I remember reading an article by a renowned psychiatrist that said: “There are two types of people in the world, those that are burnt out and those that don’t know they are burnt out.”
Whilst this may be a little exaggeration, in my world I am increasingly seeing a lot of people in or on the verge of burnout!
Life is busy, too busy! We all have so much to do with work and home, we are time poor, we have so many inputs and stimuli, we are always rushing from one thing to the next! And it doesn’t seem to stop!
Chronic unmanaged stress that goes on year after year leads to burnout!
Burnout is an elastic band! You can stretch an elastic band for only so long before it stays stretched and out of shape!
Burnout is not laziness! Burnout is a very real physiological and psychological issue.
THE 7 SIGNS THAT YOU ARE BURNOUT!
Disconnection - you stop wanting to interact with people. Family, friends and colleagues get pushed to the side. You just want to get your work done and be by yourself.
Emotional exhaustion - the littlest things upset, agitate or bother you. You become cynical, impatient or judgmental. Often those closest cop the brunt of it.
Lack of creativity - you just can’t think and solve problems at work and home. Simple things become hard. You have no creative spark!
Inability to gain pleasure - things you use to enjoy no longer interest you. You just want to watch TV, your phone or stay in bed!
Procrastination - you know what you want to do but just can’t act! You can’t make decisions and you often make excuses!
Self-care starts to disappear - you start making poor food choices - often high energy sugar foods to give you energy. These poor foods fire a vicious circle that just makes everything worse! You drink more. You stop exercising and moving. You stop looking after your appearance like shaving, cleaning your teeth or showering.
Physical exhaustion - you just have no energy. You feel fatigued. Brain fog. You can’t concentrate and are just totally unmotivated! You feel ‘blah’! You have a lack of self awareness and start to double down on the things that got you here in the first place.
Burnout is learnt helplessness! Time to to take back the power! Get you life and happiness back!
THE 10 STEPS TO BEATING BURNOUT!
No… don’t do them all at once!
Awareness - you have to stop, step back and look at your life. Be conscious of what you are doing, thinking and feeling. There is a very big chance your subconscious already knows. You just have to jump off the carousel for a minute and be aware and make the decision to take action.
Intentionally engage with another human being - make a weekly plan to catch up with friends or family. You have to plan it and put it in the diary! A coffee, game of cards, walk, golf, dinner! Just get some real meaningful connection time with people you enjoy being around.
Prioritizing your sleep - It is almost impossible to be burnout if you get 7 hours of QUALITY sleep per night. Having the same nightly bed time every night is the best tactic on earth!
Do something that you love every day - make a list of everything that makes you happy or you love to do and put them in your diary. Sunday night - bath. Tuesday night - cards. Thursday night - family dinner. Got the picture.
Learn how to say no - saying No is not selfish. If you want to show up as your best self to everyone you know then you have to learn to say NO! Because when you say ‘Yes’ to one thing you are saying ‘No’ to something else! ‘Yes’ to giving a seminar on the weekend might mean ‘No’ to watching your kids play sport. Choose wisely.
Schedule rest - you have to realise the world will not fall apart without you! You may be important, your job may be important but you are not indispensable! Schedule rest like walks in nature at lunch, a bath, a massage or even a weekend nap!
Move…often - People that exercise every day very seldom get burnout! Not only does exercise boost self pride and confidence but it stimulates very real feel good chemicals like BDNF (brain derived nutropic factor) and dopamine! Bottom line is that exercise and expending energy is the antidote to feeling tired, fatigued and ‘blah’.
Win the food battle - everything about your burnt out mood is going to compel you to eat high sugar calorie rich junk food! You have to commit to eat highly nutritious food based in meats, fruits and vegetables to give you the nutrients to fuel the ‘brain state’ you need to break out of the funk! It is hard but without good food you don’t have a chance!
Define the end of your workday - this one may be the most important. Call it ‘digital sunset’ or call it ‘shut down complete’ BUT pick a time which you 100% commit to stop working past. The evidence is with 9pm! No matter what!
Live to your core values - I have told you this before but the key to a happy and content life is living true to your values. Write them down. Assess your life and make the changes that ensure you are living an authentic life based around your values! PS - You will seldom find working to midnight every night in those values!
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