Work Burnout: How To Prevent It From Getting Worse

Are you a workaholic? Struggling with taking too much on and then get overwhelmed and stressed out? Having a hard time finding balance? Trying to be everything for everyone? You’re not alone!

Most of us have days when we feel helpless, overwhelmed, and when we have to force ourselves to get out of bed, or even just to smile. However, if you feel like that most of the time, you may be in the process of work burnout.

Before we go any further, let’s check quickly:

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Are you exhausted all the time?
Do you feel like your every day is a bad day?
Do you feel a lack of satisfaction and sense of accomplishment?
Are you taking your frustration out on others?
Do you feel like you can’t keep up with others at work?
Are you facing sleeping problems?

If you answered most of these questions with a yes, consider it as a signal that you’re in a burnout process.

Luckily, there are ways you can bring back joy and balance in your life, with just a little will-power from your side.

The most important thing here to know is this: Don’t ever think that you’re feeling like this because you’re not good enough for the job you’re doing. Even the most successful people, the one you look up to, have been here. It’s a learning process.

That being said, we’ll talk about how to deal and recover from burnout in a minute, but first, let’s explain the difference between stress and burnout.

The difference between stress and burnout

People often identify burnout with stress, when they are actually 2 different things. Because it’s important for you to know what caused your current condition, read the following.

The simplest explanation would be that stress is caused by too much work and pressure, while burnout is caused by not dealing with stress and anxiety that comes from it.

If you’re dealing with too much work and find it hard to be well-organized, I suggest you take on this Ultimate Productivity Bundle that will help you find the energy to be productive instead of burning out. It’s a collection of ebooks and planners (and much more) with great tips for setting clear goals and creating productive routines. You can learn more about it here.

Too much work makes you overwhelmed and stressed out. As a result of not doing anything about it, it piles up and your body and mind can’t handle it anymore at the level it used to, and the process of burnout starts.

The definition of burnout is:

Burnout is a state of emotional, mental and physical exhaustion caused by excessive stress.

How to prevent burnout

Burnout is mainly associated with hard-working and successful people. Above all, they are so committed to their work and focus only on achieving work-related goals, that they forget about the inevitable self-care part of success.

Again, because I just can’t say it enough, taking care of yourself is not selfish, but it’s an absolute necessity.

If you are not taking care of yourself, you may end up not having the strength to do anything. Moreover. negative effects of stress burnout can spill over in every aspect of your life: your family, friends, and work.

The tricky part of burnout is that it comes quietly, so it may take a while before you notice it. Since the signs and symptoms at the beginning are subtle, you may attribute it to a bad day or a week. As time passes, the signs become more obvious and worse.

The truth is that every bad emotion requires your attention. If it lasts for just a few days, that’s great. But if it’s longer than that, you need to focus a bit more on how to solve it and get rid of it.

By not paying attention, you’re leading yourself to a burnout that is caused by stress that you ignore

The Symptoms of Burnout*

Physical signs of burnout are:

Feeling exhausted most of the time
Lowered immunity
Frequent headaches
Change in appetite or sleep habits

Emotional signs of burnout are:

The feeling of failure and self-doubt
Sense of helplessness and loss of motivation
Having a cynical and negative point of view
Lack of satisfaction and sense of accomplishment

Behavioral signs of burnout are:

Running away from responsibility
Isolating yourself from others

Taking out your frustrations on others
Procrastinating

*Source: HelpGuide.org

How to deal with burnout

Burnout can have extreme effects and it’s no joke. Fortunately, you can overcome it with a proper self-care and by taking positive steps.

Finding words of comfort. You may be surprised, but one of the most effective ways to deal with burnout is reaching out to others.

You can regain positive thoughts and hope by talking with a friend who is a good listener. Sometimes we just need to get it out of our system. It doesn’t mean that your friend will “fix” you. She simply has to be a good listener. Someone who will listen to you carefully without judging.

Another great way to get out of stress burnout is to do something that brings you joy and makes you feel valuable. Maybe you used to work out, but stopped because you didn’t have time. If that’s the case, simply start again.

Or maybe you enjoyed cooking or baking, but you were so focused on work that you forgot about the things that make you happy. To bring back that spark, cook a lovely meal for your family and friends. Think about what brings you joy and start doing something about it.

Change your point of view. Changing your attitude toward work and life, in general, can help you restore the sense of purpose and control. When we believe in something, we always look for the signs to prove we’re right. It’s simply in our nature.

For example, if you choose to look at things in a positive way (even in a negative situation!), you’ll be focused on good things that are going on around you and there will be no room for negativity to suck the energy out of you.

Practice self-care daily. The only thing you can offer to the world is yourself. To give your best, you need to take care of yourself. For the list of self-care tips working woman should follow, read this article.

Step away from negative people. Sometimes you just have to say no. Without a doubt, this is that time. Even when we’re in a good place in our lives, negative people have an enormous power to squeeze out everything positive from us. Now is not the time to think about what will they think about you if you avoid them. Now it’s time to think about yourself.

Activate your get-out system. Get-out systems are made for situations like stress burnout is. It is something that is not part of your daily routine, like meeting a friend you haven’t seen in a while, going to a spa or out of town.

For it to work, it’s important to have the right mindset. For example, if you choose to go to a spa, tell yourself this: I’m going to the spa, I want to relax and this will make me feel great. I’m so happy I’m doing it.

Conclusion

Burnout is not the worse thing that can happen to you. Fortunately, there are many ways to recover from it and you are just about to make it happen. Keep in mind that burnout came slowly, so it’s probably not going to go away in a day.

The good news is that, with the help of your family and friends and, most importantly, your will-power, you can get it out of your system much faster than it came.

Got any questions or advice for others who are dealing with burnout? We’d love to hear it. Just comment below with your thoughts.