In the face of education, work, family, relationships, romance, aaand you time, it seems like there's not enough minutes in a day.
If the early bird really does catch the worm, then how come so many of us are burnt out before the end of the week? Rigorous work structures, the responsibility of relationships, housework, homework, and more can really dull your sparkle- aka, leave you with burnout.
Here, we aren't going to dive into assessing the capitalist system that enforces this- but it is a good idea to keep that in mind. Let's see what we can do to to keep ourselves afloat without experiencing hardcore burn out.
What is burnout?
Burnout is a decline of satisfaction in one's work, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization (Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996). One might start feeling more fatigued, detached, unimpressed with their own achievements- while also placing their self worth on the amount/quality of work they put out.
Signs of burnout:
- a feeling of being unappreciated
- feeling more and more mentally exhausted by the end of the day
- a change of eating habits
- decreased motivation, negative self-talk
- detachment from responsibilities and relationships
- procrastination levels rise
- not gaining any happiness from evading workload, not gaining any happiness from completing tasks
- feeling uninspired and hopeless.
These signs are usually overlooked thanks to society pushing the notion that working hard is more gratifying than anything else. It is crucial to know that this sort of feeling can seriously impact your immunity, health, and overall life expectancy if not appropriately looked over; what can you do to recharge, and how do you recognize the beginning of a burnout?
Ways to prevent burnout:
1. We know you hear this all the time, but exercising is crucial.
Keeping your body physically moving is one of the best ways to force those happy chemicals out of their hiding places. With only so many hours in a day, what can you do to squeeze in a workout on a tight schedule? Check out these Mini-Workouts here!
2. Self-care is not the answer to everything.
Yes, that's coming from us. Sometimes things are bigger than us, and we need to know when to ask for help; not all issues can be solved with comfort and reflection; However, social participation could boost your route to recovery with ease.
Speaking with family friends, or even a counselor could do wonders for your mental health when you're in this stage, and that's due to the inherent isolation that burnout brings. Dedicate some time to communicate with someone in person, on text, over a call, or zoom!
3. CATCH SOME Z's.
Sleep might as well be ambrosia itself. Being well rested and sleeping for MINIMUM 6-8 hours a night will improve your physical, mental, and emotional health. Your body gets a chance to repair, rebuild, and reconnect with you in this time, and it is vital that you give it the time it needs to do so. If you need more persuasion, you'll also improve your skin, eating habits, energy levels, emotional wellbeing, and you'll get a chance to pause from the world.
4. Reach out.
Asking for help is difficult when it shouldn't be. Reach out to peers, coworkers, friends, and family about the stress you're enduring and see if you can divide the workload- or spend some quality time with them and destress. A major step you could take is address who's in control of the workload being placed on you, and have a discussion with them about burnout and its importance.
Revising working structures is beneficial to everyone who has to endure them, and what makes your life easier can't hurt.
5. Focus on your nutrition.
Eating well is another repeated memo- keeping up to par with your required vitamins, supplements, medicine- as well as eating a healthy amount & balancing your meals well. This is said again and again, but is it really that important?
The answer is yes, absolutely, 100% cannot stress it enough. When you eat well, your body shows it. You need food to survive, and your body functions, feels, and fights better when you feed it what it needs. Get all the carbs, sugars, and fats you need; cutting things out of your diet is dangerous, and you should be very careful when choosing to reject food. Eat intuitively, colorfully, and with intention.
click below to find more resources to better understand and tackle burnout.