Did you know that signs of burnout showed a 24% increase through 2020 compared to the previous year? In a perfect, stress-free world, mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion would never occur as a result of chronic stress. Unfortunately, that’s not the world that most people live in … but it can be.
Using tricks to avoid burnout isn’t just convenient for your mental state, it’s necessary to keeping you excited and focused. Your work should not just be something you have to do, it should be something you get to do. There will always be those stressful moments, but by keeping yourself in the right headspace, these moments won’t last so long that your whole life becomes one giant ball of stress. Let’s look at some of our top tips for avoiding burnout, and more importantly, staying passionate about what you do every day.
Identify the five stages.
The first step to preventing burnout is being able to recognize the signs. Originally, American psychologist Herbert Freudenberger came up with 12 stages of burnout, which was later simplified into the following five:
- The Honeymoon Phase: You love what you do, you’re full of enthusiasm, and you’re feeling extremely productive. Life is good.
- Onset of Stress: A few (or several) days feel stressful. You neglect your usual self-care and make work your number one priority, oftentimes over seeing friends or family.
- Chronic Stress: Your performance and productivity start to plummet due to stress. You find it hard to regulate your emotions, you procrastinate often, and you’re feeling out of control.
- Burnout: By neglecting to realize the first four signs, you’ve made it to full burnout mode. It’s hard to cope with work demands, you’re constantly tired, and you’ve developed self-doubt and an overall negative outlook on your work and maybe even your life.
- Habitual Burnout: This is when burnout starts to invade all parts of your life, including personal relationships.
The key is to catch yourself when moving into those early phases and using tactics to keep yourself moving in the right direction. Keep reading for some of our favorite ways to do it!
Pick something you love.
Research suggests that 66% of employees worldwide are either not engaged or actively disengaged in their career. How many of those people do you think are working toward burnout?
Mark Twain once said, “Find a job you enjoy doing and you will never have to work a day in your life.” For you, it might be owning your own business, writing, or working with people. Whatever it is, the key to avoiding burnout is to fill your time with the things you genuinely want and love to do.
Some people may have stuck with the dream career they had since they were 5 years old, and others may be 45 and still have no idea what they want to do with their life. Both are great! If you’re feeling a bit stuck and unsure of your passion, read this article for some help figuring it out.
Put yourself first.
Being goal-oriented is never a bad thing, but be careful that you’re not sacrificing your well-being as a result. Prioritizing self-care and keeping up with all the activities you like to do outside of your work helps you keep the balance in your life. We have a few ideas of activities that might help:
- If you’re sick, stay home and rest!
- Try exercising before you start the day. You’ll be tempted to hit the snooze button, but if you get your workout in early, you’ll notice more energy and a clearer mind as you go through your day.
- Don’t be afraid to take a break. Stretch, take a walk, or actually go on your lunch break.
We all crave that feeling of jumping out of bed in the morning and being excited for the day. Does this sound completely unrealistic for you? It might be time to examine whether you’re working toward burnout and start using our tips to reverse it!
Looking for ways to surround yourself with a winning team? We shared our tips in this post … check it out now!
