Are you on the road to burnout?
With so much uncertainty and disruption all around us this year, we’ve had to call on every ounce of energy just to cope with day to day demands.
We’ve adjusted to working at home, while staying productive and connected with our teams. We’ve been trying to keep family and home life sane. We’ve had to cope with changes in lifestyle, relationships and deal with future uncertainty in ways we never imagined possible. There have been enormous demands on energy and time.
Most of us have days when we feel helpless, overloaded, or unappreciated – it can be hard to just get out of bed some days, and there have been many reasons to feel this way in 2020. But if you feel like this almost every day, you may be experiencing burnout. But most of us just keep pushing on and pushing down our feelings, telling ourselves and others that we are fine.
The signs and symptoms may be subtle, but become worse as time goes on. It’s important to think of the early symptoms as red flags that something is wrong and needs to be addressed. Don’t ignore these signs, press on and hope they will go away.
Here are just a few symptoms of burnout – do you recognise any of these?
· Most days are bad days
· You worry that you are not doing enough
· You dread tomorrow
· Caring about work or home life seems like a waste of energy, “it is what it is”
· You’re exhausted all the time
· You spend the majority of your day on tasks you find incredibly boring or overwhelming
· You feel nothing you do makes a difference or is appreciated.
Is it burnout, or just stress?
Stress is about too much: too many pressures that demand too much of you physically and mentally. However, stressed people can still imagine that if they can just get everything under control, they’ll feel better.
Burnout is about not enough. If you are experiencing burnout you feel empty and mentally exhausted, devoid of motivation and beyond caring. People experiencing burnout often don’t see any hope of positive change in their situations.
Burnout is a sign that you have been putting your energy in all the wrong places and that you are neglecting something that is truly important to you. Often it is you. You’ve been so busy looking after everyone and everything else, that you have no time for yourself.
To deal with burnout, there is an urgent necessity for awareness, which is called the ‘three R’ approach.
Recognise. Watch for the warning signs of burnout. If you find you are having more bad days than good, start taking note in your diary about how you are feeling and identifying what is impacting how you are feeling.
Reverse. Undo the damage by seeking support and managing stress. It’s so important not to try and manage everything on your own. Confide in your partner, family or friends or talk to your GP as a first point of call.
Resilience. Build your resilience to stress by taking care of your physical and emotional health. Learn to say no, create boundaries and ask for help. There are no prizes for martyrs. There are many simple actions you can take and lifestyle changes you can make that will have an impact.
Five tips for dealing with burnout
1. Turn to other people. Connecting with someone you respect and care for, and who makes you feel respected and cared for in return, is one of the fastest ways to relieve stress. Take steps to connect with the right people, people who will listen and not judge. Limit contact with negative people, connect with a cause that matters to you. Remember that random acts of kindness and actively giving is one of the best ways to feel better about the world.
2. Reframe the way you look at work. Changing job or career is usually far from being a practical solution, but whatever your situation, there are still steps you can take to improve your state of mind. Look for value in your work. Find more balance in your life. Carve out time for yourself daily – you need it .Remove yourself from the situation to get clarity.
3. Re-evaluate your priorities. Burnout is a sign that something important in your life is not working. Take time to think about your hopes, goals, and dreams. Are you neglecting something that is truly important to you? Listen to what it is. What do you need to change? Take little steps. Slow down and give yourself time to rest, reflect, and heal.
4. Make exercise a priority. It may be the last thing you feel like doing, but exercise is a powerful way to elevate your mood. Aim for 30 minutes or more a day or break into short, 10-minute bursts of activity. Even a 10-minute walk can improve your mood for two hours, and it is a great way to get some mental space to just be, in a world full of noise that demands your attention and focus.
5. Support your mood and energy with a healthy diet. Minimise sugar and refined carbs, caffeine, nicotine and alcohol. Eat more Omega-3 fatty acids to give your mood a boost, such as fatty fish like salmon or sardines, or seaweed, flaxseed and walnuts. Look after your body; provide it with the nutrients it needs to fuel it through the day rather than easy, temporary hits of energy.
If you feel you are on the verge of burnout, look at your stressors and priorities. Are you focusing and investing your energy on what’s most important to you?
Start to actively reduce your stress and share how you are feeling with someone.
Taking positive action now could save you from slipping further into burnout and help you regain your energy, focus, and sense of well-being and most importantly your happiness.
Source: https://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/burnout-prevention-and-recovery.htm#:~:text=Burnout%20is%20a%20state%20of,unable%20to%20meet%20constant%20demands