It is very common these days to feel extremely tired after long working hours. With the increasing strive to earn more and more, people work for endless hours without taking any long break which leads to tiring body language. Lacking enthusiasm is very usual in the cause of burnout. To be very precise about burnout, this term was first coined during 70’s. It was given by Dr. Herbert Freudenberger. Like the analogy of a burning house where you can’t really see much difference in the outer structure, but it gets burned and hollow from inside. Similarly, while going through the phase of burnout, people usually does not show any difference from outside, but they get void from inside. Like all the main resources and essentials of the house are consumed by the fire, burnout takes all the inner happiness and resources leaving a great space for emptiness inside a human.
Burnout is usually broken down into three stages, that is exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy. Under the stage of exhaustion, burnout leaves you extremely upset, and there is a struggle in concentration. Also, it often makes you sick and creates trouble in sleeping. Cynicism also is known as depersonalization which makes you feel alienated and isolated from others. It will create lack of engagement, and your socialization can get diminish. Finally, inefficacy as the term suggests refers to the lack of belief in yourself and your capabilities to perform your tasks well at your job. It then also affects your productivity and achievement. But it is important to know what actually causes burnout to people.
Workload: If you have extreme workload and not enough time to complete them, you probably feel burnout. It makes your abilities unsustainable, and your resources also go away. Overload of work leads to tired body language.
No Control: If your job or home is allowing you a level of autonomy which is needed, you might feel dominated. If you do not have control over what you are doing, it leads to lack of confidence.
No Reward Or Positive Feedback: When you are giving your best to work and that is not being appreciated, you usually lose that spirit of motivation. You feel invaluable to your employers when you are not recognized for your work.
Workplace Environment: The environment of the workplace should be comfortable to work in, so that you feel supportive and constructive. If the environment of the workplace is not transparent and full of gossip-mongers and destructive people, you will end up feeling in a cage.
No Fairness: Also, sometimes you have people in your life who are not worth giving your time. If they do not treat you with respect and act fair, you will feel an absence in their presence. Perceiving favoritism and cheating cannot be a foundation of a healthy life.
#1. Take Breaks
Burnout usually happens when you have excessive workload, and the capability to understand anymore goes away. Lack of understanding starts affecting the performance in every field. We tend to think that if we will have more work, the productively will increase; however that is not the right way to calculate productivity. You need some breaks to spend some time with yourself to have that energy back in you to perform better. Stepping away from your daily routine is very necessary once in awhile. You should provide some intervals between your professional and personal life to yourself.
#2. Do What You Like
Instead of just crushing yourself with something you have been from a long time, take out time for something you actually love to do. There are always some things in everyone’s life which make them feel refreshed and new again. You should add some interesting activities to your routine which makes you look forward to something in your life apart from your work and personal life. Researchers have even shown that if you will do something which you love apart from your routine life, it will enhance your productivity.
#3. Manage Digital Devices
Before the technological era, it was so simple to sort the personal and professional life. Leaving work to office was mandatory and by default an easier way to differentiate your two lives from each other completely. But nowadays, people keep their devices with them almost all the time. Therefore it becomes so difficult to actually take out time for something you love. Work or other life is always in your pocket, and even when you are on a vacation, it will never leave you. You need to put away your digital devices or at least manage them in a way that they do not become a cage for you.
#4. Take Long Weekends
The time when you feel emotionally, physically or mentally exhausted is the signal that tells you to take a break from everything and enjoy some ‘me time.' When it comes to stress reduction, taking a long weekend or go for vacation which is the best idea. It refreshes your mind and body. Also as we discussed in the previous point, you need to manage your devices in between your vacations. If you will check your emails in between your vacation, there is no use of being on a weekend.
#5. Focus On Daily Care
It is very natural and easy to forget to take care of yourself when you are completely burned out. When you have got too much to handle, forgetting things you should be taking care of is a natural phenomenal as usual. At such situations, the last thing you realize to do is obviously taking proper care of yourself. However, the most important thing to not forget to do is to maintain your daily care. Stay hydrated, eat well, get proper sleep and exercise. The daily care should never be compromised to stay at least physically fit.
#6. Add Newness To Life
This probably seems a very counterintuitive idea but this actually works at the time of burnout. Routine life and hectic schedules can create monotony in your life. Indulging in some newness in the life can make it interesting and engaging. It is strange to hear, but adding something to your professional or personal life can change your life completely. Playing an instrument that you like, or probably taking a pet can bring newness into your life which will certainly reduce the effects of the burnout.
#7. Understand Your Burnout
It is extremely important to note down what is exactly wrong in your life which is creating a lot of mess. Spend significant time to figure out what went wrong and what are you currently doing. Once you know where is the exact problem lies, it will be very easy to get out of it efficiently. Figuring out the escape path is not that hard once you have a hold of the problem. After acknowledging the problem, finding the steps to the solutions will follow automatically. If you know the problem, you can start preparing the escape plan immediately.
#8. Avoid Any More Commitments Or Responsibilities
Resist yourself to take any more work or commitment to anything. Learn to say no for some time, at least at the time you are totally burned out. While you are on your stage to recover or finding a way to recover, you should avoid taking any responsibility and just relax as much as you can. Sometimes, there are things you can never get out of, but at least, you can try to divert your mind so that you are not extremely stressed out.
#9. Socialize
Now, this is an extremely significant point which people usually forget to do. Everyone prefers to be alone and busy at the time of a burnout. However, meeting people you love spending time with can cheer your mood instantly and make you happy in no time. It might not completely root out the stressful time, but it will definitely help you to get over it. Also, try and socialize out of your professional group. Hanging out with your professional friends is like taking work to home.
#10. Reinforce Yourself
In order to have a productive and better life, you need to feel motivated and positive all the time as it will release half of the problems. You need to reinforce yourself in order to feel positive and encouraged. Reinforcing yourself will help you more than anyone else does. Try and feel positive about yourself and embrace whatever you have. Explore your creativity as much as possible in order to know your potentials and capabilities.
#11. Change The Diet For Good
In order to keep your mind healthy, you need to keep your body healthy. Avoid the negative junk food from your stomach. A poor diet will not only mess with your body. It also messes with your mind. Improving your diet will keep your energy to arise that will lead to a better attitude towards life. A healthy life goes through a healthy diet.
These were some ways you can avoid or overcome your burnout. We hope to help you. Let us know what more you can suggest in the comment section below.
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