Have you ever woken up on a Monday morning and exclaimed to yourself – “oh no, not again!” It starts off sinisterly, like on one unassuming Sunday afternoon. Our heart starts to fill with dread at the thought of coming to work tomorrow. And when tomorrow finally rolls in, you drag yourself out of bed and try to fake energy and enthusiasm with a cup of coffee. You somehow manage to get yourself to the office and hunker down to work but lose your focus and get annoyed at the slightest work interruption.
If this keeps happening, then it’s no longer normal work stress. It is a burnout. You might not believe it, seeing as you love your job so much. But even those who have passion for their jobs are not immune to experiencing burnouts. If you’re one of them, you are not alone.
A Deloitte marketplace survey says 77% of 1000 respondents experience employee burnout at their current job. In a culture where busy is a badge of honor and constant exhaustion is the new normal, it is no surprise that many employees are wildly careening towards a big crash n’ burn. So how do you get yourself back on track? Here are 3 tips to “cure” a burnout, realistically.
Get your time back
Being busy leaves us with no time for self-reflection. So you work your way through the day and power through without a second thought about how you are feeling. You then slowly but steadily move out of sync with your emotional state. Over time, your emotional tank gets by on being half full (or almost empty) and that is a sure way that leads to burnout.
Don’t wait until your tank is empty before you practice self-care. Pause and take a physical and mental break. Reflect on how you’re feeling. Are you running on fumes? Refuel your tank by getting food, taking a break, packing up for the day, writing a to-do list, or just deep breathing for a while.
Detach yourself from work
When you leave the office at 6pm, are you done for the day or do you take work home? Being constantly connected means you never miss a thing, but it also means you never truly leave work behind – you just change venues. If you take work home, check your email during weekends, work on that project while on vacation, or answer business calls in the car, you’re constantly working without breaks. So why do you wonder why you’re so exhausted?
Learn to set personal boundaries. Know when work is over and personal time begins. Set hard stop times. And please, for the love of all that’s fun, mentally detach yourself from work at the end of each workday and take your weekends back.
The incredibly satisfying art of doing nothing
Technology is an amazing thing. We now have an app for everything. This is why we never get bored. If you own a smartphone, you’ll always have something to do. Check your social media feeds, watch the news, play a game, pay your bills, shop online, plan your next vacation, listen to music, or even take online courses. There is no shortage of things to keep you busy. No one is really doing nothing. We’re all busy doing productive or quasi productive things, especially on our mobile devices. But even if we’re doing these things to pass the time, it really doesn’t help us with much needed physiological and psychological replenishment. So do yourself a favor, schedule a time in your busy workday to just nothing for at least 5mins. Your brain will thank you.
How do you beat work burnout? Let us know in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today.
Written by Jaie O. TheHelp