Managing Burnout
Managing Burnout – Burnout is what happens when constant stress causes you to become physically and mentally exhausted. Often the only people who don’t recognize burnout are those who are experiencing all of the symptoms, because highly motivated, driven, high-functioning, ambitious people can have great difficulty believing they are unbreakable. Hmmm, that sounds familiar. It’s likely that you see slowing down as a sign of weakness.
A favourite phrase when you are in the midst of this is to say ‘I don’t know how to relax!’ like it was some kind of badge of honour. EVERYONE needs to rest. Watching Netflix for a couple of hours on a Sunday is not a weakness. Going for a walk in the park is not a waste of time. Reading a book is not an indulgence. Taking time for yourself is you managing burnout.
The first step is to realize that you have burnt out or are running headlong towards it. It may even take someone else to tell you that it is time to slow down, the hardest point here is being able to listen to this and take it as a point of concern and not a criticism.
The thing that finally hit me, like a wet fish to the face, was that I was causing my own stress. Yes, I was working in a job that I loved, I was choosing to show up there every day. I was the one piling tasks onto my own plate. And I was the only one who could do something about it.
The way you are currently living your life, the way you think about yourself, the choices you make, the people you surround yourself with, can be causing you overwhelming stress and leading to your burnout.
What are you going to do about it? Well for one, stop thinking that you are superhuman. You are not, and they don’t exist. You have a finite amount of energy and you need to use it wisely. So, what are the 10 things that could help you in managing burnout?
1. Use your annual leave.
You are not indispensable, they will cope without you.
If you can’t afford a holiday then take a staycation. Honestly, this was one of the best things I did. I woke up when I wanted and pretended I didn’t have to work for a living.
2. Calm your mind
If you are anything like me, I had constant chatter going on in my brain that I just couldn’t switch off. It wasn’t just physical work that was making me tired, it was all the mental work as well. I tried loads of things. Meditation apps, mindfulness, joining a gym, and actually going. All of which really helped. Give them a go, they may work, they may not, but you won’t know until you try.
3. Sleep, as you’ve never slept before
If you can get your mind to put a sock in it, it’s amazing how much better your sleep is. Turn off your alarm clock on weekends. Have a long lie-in.
4. Get creative
You know when you were young, you would just sit happily for hours with your colouring book, or build Lego castles or make a den out of your duvet and bedsheets. Those were happy times. I am not suggesting that you need to get your Lego set back out. But just do something that is purely for fun and just for you.
5. Schedule your relaxation time.
This was a hard one for me to get my head around (and I still struggle with it a bit) but making time to relax is as important as making time to be productive. Put a block of time in your calendar to do this, and then MAKE yourself do it.
6. Detach self-worth from achievement
You are not your biggest success. You are a complicated jumble of wins, combined with losses, good times and bad. How you feel about yourself should not be based on how many hours you put in at the office or how many times someone has praised you.
7. Reduce caffeine intake.
Caffeine is a stimulant. It’s all too tempting to try and push through the tiredness by drinking vats of tea and coffee but this will only make it worse. If you want to scare the bejesus out of yourself then never drink tea or coffee again, but just cutting it down will really do you a world of good.
8. Shut your phone up.
When you are starting to burn out, putting things off will ramp up several notches. The more overwhelming everything is, the more you put off doing things. And what is the best way to waste time, going on your mobile phone? I spent hours trawling Facebook, reading pointless Twitter articles, and looking at photos on Instagram. Enough was eventually enough, so I ended up deleting all of them for a while. Yes, all of them. And I felt so much better for it, and when I was ready I reinstated them again.
If you are a social media lover, after each scroll, ask yourself: “Do I feel better about that? Have I learned anything new here? Has this helped me de-stress?” I’m pretty sure the answer will be ‘no’ to all of these questions.
9. Admit that you are struggling
Tell your boss, tell your partner, tell your friend. Tell anyone! If 50% of people in the workplace struggle with anxiety and burnout then you are NOT ALONE. If your boss is a decent human-like mine, they will understand if you ask for help with prioritizing your workload. I guarantee you that if you are given 10 things to do, those 10 things do not have equal importance, but because you aren’t privy to the same information your boss is, you may not be able to rank them in importance without their help.
If your boss is not a decent human being (or even a human) then it might be time to look for a new job.
10. Understand your values
This was a big one for me. When the career that I had worked so hard in for so long just didn’t line up with what I thought it was anymore, it was really hard to admit that it was time for me to leave one job for another, and although it was the same career the move give me a real sense of being valued. But once I made the decision to leave where I was (and actually walked out the door), it was the best thing I had done in a long time.
So, what now?
To be completely honest, I didn’t logically follow each step in a calm and steady manner.
What worked for me may not work for you. This isn’t an exhaustive list of hard and fast rules for managing burnout. Just try a couple and see what works out, and if it works for you then keep doing it.