Because burnout progresses slowly, it may be difficult for you to see the symptoms right away. The problem is that once it happens, it will greatly affect your professional and personal life negatively. It is important to address burnout and act against it because it will get worse if you don’t. The following are some of the things you can do to get started on your recovery.
Locate the source
Making changes in your life is difficult if you do not know what you need to change. You have to figure out the contributing factors so that you will know what you need to work on. Usually, work-related issues trigger burnout in a person (ex. the stresses involved in an increasingly demanding profession). You may also get burnout from:
- Having a hectic academic schedule
- Relationship problems, especially recurring ones that do not seem to have any resolutions
- Caring for a loved one with a terminal illness
If you are trying to do too much on your own, then it can create the ideal conditions for burnout to manifest and aggravate. For instance, you are a single parent with a full-time job while you are also taking online classes and trying to keep a healthy social life. The stresses that come with each of those factors may be manageable on their own, but that’s not the case all the time.
Identify the immediate changes you can make
If you look for them, you may find a couple of changes that you can make immediately to lighten your physical and mental load.
Are you working on multiple projects that are making you work overtime almost every day? Accept the fact that you cannot do all those projects at once and ask your supervisor to give one or two projects to other people. You may also ask someone to join your team so you can delegate some of the tasks.
Are you already swamped with work and other personal commitments, but you cannot turn down requests from family and friends? If you are already running on fumes, adding more tasks will only burn you out much faster.
If you cannot say no to the requests, evaluate the things that you have on your slate and consider canceling. You may also want to reschedule, at least some of the tasks.
Talk with people you trust
To make it easier to come up with feasible solutions for burnout, you should involve a loved one or a highly trusted friend. Not only will two heads make the task at hand easier to solve, but working with another person will help you feel like there is always someone there to support you.
Conclusion
Mentioned are only some ways for you to handle burnout. Most of these tips are simple but they are also very effective in preventing the extremely negative effects of being burned out.
