Burnout happens to the best of us. It comes from not listening to what we need and what our body is trying to tell us. It is also completely avoidable!
With work and home life continuing to be blurred due to working from home, its harder to separate and prioritize. This is something I constantly struggle with and have to make a conscious choice to pay attention to.
According to Yahoo, if you’re in the following careers you have the highest chance of burnout.
- Nurse
- Teacher
- Construction Worker
- Social Worker
- EMT
- Surgeon
- Retail Employee
- CPA
- Air Traffic Controller
- Fast Food Worker
- Veterinary Tech
- Public Defenders
- Firefighter
However, any job that is toxic or employees aren’t supported can lead to burnout. Similarly, having a home life that is filled with constant stress and anxiety can also lead to burnout.
In this post, I’ll be sharing some ways you can help avoid burnout in both areas of your life. Let’s start with your work life!
Avoiding Burnout at Work
As with all things, there are things you can control and things you can’t. It’s important to really understand the difference between the two so you can respond appropriately!
1. Start with understanding what is and isn’t working for you at work. Journal on the wins and on the things that are weighing you down. That can help you determine what you might need to be successful.
2. Create solutions. It’s always easier to create change when you have a solution or direction. If you just complain you are likely to not get the results you desire. Instead, if you can come up with some recommendations that might help you will probably get better results.
3. Communicate with your team and/or supervisor. When you have a clear understanding of what would help, chat with your boss. They may not know the extent you are struggling. While you likely won’t get all the support you request, you might be surprised but what accommodations they’re willing to make.
4. Reevaluate your work process. Are you managing your time appropriately? Looking inward and determining the way you work best can help you get more done in less time. Not everyone works the same way. Take some time to truly understand your process and adjust as needed.
5. Use your vacation time! I know this sounds super obvious. We tend to think we can’t take vacations because there is so much work to be done. We need to take those breaks to separate and recharge. If you can’t travel somewhere, think about a stay cation. Go explore your city and be a tourist for. a few days!
6. Be realistic about the outcomes. Sometimes your work environment just isn’t the right fot for what you want, where you are in your life, or your personalities just aren’t aligned. If that’s the case then you need to get real with yourself about what the options are.
Avoiding Burnout at Home
Burnout at home is a similar to at work. It all comes from really understanding how you function best, what support you need and understanding the realities of the season of life that you are in.
1. Start with truly understanding what you need, outside of your perceived roles and responsibilities. Again this could be with journaling or even grabbing coffee (or a glass of wine) with a friend you trust. Figure out what fills your cup and what is draining it. No judgement here!
2. Communicate with your partner, roommates, or family that are involved in your day-to-day life. Let them know what you need. Within your household, redefine roles and responsibilities. Oftentimes we take on roles in our households organically but never really discussed. That means one or both of you might feel a little resentful at taking on more then they want.
3. Create a family plan. Set roles for everyone in household. Make sure everyone knows what their daily and weekly tasks are and that you all feel comfortable holding each other accountable.
4. Schedule time to build in the elements from step 1 that fill up your cup. Even better, ensure the rest of your household is doing the same thing. While your activities might be different, knowing everyone is getting what they need can help remove any of the guilt associated with taking time for yourself (especially in mamas).
5. Give yourself space. When you start to feel burnout happening listen to yourself. Tell you family what you need and take a step back. It’s ok to take a break and recharge!
Conclusion
Burnout can happen to anyone at anytime but is directly related to repeated stress with no support. While you can’t control how people react or their actions, you can control how you react to it. Using these tips regularly won’t remove all the stress and anxiety but can help you better manage it.