Burnout is a special type of work-related or personal stress— a state of physical or emotional exhaustion that also involves a sense of reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity. A 2021 survey by Indeed reported 52% of respondents feel burned out.
5 large drivers for professional and personal burnout include the following factors:
- Lack of support or recognition from leadership or close personal relationships
- Unrealistic deadlines, unclear expectations, and/or unattainable results requirements
- Consistently working long hours during the week or overwhelmed with tasks and work on weekends
- Lack of feeling important and purposeful
- Unmet expectations
Are you suffering from burnout? Review the following signs of physical and emotional exhaustion.
- Decreased empathy for others
- Volcanic outburst of emotions
- Talking more than listening
- Anxiety
- Body fatigue
- Cynical outlook on life and work
- Reduced performance and productivity
- Detachment
- Negative attitude
- Increased careless mistakes
- Frustration
- Quickness to anger
You can begin working to overcome burnout by working to grow stronger in key areas of your life.
1. Create boundaries for your professional work and personal life: Boundaries are guidelines, rules, or limits that a person creates to identify reasonable, safe and permissible ways for other people to behave towards them and how they will respond when someone passes those limits. Write these rules down and share them with the people in your life. Will you create boundaries?
2. Learn to say “No.”: If you’re always giving out – and not taking anything back for yourselve – then over time you’ll simply burnout. Saying no allows you to choose where you put your time and energy. It allows you to focus on giving it to the people – and parts of your life – that really deserve it. What’s stopping you from saying “no?”
3. Improve your efficiencies: Developing new skills, accountability, learning time management processes, delegating tasks, and utilizing tools and technologies are just a few examples of how you can become more effective in managing your professional and personal workload. What can you learn to become more efficient with your work?
4. Change your attitude and perspective: You are ridiculously in control of your life. Focus on gratitude for the everyday blessings in life, understand your life’s challenges are opportunities to grow stronger, and stop overwhelming yourself with toxic self-imposed pressure. Identify what is causing your pain, create a plan to address it or ignore it, and act. If you stay idle in a bad situation, it’s because you have decided to remain. You are what you tolerate. You always have a choice. Are you a victim, or are you in control of your decisions?
5. Develop a plan for your physical, emotional, and spiritual fitness: Healthy nutrition, daily exercise, and quality sleep are the foundation for strong physical and mental health. In addition, dedicate time each day to pray, meditate, and speak with close friends and families. The quality of our trusted close relationships plays a powerful role in our overall mental health and wellbeing. How is your physical health? How is your mental health? Are you prioritizing God in your life and living to serve him?
6. Schedule time for the things you are passionate about experiencing: Create time for your small everyday enjoyable moments, plus, the plans for bigger things in the future. What will you do today for fun?
7. Control your ego: Refocus your thoughts from a “self-focused” mindset to a “serve others mindset.” Do this while also practicing when to say “No,” and not feeling any guilt for your boundaries. How are you keeping your ego in check?
8. Create goals for your life: The pursuit of growth for personal, professional, physical, mental, and spiritual goals will provide you joy by strengthening your life’s foundation. The change in your mindset to focus on the joy found in active progress and not only finite achievement will radically change your life. Have you created goals to improve yourself?
9. Define your life’s purpose and why you matter: Do you have a personal mission statement that defines and guides your life? People can leave us, places change, and companies come and go. If you define yourself by these items, or worse, attach your identity and joy to their well-being, you build your life on very unstable ground. If you choose to define your life by a mission, purpose, or calling, you create a much stronger platform and an identity that will outlast the trials and challenges of life. What is your purpose?
10. Kill the voice inside your head that is full or worry or victim mentality: Name the negative voice in your head. When that voice is telling you to be nervous, doubtful, overwhelmed, angry, jealous, depressed, judgmental, critical, or scared, tell it to SHUT UP! Then, reframe your weak thought with a strong thought and move on with the right attitude! It is important to recognize the difference between the negative voice in your head and the voice of reason that is also present to keep you from making hurtful mistakes. As with most things in life, use common sense as your guide in recognizing the difference between the two. Identify your morals, ideals, goals, and character traits you wish to embody and accomplish. You will know the difference. What is the name of your negative voice?
11. Share your challenges with others: We are better together than we are alone. Sharing your vulnerability and asking for help is a powerful exercise in overcoming burnout. The greatest athletes in the world have coaches and trusted advisors to support their efforts. When an athlete is in the game, it’s impossible to see all the angles. The athlete is focused on what’s in front on them during the competition. A coach or trusted friend can point out areas to improve, recognize blind spots, and help develop a game plan that addresses all aspects of the game, not only what the athlete sees in front of them. This works in sports, and it works in professional and personal environments. Who can you turn to for help?
Live The Pursuit of Growth
