Once Burnout Has Ensued, Take Action to Restore Your Work-Life Balance
Once Burnout Has Ensued, Take Action to Restore Your Work-Life Balance
Have you ever been in a position where you just hit a wall and you were done? You couldn’t handle something one second longer. This is what it feels like when you’re suffering from burnout.
Burnout is a mix of both physical and emotional responses in most people. It starts out as a mental reaction to being overburdened or overworked – or in some stats of distress, and it evolves into a physical response where you’re tired, unable to eat, or suffering from other outward signs.
Usually, burnout is associated with the workplace. Your tasks, the schedule, and even the people you’re interacting with can contribute to burnout if your experience with these issues is negative and unending.
But burnout isn’t only something that affects your professional life. It can also be something you experience in your personal world, too. You might burn out on your schedule with carpooling the kids, after school sports, caretaking of children or even elderly parents, and more.
You might be the only one handling the entire list of chores in your house, doing all of the shopping, cooking and cleaning in addition to working fulltime to build your business.
If you notice any of these things happening and you start feeling the effects of burnout, such as insomnia or exhaustion, irritability, or even tension in your muscles and neck or back, it’s time to take action to fix it.
First, create a necessary buffer between yourself and anything toxic that can be avoided. If that’s an unruly relative or toxic coworker, set some space between the two of you to give yourself a break from the turmoil.
You may need to find a support team to help you alleviate some of the stress you’re experiencing. For example, ask your family for help maintaining the house or find a fellow parent to split carpooling duties with you.
If your burnout is work-related, see what you can do to take a step back and take on fewer responsibilities. It may be that you need to work fewer hours, take on one less client, or even change business models entirely.
Burnout is something that will sneak up on, too – so be careful. At first, you might brush it off as something everyone has to deal with. Then you start trying to put out fires to avoid a complete collapse, followed by ruthless emotional and physical turmoil that doesn’t let up until you finally give in and commit to making changes in your life.