Burnout, now there’s a place no one wants to go to!
It seems that every generation has more stress in life to cope with. Some stress is vital because the adrenalin keeps us going but too much stress in our lives is toxic. Left unchecked, it will wreak havoc on what you’ve worked hard to build. While stress can be managed, and leveraged to help you, once it pushes you over the edge into burnout it can be hard to stuff that genie back into the bottle. It seems to have happened to lots of those I know and is all too often becoming more frequent.
I know I’ve been there! To avoid burnout we need to take a look at our lives and make time for us. If we’re not strong in what we do then eventually we fail or face set backs, either way we lose out.
So how can it be avoided and what are the signs?
My own research and personal experience of burnout suggests that there are four main signs which start with your work and personal life balance being out of sync. Life whether work, family and personal time is full of ups and downs. The challenge is to make sure that we fill our lives with more ups, like spending time with those who support us (our family and friends). These people will see the signs and they’ll also be sure to point it out. We also need to watch our diet and eat healthily. Five portions of fruit and veg? Its more like nine! Getting rest and good quality sleep (that’s at least for seven hours) is also essential. Doing this will help us look good and feel good and if we look good and feel good we’ll react differently to the things that get us down such as, anger, home stress, worrying, even clutter! If we’re having more downs than ups then our life balance needs addressing with more ups!
The second sign is when anger and anxiety become our ‘signature emotions’. For me those around me knew I’d hit this one but I couldn’t see it. I was becoming more frustrated about stuff that wasn’t important and about the things I was doing. It made me more angry with myself. I felt that some of those around me were taking advantage of me. If you find yourself going all the way to anger or anxiety all too quickly – the reaction may have more to do with burnout and less with what’s actually happening in the moment. So beware and take note because I failed to see the signs.
The third sign is when conflicts with loved ones, colleagues and friends become an everyday obstacle. Conflicts are both the result of stress and a major contributing cause. If you’re fighting, that means there’s still time and energy to address what’s not working and why. Step back and do something positive for others, you’ll feel good and they’ll feel good too.
When your passion becomes your pain and your no longer enthusiastic about what you do, its the final sign that you could have hit burn out. You need to find a way to reignite your potential, and your passion.
Use your time off to unplug from work and plug into the people and activities that give you energy, not drain you of it. You don’t have to run yourself into the ground to know that it’s time for some R&R—nor should you. And you can only get there by taking your foot off the accelerator once in a while, otherwise that engine is going to wear out, which means you wear out!
So avoid destination burnout because it could be around the corner for all of us!
alisoncrossjones 