Understanding how to avoid burnout is the first step in preventing it. Burnout can happen in many ways, but stress from work and digital neglect are the most common.
It stemmed from working overtime, not setting realistic goals, and spending too much time on screen.
If you’re currently experiencing burnout or looking for measures to avoid it, this article is for you.
In this article, we will discuss some common signs and causes of burnout and how to avoid it while staying efficient and productive.
Also Read: Self-care Tips For Mental Wellness
What Is Burnout?
Burnout is a state of mental fatigue and physical exhaustion induced by unattended stress. It’s not something that happens overnight. It stemmed from working long hours, ignoring self-care, spending too much time on social media, and unresolved trauma.
These are some of the things that can trigger burnout, making you less motivated for the things you love.
Burnout can also be described as a state of feeling drained and emotionally dilapidated. Studies show that five out of ten people are likely to experience burnout from work, house chores, school, failed relationships, etc.
Signs of Burnout
The first step is understanding how to avoid burnout by recognizing and acknowledging the signs of burnout.
Although the signs may differ with different people, however, all of them lead to the same outcome of exhaustion.
Here are some of the common signs of burnout to look out for in your mental healing journey:
Detachment
One of the common signs of burnout is feeling detached. It’s feeling lonely even among people. If you are on the verge of withdrawing from family, friends, and social events. You may be neck-deep burnt out.
The reason is that when you’re feeling exhausted, you feel like you’re carrying the burdens of the world with no help. Hence, your brain starts conditioning to think that cutting off people is the solution.
If you’re already at this crossroads, then this is your cue to seek help.
Loss Of Motivation
Another sign that you are burnt out is not having motivation for anything. Nothing sparks your interest not even your favorite series or movies.
Sometimes you scroll social media aimlessly while other times you binge-watch a movie that you’re mentally not interested in.
When it comes to work, you find yourself struggling to finish up on the deadline. This is a sign of burnout that should be tackled before it’s too late.
Fatigue
One of the major signs of burnout is feeling fatigued even in the early hours of the day.
Headache and migraine become a constant phenomenon. This is burnout in its full blown stage when needs to be checked before it’s too late.
Also, when you’re burnt out, you don’t even need to be involved in strenuous activities before feeling tired. It’s very common to wake up tired or get tired from little activity.
When you start feeling this way, it’s not a time to force your way into productivity but take a break and seek help.
Frequent Illness
If you find yourself constantly sick and weary, you may be experiencing burnout. It doesn’t have to be a serious sickness that leads to bed rest. Minor and recurring sicknesses like backache, headache, cough, etc, are some of the signs of burnout to look out for.
Procrastination
When you constantly procrastinate on a task, the chances that you’re burned out are high. Procrastinating a task shows a lack of motivation to get it done or not having enough mental energy to put in the required amount of work.
It can also come in the form of looking for one thousand reasons why it’s not possible while dismissing one hundred reasons why it may be possible.
This is a sign that you’re burned out. The earlier you recognize this, the better it is to learn how to avoid burnout.
Avoiding Social Interactions
Do you suddenly become an introvert or you’re running away from social interactions? The next time you decline an invitation to hang out on grounds of being an introvert.
Ask yourself whether you’re truly an introvert or you’re stylishly avoiding interactions. You consider hanging out with people as energy-sapping and try your best to stay away from it.
Causes Of Burnout
There are several causes of burnout. Some are derived from setting unrealistic goals for work, some can be self-inflicted while others are stemmed from anxiety from past relationships.
However, it’s worth noting that no two persons can have the same cause of burnout as the experience differs. The goal is to understand which is unique to you and learn measures on how to avoid burnout.
Let’s expatiate on some of the widely experienced causes of burnout:
Workplace Stress
One of the major causes of burnout is workplace stress. This can be originated from setting unrealistic deadlines, not having control over the tasks you’re assigned to, and a poor work-life balance.
If you’re at a place where you’re constantly working under pressure, working overtime, or not having a defined work routine, burnout is inevitable.
Personal Pressure
Burnout can also be self-inflicted without any external contributors. This stems from over commitment to either personal or professional tasks. It can also stem from looking for perfection, overthinking situations, and overreacting at events.
Emotional Stress
Another cause of burnout is emotional stress. This is an external contributing factor that stems from unresolved trauma, anxiety, and relationships.
If you’re having a strained relationship with your loved ones, this can lead to serious burnout if not handled properly.
An unresolved trauma either from childhood or past adult events can also lead to burnout. You’re occasionally triggered by memories of such events, stressed about the outcome, and afraid of the changes.
It’s advisable to seek help and avoid things that trigger negative emotions to combat emotional stress.
Digital Overload
This is where all of us are guilty as charged. Studies show that about 90% of adult spend their time scrolling social media from morning to the next morning. If your sleep time has drastically reduced at certain times, the chances that you’re spending more time on social media are high.
To avoid this, it’s important to set a screen time limit on all social media apps to combat this problem. Determine to go to bed early and sleep at least eight hours. This is a great home ready to tackle burnout.
How To Avoid Burnout
Now that you’ve understood the likely signs and causes of burnout. The next step in mental healing is to understand how to avoid it.
To avoid burnout, you can start by first recognizing that you’re burnt out, taking adequate measures for self-care, and taking regular breaks.
Accept The Problem
The first step in the mental healing of burnout is accepting that you’re burnt out. Recognizing and accepting the problems go hand in hand in helping you avoid burnout.
It’s impossible to heal from what you’re not aware of. Neither is living in denial a coping mechanism. It’ll not change the problem nor take away the negative impact on your health. So the right thing to do if you care about your mental health is to accept that you’re stressed out.
It may not be an easy ride of self-honesty, but if you’re determined to fix the problem. Then you’re already fifty steps ahead of avoiding burnout.
Another reason it’s important to accept the problem is that it’ll help you to identify the things and persons that are stressing you and cut them off.
For instance, if you do a mental stress audit and discover that you’re having too much digital overlook. It’s then become easy to limit your screen time to improve your health.
Create A Self-care Routine
Another step in the right direction is to create a self-care routine. This will help you to combat stress and improve your mental health.
It doesn’t have to be something extravagant or activities that involve money. Simple meditation and going for morning jogs can do the magic.
Self-care can also be in the form of meditation, reading, or doing some DIY project to stimulate the brain.
These are some of the non-monetary activities you can indulge in to avoid burnout. You can do this either weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. The trick is to create a self-care routine that works without neglecting other activities.
Take Regular Breaks
Whether you’re working from the office or home, incorporate breaks in your daily activities. You can take a 5-minute break in every 30 minutes or a 10mins break in every hour.
This is necessary for the brain to rejuvenate for efficiency and productivity. Also, note that taking breaks doesn’t mean jumping on another task or scrolling social media. It’s resting your eyes on the computer screen, meditating, or taking a quick nap.
Don’t be tempted to check your notifications during this period to avoid being carried away.
Seek Support
If burnout is caused by strenuous house chores or from the workplace. It’s not old-fashioned to delegate tasks to junior colleagues or seek domestic help.
Don’t think of it as being lazy rather see it as an opportunity to create more time for yourself to focus on what matters.
Create Boundaries
One of the most important tips in learning how to avoid burnout is to master the act of creating boundaries.
Being a yes person, and a people pleaser will cost you immeasurable mental stress. Understand when to say yes to people and when to turn it down.
Also understand that no matter how much you do 24/7, you will still not be able to do much if you’re stressed 90% of the time.
Hence, the need to create boundaries is something that you need to treat as urgent.
Conclusion
Burnout is a state of mental fatigue that not handled with care can be metamorphosed into a serious ailment. In this article, we’ve discussed some common signs, causes of burnout, and manageable tips on how to avoid burnout.
