2020...The Year of the Burnout!
Preventing Burnout!
Let’s explore what to do when everything becomes extremely difficult and you’re more exhausted than ever... because let’s face it…. 2020 has been rough!
Burnout is something WE ALL experience in some form throughout our lives. You could get burnt out from work, a relationship, life in general, or even the pandemic. It’s an extended period of stress that feels like it just won’t end and negatively affects your wellbeing. Learning to identify and manage it will help avoid potential harmful effects.
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Burnout is not an uncommon struggle, it can be hard to keep up with the daily stresses life hands you but when stress becomes a constant feeling, it’s time to check in with yourself.
Here are some signs and symptoms that indicate you’re burning out:
Low energy levelsLittle to no motivation
Disconnected from relationships
Exhaustion both physically and mentally
Irritability, anger, and pessimism
More susceptible to illness
Feeling overwhelmed and unable to accomplish tasks you once could
Increased use of alcohol, food, and/or drugs
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1. Honeymoon Stage
This stage is identified by high levels of satisfaction, energy, and creativity. This is when we are working off adrenaline! This could be within any aspect of your life from work to relationships. What’s important here is developing coping strategies to deal with inevitable stress. If the coping strategies are adaptive and beneficial for your wellbeing, you will be able to stay in this stage, but it is uncommon to be in it forever. It is not sustainable!
2. Beginning of Stress Stage
This stage comes apparent when you realize that things aren’t always great and some days are easier to manage than others. The stress starts to take its toll and can start distorting your positive outlook and high levels of energy.
You may notice yourself feeling more: anxious, fatigued, irritable, forgetful, less productive, less satisfied with life, difficultly falling and/or staying asleep, headaches, grinding teeth, and skimping out on your self-care and needs.
3. Chronic Stress Stage
This is a more intense and long-lasting stage compared to stage 2. The stress you felt before now is almost never ending and taking a serious toll.
You experience more severe forms of the symptoms from stage 2.
Some examples include: aggressive behaviors, social withdraw, decreased libido, unable to accomplish tasks, feeling out of control, irritability, chronic fatigue, and anxiety or depression.
4. Burnout Stage
This stage is the turning point where symptoms become critical and must be addressed. This is the stage that gets referred to the most when discussing burnout. The symptoms intensify even more and have a grave impact on your physical and mental health.
Possible indicators of this stage include: chronic headaches, complete neglect of your own needs, isolation, feelings of emptiness, obsessing over problems, cynical view, escapist mentality, and other behavior changes.
5. Habitual Burnout
When the symptoms of burnout have become extremely embedded in your daily functioning and have become so severe that you’re more likely to experience emotional or physical problems than just stress or burnout. -
1. In life, it’s important to find meaning in what you do, whether at work or in your daily functioning. Life is going to be stressful and it’s important to be prepared to handle the bad days so they don’t become bad weeks, months, or even years. Knowing why you choose to struggle though the bad days helps make it a bit easier to manage. If you aren’t finding meaning or purpose in work, that is OKAY, but where else can you find this in your life?
2. Having a list, mental or physical, of healthy coping strategies to deal with stress. These kinds of strategies could be taking a bath, reading, watching your favorite show, eating your favorite food, doing a skin-care routine, washing your sheets, going for a walk, ect…
3. It’s important not to overload yourself. Set boundaries to follow and make sure to take breaks regularly when doing any sort of task. This could even be applied to relationships that are causing a lot of strain—take time for yourself and a break to relax if you feel overwhelmed.
For example, if you’re having trouble meeting a deadline at work and you almost never miss a deadline, it’s important to vocalize your struggles and talk with your boss. You can explain your mental distress, anything going on, and that you either need help or an extension. It doesn’t make you weak or less of a person or a bad employee, in fact, it’s more responsible to get help on a task rather than force yourself to work when you’re struggling than to risk physical and mental deterioration.
4. Reaching out to loved ones is another way to alleviate stress. They can support you in any way they can that you would need, you don’t have to deal with everything on your own because it’s just going to strain you.
5. Self-care is crucial. Do what you can to make yourself feel good and taken care of. Think about your needs and how you can meet them. Meeting your own needs is important before you try and meet anyone else’s. Whether that be getting your hair or nails done, having comfortable clothes that make you feel confident, or even just taking a shower once a day it’s important to take care of yourself.
When you know you’re burnt out do what you can to get back to stage 1. Treat yourself with gentleness and understanding, you’re a human being and no one expects you to be perfect. -
The best way to prevent burnout is by taking time for yourself. When you notice yourself feeling stressed or overly anxious you take time to relax and understand why you feel that way and what can be done about it. Writing feelings in a journal or creative outlet (i.e. art, music, dance…) is a great way to manage and understand you stress and emotions. It can feel counterintuitive to care for yourself, because one symptom of burn out is feeling like you already don’t have enough time in the day to do everything… but taking time for yourself can help you be more productive and efficient rather than spinning your wheels for hours!
You can reward yourself after a hard day with something you enjoy, like a good meal or nap. Burnout happens when you let stress overtake your life, do everything you can to keep it at bay!
Do something for someone else! Small acts of kindness help reignite the spark within. It makes you feel good when you help someone else feel good. Spread positivity and love and it will come back to you,
Exercise!! Exercising whether it be a full gym workout or a walk around the neighborhood does wonders for both your physical and mental health. When you notice yourself feeling stressed, go do something active that you love! It will release feel-good endorphins in your body that reduce stress.
Communicate your struggles with loved ones. You aren’t alone, social support is extremely important. You may be able to vent your problems or find ways to get help in managing your struggles. Either way it’s important to be vocal about what’s going on internally so others know how to help or what you need. No one can read your mind but you! -