Burnout & Tips for Overcoming It

Burnout is a type of work-related stress that can bring on physical and emotional exhaustion. While burnout is not classified as a medical condition, it can have adverse effects on your health and wellbeing. If you think that you are experiencing burnout, here are some tips to try and help overcome it.

1. PINPOINTING THE CAUSE

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You should never ignore the signs of burnout. It could potentially lead to excessive stress and fatigue, insomnia, sadness, anger, irritability, heart disease, high blood pressure and more. Examine the stressors in your life and identify the root causes. Putting your finger on a reason is the first step toward ensuring it doesn’t happen again and helping to overcome one if reached. Try to determine what is causing you stress and acknowledge why you may be stressing about it.

2. FEELING A LACK OF CONTROL

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When you feel like you have no control over the decisions affecting your job, including your workload, schedule and day-to-day tasks, this can lead to long-term burnout. So, instead on focusing on the things that you can’t control, rather try and focus on the things that you can and make them into bite-sized, manageable bits. Organise your task, make checklists of the things you can complete and check them off when you do, organise your calendar. This will help you get a better sense of the tasks at hand and make you feel like you’re regaining control again.

3. UNCLEAR WORK DIRECTION

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Sometimes your work expectations may be unclear and you will be unsure of what direction to head and whether or not you may be doing your job correctly, which can lead to a great amount of stress. In this case set your own self-expectations and goals instead of waiting for someone to do so and then hold your self in your job to these standards. If it still bothers you, ask your manager to clearly define what is expected of you. Oftentimes they will appreciate the initiative you have taken in order to apply yourself the best you can in your job.

4. TOXIC WORKPLACE

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We spend most of our time in the workplace, therefore our work dynamics and relationships become important to maintain. Toxicity and dysfunction in the workplace can lead add to your stress significantly. Unfortunately we can’t change the people around us but try to change the way you spend time around those people instead. Set limits on how long you spend with people that make you feel more anxious or stressed and politely excuse yourself when you feel your limit has been reached. On the other hand try to spend more time with the people that make you feel comfortable and happy.

5. TAKE A BREAK

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Practice taking regular breaks when you are feeling overwhelmed, stressed or anxious. Go for a quick walk, or go have a bite to eat. Breaks will help alleviate the tension that you may feel starting to build up. Remember your health is important and you should make it a priority.

IMAGE CREDITS: Silvan Arnet, Matheus Ferrero, Oscar Keys, Andre Hunter, Oziel Gómez, Anna Shvets