Remember that one time when you felt drained and tired, and despite your best efforts, you couldn’t rid yourself of the feeling? Maybe you didn’t even notice it at first, but by the time you did, the feeling had permanently lodged itself in your mind.
Well, that was a burnout period, and these feelings are usually the signs that a person is suffering from burnout.
So read on and learn the basic ways you can combat burnout;
The first step I took was to research my symptoms, find a pattern between all of them, and create a rough outline to determine the path forward.
The brain can only take so much stress before it breaks down like an overloaded car in the middle of the highway. If you fail to manage stress, you will become emotionally, physically and mentally drained, and over time you will be able to accomplish less and less. Symptoms may not show up immediately, but over time the negative consequences intensify and lead to lifelong consequences.
SIGNS OF BURNOUT INCLUDE:
FORGETFULNESS: If you find yourself forgetting some basic information, be it related to work, this is the first sign of burnout.
HARD TO STAY PRESENT: The moment you sit in a work meeting and while the conversation is going on, your mind is on the 100+ tasks you still have to do – an unhealthy and exhausting habit whose after-effects will linger for a while.
FRUSTRATION: If you struggle daily with feeling frustrated both at work and in your personal life, it could mean you’re on the road to burnout. A situation in which you are largely dissatisfied with your work performance leads to frustration, which then manifests itself over time in the form of pent-up resentment. The result is a higher than usual level of stress.
The effects of burnout can be remedied if the following tips are followed and applied with care;
CHANGE YOUR WORK TEMPOS: Overexerting yourself is not a sign of productivity, but simply an act of being busy. Therefore, you need to schedule your daily work time so that you can overcome the resulting burnout when you overwork yourself. This will ensure that you can track every minute of your day so that you are accountable for it.
SET REALISTIC GOALS/DELIVERIES: Goals are very important to help guide you on the path you want to take. But you should not set goals that are not relevant to the future you want to build. Set clear priorities from the beginning, structure your month, week and day to fit into the system that will bring you maximum productivity. Make time for your most important tasks and try to complete them within a realistic time frame.
Ask for help/ Don’t try to do everything on your own: Island living won’t do your career or work-life any good, so it’s important to surround yourself with people who can help you whenever you need their services. Just having a sympathetic ear can do wonders.
BONUS TIP: When things get too much for you, talk to someone, a therapist, a friend, a mentor, find someone who will listen to you and talk to the person about what you are going through, you are sure to get a new perspective on the matter and perhaps gain insights on how to deal with the triggers that are less likely to lead to burnout.
Remember, don’t do everything on your own, ask for help, it won’t make you less competent, it will make you a better and more productive person.