Burnout is real. While I talk about self-care mostly from the perspective of parents ANYONE can experience burnout. We live in a culture that glorifies overworking ourselves. We glorify "the grind" but there's nothing glamorous about working yourself to death. I've gotten much better at realizing that I'm close to burnout before I actually get there.
Signs you're close to burnout:
- physical and/or emotional exhaustion
- frustration
- short temperedness
- feeling resentment for helping others
- being unable to focus
- experiencing anxiety at the onset of any new responsibilities
Burnout can sneak up on the best of us. We juggle so many things and can find ourselves overwhelmed without noticing it coming on. If you realize you're close to burnout here are some good things to do.
How to deal with burnout:
Offload Responsibilities (ask for help)
Offload responsibilities in the long term or the short term. For the short term - ask your spouse for extra assistance with the children, ask your boss to adjust deadlines if possible, ask your co-workers for assistance with your tasks. In the long term - consider stepping down from a volunteer position or moving down from leadership to just a member in one of your groups or clubs.
Make Plans for Disconnection
Set a plan. Actually schedule your rest and relaxation. This gives you something to look forward to, which can help with getting through feelings of burnout, even if you can't rest right away. Scheduling your downtime also ensures that you get the time you need to recharge to stave off burnout in the future.
Don't Forget Your Basic Needs
Feeling like you have the world on your shoulders can make you neglect your basic needs, which just brings about burnout faster. Make sure you're eating. Make sure you're sleeping. Make sure you're getting some sort of small respite from responsibilities, even something as simple as a walk around the block.
How do you know when you're burned out? What do you do when you're feeling burned out?
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"Short temperedness" is the big one for me! And disconnection is usually the best answer. It's helpful to remember that no matter how busy I am, I can take 15 minutes away from the problem and it's fine.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. Nothing will burn down if we take a break. My big one is usually feeling resentment for helping others.
DeleteI am... pretty close to some serious burnout myself. Today, I slept until 2:30pm (I know, privileges of not yet being a parent), & honestly, I needed it so badly that I'm not even going to begin to feel guilty. Thanks for these tips!
ReplyDeleteSometimes the only thing that can reset you is sleep!
DeleteThat's nice. It was a fine article.
ReplyDeleteUFABET
Thank you for this kind of great information.
ReplyDeleteUFABET
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