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Burnout is becoming an increasing concern within our society, as working from home and hybrid methods are making it harder to distinguish between your sofa being your workplace or your time to relax.
Avoiding burnout can be tricky, as sometimes you don’t even realise that you’re burning out before it’s too late, so it’s important to keep our tips in mind when it comes to managing your workload and communicating with colleagues…
Warning Signs – You’re Burning Out
It’s extremely important to notice when you’re starting to burn out before being too far gone, as this will allow you to put in necessary precautions so you don’t fully crash.
A major factor that signals towards burnout is no longer enjoying your job. If you have a negative and critical view of working, it will become harder to enjoy your week as your job takes up a big part of life.
Another sign of burnout is having low energy and the inability to focus when working, with constant brain fog and your mind turning to distractions instead of productivity. This can be detrimental to your working life as many jobs need to maintain high concentration levels to be successful, and low energy levels will have you unable to do anything when you come home from work, making tasks like cooking and cleaning seem challenging.
Burnout is not only mentally draining, but it can also have an impact on your physical wellbeing, with symptoms including headaches, nausea and backache.
Top Tips to Avoid Burnout
Organise & Plan
Planning is great when it comes to avoiding burnout, if you keep a level of organisation within your work, you’re less likely to panic and feel overwhelmed when it comes to deadlines or client work.
Keeping a diary is great, this will allow you to plan when specific work is due and how you can fit extra things into your schedule. Organisation will give you peace of mind and will avoid you having to cram everything in at once, giving you a steady pace of work.
Take Regular Breaks
We think it’s extremely important to remind yourself to take breaks, and that means being away from your desk, computer and any emails. With working from home becoming more popular, it can be hard to take breaks when you’re already at home, but we recommend going for a short walk or even changing the room that you’ve been sitting in, for a change in environment.
Taking regular breaks will clear any brain fog and will be very helpful to refocus your mind, giving your mind and eyes a rest away from the glare of your computer.
Breaks are definitely needed to avoid burnout, so make sure you eat your lunch away from teams calls!
Become Self-Aware
A massive factor in falling into the trap of burning out is not knowing when to give yourself some time off and separate work from everyday life, so becoming more self-aware and knowing when it’s time to step back will be highly beneficial for your wellbeing.
Become aware of changes to your mood and working pattern, if you feel yourself becoming more exhausted, you could book some extra days of annual leave or work from home so you don’t have to commute.
Recognising when you are close to burnout and putting particular actions into plan is an amazing skill to have, which can be built over time with small actions such as knowing you’re tired and going to bed a couple of hours early, or turning emails off well before bed.
Communicate
Communication is key to many aspects in life, especially when it comes to avoiding burnout. Having a support circle, no matter how small, can be extremely effective in keeping you healthy and thriving.
If you feel like burnout is creeping up on you, a great thing to do is speak to colleagues or mental health ambassadors within your business, or if you don’t have that option, speak to anyone in your close circle and ask for advice.
Making managers or those around you aware of your problems can mean that your workplace gets a better perspective as to what you may need from them, and sometimes it can lift that extra weight off your shoulders.
That’s all from us when it comes to burnout! It can be very challenging when it comes to separating work from life, and with hybrid working methods and emails, it can leave you overwhelmed and lead to potential burnout.
Knowing when to act and recognise the signs is key, and if you need any extra advice on burnout then drop us an email to info@zest-learning.com.
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