The term “burnout” is a pretty recent phenomenon and it refers to “ a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed (WHO, 2019).” Burnout can manifest in three “dimensions” according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).
- Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
- Increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job.
- Reduced professional efficacy.
Often the symptoms of burnout are persistent throughout an extended period of time and are not a one-off incident. One telltale sign is having a perfect sleep schedule, yet still feeling tired, unable to concentrate, and cynical at work.
Cases of burnout have increased exponentially throughout the past three years due to COVID-19. There’s been tremendous strain put on the workforce; not only having to adjust to a new mode of remote work but also dealing with ailing family members. Women and minority groups have suffered the brunt of this burden. According to the McKinsey report Impact of COVID-19 on Women’s Employment, women were more likely to quit the workforce than men during the pandemic and experienced heightened exhaustion, burnout, and pressure.
The last two years have been particularly rough for me as well. I’ve seen the residual impact of COVID affect many of those close to me. Plus, working remotely wasn’t entirely healthy, but if you want to read about that ordeal in detail, make sure you check out this post.
Not addressing burnout from the start is a slippery slope. It opens the gates to a life where boundaries cannot be formed nor maintained. Contrary to the belief that the “busy” person is the most successful; being busy with the wrong things can actually lead to further detriment than success. I’ve experienced this “busy” syndrome too many times myself. More on that here.
This post will be dedicated to helping you, as an already busy individual, avoid burnout so you can tackle life’s challenges and accomplish your goals one by one, without going through periods of complete darkness and immobility. I hope you find this helpful because I wish someone was there to guide me when I was undergoing these vicious cycles of denial with burnout. In partnership with Lauren Barri from laurenbarri.com, we bring you ten bulletproof ways to avoid burnout. Please make sure to stay till the end so you can read her helpful insights too.
1.Take your vacation days (or self-prescribed vacations if you’re an entrepreneur/freelancer..etc)
Most of the time people think vacations provide time for rest and replenishment. I don’t know about you but I somehow stay pretty busy throughout vacations, but in ways that don’t involve my laptop (physical sightseeing, partying, exploring, dancing..etc). To me, the purpose of a vacation is to bring you out of your usual bubble. In the day-to-day, because we consistently have to be somewhere — that somewhere is work or school, our life tends to become all about work. The majority of our days are eaten up by work. And the more you’re surrounded by work, the more your thoughts and identity get warped around quarterly targets and other performance metrics. This is an even more damning cycle if you’re self-employed. We start thinking about the targets or results we’re not seeing over the weekend and fidget over brand strategy while we’re brushing our teeth. When I go on vacation, I freaking let go.
For a few days, I let myself completely tune out of my “work” life. The result of this is the creation of a healthy line between work and my identity. Do we see a boundary guys???(I’m squinting!). You begin to take work less seriously, because at the end of the day, we’re working to pay the bills, and we’re allowed to enjoy the great gift, that is life, outside of work.
2.Timeblock for leisure between work sessions
Setting aside time throughout the day for rest can help improve your memory and concentration. Personally, I’ll go for runs at noon, and when I get back home I’ll set aside time to go to the pool and/or the gym and completely “zone out” in whatever I’m doing.
I am not hopping back on my laptop until later that night, sometimes even after dinner. I find that this increases my productivity during those work sessions, and even causes them to become shorter. Shorter work sessions don’t mean you’re getting less done; in fact, the opposite is true. Your concentration and motivation become higher after rest periods, so you can go harder at a task and get it done in a shorter amount of time. It’s like playing an intensive sport; your muscles are naturally going to get fatigued if you’re sprinting for an hour straight. Your speed will likely decline after the first couple of sprints. That recovery time is crucial, and the same applies to the biggest muscle you have: Your brain.
3.Adapt to an earlier wake-up time
Over the year, this has been the hardest but most effective habit I’ve found in my overall motivation, energy, and productivity. The early bird really does catch the worm. But how does it aid in burnout you might ask?
Waking up early is the catalyst to igniting this domino effect, which is extremely powerful on your self-concept and motivation. The earlier you wake up, the more things you’re able to accomplish. I’m not talking about hard tasks either. It can be as simple as having ten-fifteen minutes to brew your coffee or (matcha) in peace. It can be half an hour to sneak in a workout before a hectic day. It can be journaling, meditating, or drafting an outline for a blog/newsletter. It’s YOU time, and that feeling of watching the world come to life in its blisters of colour is precious.
It may seem counterintuitive, but this is energy.
I find in life when you get into a phase of momentum, you don’t feel like stopping. You can find a bit of that every day just by not hitting the snooze button for the fifth time.
I’m sure we all experienced rushing out the door, with no coffee, hair barely done. You just feel frazzled, terrible, moody, and tired. This translates into more frustration at the office, or school. The hack to not feeling terrible in the morning is simply by going to bed earlier and waking up earlier. It’s called the 5 am club not the 10 am club for a reason.
4.Get good at saying no
Become an expert at saying no, and not in a snobbish way, but in a practical, self-aware way. I want to stress that the moment you say yes to one obligation or a person, you’re saying “I’m going to remove X percentage of effort, time, energy” from another person or obligation. Pick your poison wisely. It’s mentally less taxing and more rewarding to focus on improving or building one thing; than multiple.
And you might come back and say to me, well I’m just going to waste that time anyway. Sometimes, that “time wasted” is necessary replenishment for the bigger goals in life you have to conquer. Don’t think of it as time wasted; think of it as downtime. It’s all part of the fuel, baby.
5.Follow your intuition
It’s unrealistic to give 100% of your energy every day. All we can do is try our best. Some days we can give more than others. Women especially are biologically wired to require more rest on certain days of the month. Instead of being hard on yourself, leave early that day, because you know you’ll have more energy to give the next. Somedays I work 7 hours, and others I work 9-10. I’m not a robot that can work the same hours day in and day out.
When you feel like you’re on edge, extra fatigued, or breaking down- let yourself pull back. Take a mental health day. Do absolutely nothing, or everything you truly want to do. Whether that’s binge-watching a show, dancing until your ankles hurt, or sprawling out in the sun with a book. Life is too damn short to subject yourself to unproductive pain.
To be continued….
I hope you gleaned something from the first five tips, now make sure you hop on over to www.laurenbarri.com for the next five to complete your ten!
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