Burnout
Burnout is a topic that comes up again and again - and in fact not just within the corporate world. When stress becomes too much we experience overwhelm, we lose sight of our needs and we hit a wall. Over the last two years there may have been times where we feel we’ve been running on empty. Burnout is a real and ongoing concern, and it is the #1 challenge facing many today. Experiencing burnout is more than just feeling horribly tired, it is a complete exhaustion at the physical, emotional, and mental level. So how can we begin to address, prevent, and recover?
The correlation between stress and burnout.
In the 1970’s Herbert Feudenberger coined the term ‘Burnout’. His definition of it has 3 key characteristics:
Overwhelming feeling of exhaustion.
Feeling of cynicism, along with frustration and anger, that lead to detachment from your job.
A sense of ineffectiveness or failure.
Chronic stress and lack of management can have a very serious impact on our health and our lives. Research has shown that burnout can be detrimental to personal relationships, cause anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and that’s’ just for starters. It’s also been found to be a significant predictor of type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, coronary heart disease, gastrointestinal issues, respiratory problems, and even a predictor of death in those under the age of 45.
Interestingly, in more recent studies, it has been concluded that burnout causes neuroplastic changes in our brain, making it hard for us to cope with stressful scenarios. This eventually leads to structural changes in brain anatomy and cognition and can produce such measurable changes in the brain and nervous system that it’s something that, if present, we want to do everything we can to address it.
Prevention
We could write a whole book on stress and burnout prevention, and while burnout is not simply the result of insufficient self-care, working with yourself is a good place to start from. Here are 5 principles that could serve as a guiding light:
Prioritise time each day to rest and do things that re-energise you.
Plan to get better and more restorative sleep, (See my top sleep tips blog).
Incorporate playfulness and pleasure into your life to nourish your mental and physical wellbeing.
Get out in nature and totally disconnect from technology at some point each day.
Plan to spend time with loved ones, friends, family and people that you can confide in and make you feel supported.
Seems simple, yet I know in a world burdened with over demand it can seem like an uphill battle. Determining what and how things can work for you is very bio-individual. What works for one person may not for another. Working with a mentor or a coach can be beneficial support and enable you to identify what strategies will be best suited to you and your needs. Overall it’s good to remember small shifts and incremental changes can make a huge difference. Building up from small steps will help re-energise you, reduce stress and increase your focus.
Managing Burnout
Another characteristic of burnout are mood imbalances. Feelings of cynicism, frustration, and anger. All signs that our fundamental needs are not being met. There are many tools you could choose to help counteract this, and again you’ll need to experiment to find what works best for you, but mindfulness and mindset play a big part as a whole.
If we think of our daily capacity as battery power, our commitments and demanding activities deplete our battery charge, but some activities work to recharge us. If we don’t make time for the activities that recharge, our battery runs down and we reach empty. If that happens you start to struggle and eventually shut down.
To really gain perspective on how just shifting our mindset can enable big shifts, I really appreciate the thought behind this saying “The quality of our experience is determined by the focus of our attention.” That’s to say, focusing on what’s strong, and not what’s wrong creates a general optimism to our everyday life. It begins to define the quality of our overall experiences and motivates us towards making positive changes that will impact our wellbeing.
If you are running on empty, feeling like you’re failing, anxious and constantly struggling, feeling lost and unmotivated, you’re likely in the red zone. It’s true that we’ve been through some tough times during this Covid period and that there’s a lot of things happening that are outside of our control. That’s one of the most stressful experiences for human beings to have. So give yourself some space, cultivate self compassion and understanding, make allowances for what you deeply need.
We’ve been living with a huge sense of threat, not just from a virus, but from how restrictions have impacted our lives economically, socially, politically, globally. Those are big threats that we don’t necessarily have an effective response to and it adds yet another massive stress layer. So I just want to take a moment again and acknowledge that. Consider that we are all doing the best we can, with what we have from where we are. And that’s the best you can do.
There are some steps that we could all take, even in situations where we have these large, looming threats, that will help us gain some breathing space. Personally, one thing I intentionally try each day is to spend only 10 minutes scanning news and headlines, and make that be enough to keep me informed but not overwhelmed. I believe it’s really, really important in a time where there is this much stress and uncertainty, to remember to continue to live our lives in the light, to celebrate our own personal milestones and achievements, however small. To continue to make room for meaningful play, for comic relief and have fun. Intentionally put down the weight of the media and simply connect with what’s around you. Focus on what’s good, reach out and reach in to the people we love.
Recovering and Healing
First up, take that much needed leave, make room for downtime and mental health days, schedule in meetings with yourself - whatever your need, build your support systems around you and make time to fully recover. However long that may be. Learn to establish healthy boundaries. Personal boundaries honour our needs and are a natural and healthy expression of self-care and self-compassion. It is impossible to show up fully in life and for others if we cannot show up fully for ourselves.
If you need to keep working, declutter your work schedule after work hours, no going back to the computer and checking emails after work hours, no checking the phone before bed, just shut it all down and spend time with family or with yourself. You are not replaceable in your life and your family. Respect your needs to thrive. You can start small and each day take micro ‘brain breaks’, shut off sensory stimulation, close your eyes and breath. Even just for one minute. It all makes a difference in your everyday life. It will boost your energy, attention and productivity. If you’re an active recharger, go out for a walk in nature, do some high knees on the spot, get creative, do whatever it is that relaxes and re-energises. Ultimately establishing those solid boundaries between work and personal life is vital.
Intentionally shifting away from what you are doing, to how you are being, is the antidote to burnout.
Just in closing I want to reiterate this; Speak up when you need help - before you hit bottom. This may not come easy, but burnout is not easy either. Reach out to friends, family and people you love and trust to schedule time to be together. It’s critical for us to reach out to our friends and family or support networks, especially during times of need and healing. Burnout can happen to anyone, we are human, not machines. So make self-care non-negotiable, it isn’t self-selfish, it’s essential.
Throw in a few smiles throughout your day. It can make you feel better and those around you.
Be well,
Rich
