Burnt out?
Sunday night you look at the clock and wish there were more weekend minutes. Your alarm goes off Monday morning and you hit the snooze button, and hit it again and again. Your week drags by and here comes the weekend!…and there it went… now it’s time to start the week again.
Burnout, tiredness, exhaustion…it can be called different things but we all know the feeling. Good news is you can learn to recognize behaviors commonly described as “burnout” and take action to avoid it.
5 common signs of burnout:
Constantly feeling tired
Sometimes you wake up in the morning and you drag yourself out of bed. You have your coffee and still feel like you are trudging through the day. This is a sign that something is off.
Sleep and/or eating habits have changed
Sleeping too much or too little, eating too much or too little - all are signs of burnout. Anything off of your regular routine should be an indicator that you may be reaching a point of burnout.
You response to “How are you?” is something along the lines of “Hanging in there…”
Do you ever try to quickly search for a more positive response to a greeting but at the pivotal moment say “fine” or “I’m ok”? Would you rather say “Great!” and really mean it? If you notice this pattern you might be approaching the point of burnout.
Have trouble staying positive
Pay attention to your conversations you have at work, with family and friends. Are they productive and enjoyable conversations that make you feel happy? Or are they conversations that include complaining about your frustrations? If most of your conversations include complaints, negative thoughts and feelings, you might be nearing burnout.
Headaches or other body aches
Of course any body aches may be indicative of something else, but they can also be part of burnout. Sometimes burnout shows itself in the form of increased headaches. Or maybe you feel it in your shoulders and neck area. Or maybe your hands and feet. Sometimes what we are feeling mentally can be felt physically so paying attention to how you feel physically is just as important as how you feel mentally.
While burnout can look different for everyone it should be taken seriously and addressed as soon as you see changes in your lifestyle or attitude.
5 Ways to address burnout before it happens:
Be self-aware
Attending to your own thoughts, feelings and actions is critical in avoiding burnout. Notice how different things make you feel and that will usually be a good indicator if it is something to stay with (because you feel good about it) or to stop or change (because you feel bad about it).
Keep a routine that is manageable and goal directed
Even the most free spirits can benefit from some routine. Routines set expectations. If you know what to expect it lessens the variability that might be contributing to burnout. Your routine can be as flexible or strict as you want it to be. Only you know what is best for you. If your routine is helping you meet your goals then you are on the right track. If it is not helping you meet your goals you know you need to change something.
Build rewards into your routine
This sounds simple and can be the funnest part about making your routine. Maybe you like beach trips, or hiking, or hanging with friends. All of these are some great downtime activities. Scheduling a weekend hike or monthly camping trip will give you something to look forward to.
Compartmentalize and turn off notifications when you don’t need them
We’ve all done it. You’re at the dinner table or out with friends, you check your phone and see that red dot that there’s a new message for work. You begrudgingly check it and that leads to email you “need to send now,” which leads to waiting for the response and it snowballs into a 30 minute distraction. Feeling like you are “always on” creates little time to enjoy whatever activity you are currently doing. By compartmentalizing you are always in the moment, doing whatever you planned to do in that moment. Silence your work notifications while at dinner with family so you can focus on dinner with family. Refrain from checking social media at work so you can focus on work. By compartmentalizing we are being our most productive selves in the moment and avoid feeling constantly pulled in all directions.
Focus on a healthy lifestyle
Lastly and probably one of the most important areas to address, or even avoid, burnout is to focus on a healthy lifestyle. A “healthy lifestyle” includes three areas: sleep, nutrition and exercise. And as we get older these become more important to maintain a good balance. How do you find that balance? Trial and error until you get it right. So many times people jump on fad bandwagons only to fall off and end up right back where they started. You need to find what works for you. Maybe 6 instead of 8 hours of sleep a night is where your sweet spot is. Jotting down how you feel when you wake up and throughout the day will provide feedback on how many hours are “enough.” Daily exercise is also good for the mind and body, but maybe you cannot fit it into your daily routine. No need to worry because, luckily, recent studies suggest that focusing on the weekly amount is where it’s at, because we can all miss that day here and there. Find out a healthy lifestyle that you can maintain, because it’s all about maintenance.
Now that you have a bit more insight into how to address and even avoid burnout, take a quick review of how your day to day is impacting your mind and body. Use the areas above to make any needed changes and embrace life! If you need some guidance beyond this information contact us and we can help! Go to out website, mytikuscompany.com and fill out our “contact us” page. One of our life coaches are here for you!
