Burnt Out. Managing Life, Work and Passion While Completely Burned Out.

Business
Have you ever suffered from burnout? In this world of constant connectedness, long to do lists, and an expectation that we work 24/7, it’s very easy to get burned out. How do you know if you are suffering? Here are just a few signs:– You start to find trouble motivating yourself to do things that you typically love.
– You have a hard time seeing the positive in most any situation.
– You feel a bit desperate about changing something in your life – perhaps moving or going on vacation or doing something completely out of the ordinary.

Unfortunately, it’s completely common to suffer from burnout. So what can you do to prevent this? Here are a few things that I’ve learned to do when I start feeling burnout symptoms coming on.

Unplug
If you’re like me, you are completely connected to your devices. Whether you’re on your phone or your iPad or your computer, you’re always connected to something. And, that means that you’re working much more than you may even realize. It’s also important to note that “working” is not always related to what you do professionally. Sometimes, working is as simple as doing a project for your family or focusing on other projects that need your attention. In short, though, burnout is going to come your way when you find yourself immersed in projects all of the time. So – when you start realizing that your schedule is fuller than usual, make a sincere attempt to unplug. This means that your phone should be completely off from mid evening until the next morning. You also should make a concerted effort to look around at the sun and people around you, rather than always down at your phone. This may seem simple, but it’s very hard for people to unplug and many people actually suffer from an addiction to their devices. If you are one of these people, like me, it’s incredibly important to force yourself to unplug.

Do something you love
Maybe you haven’t spent enough time with your family recently or your friends haven’t seen you in the past couple of months. Maybe you love to golf, but you just haven’t had the chance to golf in the last year or two. Use this opportunity to do something that you love outside of work. Take a few days, or single day, or even just an afternoon and do something that will refresh you. It doesn’t have to be expensive and it doesn’t have to be a vacation, but it does need to be a time where you about to turn off work and get inspired by life. Often, inspiration and motivation come in the simplest activities.

Take a moment to be grateful
This might seem a bit out of the box, but a lot of the time, burnout leads us to feeling very depressed about life. We wish we could work less hours or have more time with her family or do more of what we love. But come our schedule always seems to be in the way. It’s a scientific fact, however, that showing gratitude actually increases your happiness level. Regardless of how busy you are, there are always things to be grateful for all around you. Sometimes, making a list of these things mentally or on paper, really helps to put things in perspective. Perhaps all the work you’ve been doing has given you some great opportunities in your business. Maybe you have a new writing gig or client – these are all important things to be grateful for. Add family, a home to live in, great friends – and you’ve got a lot to be thankful for. Rather than simply getting frustrated and wanting to unplug from everything, remind yourself about all of the great things that have come your way because of your dedication. Beating yourself up over how you became burned out doesn’t help.

Burnout is never a great thing to deal with, but it can be prevented and can be cured. With careful attention to your work life balance, you should be able to make sure that you prevent burnout and can stay focused on your work and life at the same time! Of course, we are always going to have ebbs and flows when it comes to our lives, but it’s important that in the end, it all evens out!

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