will only decrease creativity and effectiveness. 

 So the 5 tips again to Avoid Burnout:

1: Know What Burnout Looks Like For You

2: Sleep

3: Help Others

4: Say No

5: Take Time To Take Care Of Yourself

If you are suffering from burnout you must first acknowledge your needs, then make some changes ask for help. Request time and space to engage in mental health support and address personal challenges. This is no time to be tough and internalize the stress. Stress negatively impacts our whole health, and right now we need our immune systems running at peak performance

Burnout is stressful, harmful, and a huge hindrance on your work and personal life. But you don’t have to get to that point! Just be careful to pay attention to where you’re at emotionally, as burnout can creep up on you. Check in with yourself every once in a while to make sure you’re treating yourself kindly, and not overloading your schedule or your stress levels.

Enjoy folks, thank you for joining me please share this blog post if it resonated with you or if you think it will resonate with someone else. See you on the next episode until then, stay safe, keep learning and unlocking your potential one day at a time.