How to Prevent Burnout and How to Recover from Burnout
Helpful and easy tips to help you avoid burnout and manage work stress. Read this blog for simple strategies on how to create a sustainable hustle.
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“Manifestation requires an acceptance of limitation. A boundary allows us to contain and thus collect and build.” – Anodea Judith
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You likely agree that being overworked and burned out is one of the worst experiences when you are striving towards your goals. We would all love to preserve enough energy to continue the good fight.
Did you know that burnout and overwhelming stress damages the brain?
The Neuropsychology of Burnout
Burnout damages our amygdala, prefrontal cortex, underlying circuitry and brain connectivity. This negatively impacts our ability to regulate our emotions, focus, learn, and remember. Also, research has shown that burnout causes similar brain damage as those impacted by trauma. This explains how burnout symptoms shared overlap many trauma symptoms such as avoidance (work avoidance), hyper-vigilance, restlessness, and difficulty staying present (Michel, 2016).
Did you know burnout can easily turn into clinical depression or anxiety?
Unfortunately, the symptoms of burnout directly map onto the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and trauma. When burnout is experienced over longer periods of time, burnout symptoms can reach clinical levels and require professional treatment (i.e. therapy, mindfulness based stress reduction, medication, etc.) to overcome.
Did you know that burnout is a growing epidemic amongst American workers and entrepreneurs? (Wilkie, 2017)
BUT THERE’S A SOLUTION
Imagine a Sustainable Hustle That Helped You Avoid Burnout in the First Place
Sometimes hustling to achieve our dreams can feel like burning the candle wick at both ends. The problem is when we become burned up, we have nothing else to give. There is no fire left to hustle.
It is possible to be a conscious go-getter and go hard for your dreams, while at the same time not depleting yourself. You can have a fiery hustle without burning out. Here are my tips on how to avoid burnout.
3 Tips to Avoid Burnout (Step by Step)
One: Take Stock of Your Limitations
The first step in avoiding burnout is not SPREADING YOURSELF TOO THIN! This requires a keen ability to evaluate opportunities and knowing which ones to pass on. Learn how to say no. And take a humble look at your calendar and see if you have any unrealistic deadlines. Also stay aware of any obligations that aren’t feeding your purpose, and find ways to get rid of these types of obligations.
Two: Slow Down
Busy does not equal successful. When I started truly living by this tenet, my whole hustle changed. I began to focus, work slower, and add more value to the things I was doings. Slow down and hustle smarter. Here are some ways to consciously slow down your hustle:
- Decrease your daily task list. Choose your priority tasks for the day and give them your all.
- Stay present while you’re working and try to eliminate multitasking. Contrary to what many people believe, multitasking is not a desirable work trait and is correlated with poor performance and increased mistakes. Use mindfulness to stay present as you tackle one task at a time.
- Think of your hustle as a long distance race to success. You cannot sprint your way to success, instead it requires hard work at a steady and sustainable pace. Keep this metaphor in mind as you hustle, and make sure you aren’t over-exerting yourself as you race towards your dreams.
Three: Know What Burnout Looks Like For You Personally
A major step in avoiding burnout is becoming aware of what burnout looks like for you personally. Then when you start to notice the signs, you can stop burnout before it goes TOO FAR. For example here is what the stages of burnout look like for me:
- Overworked and over obligated
- Exhaustion and sleep deprivation
- Procrastination and inefficiency
- Anxiety about being behind
- Avoidance due to the overwhelming pressure to catch up
- Feeling guilty for falling short, low self esteem
- Depression
- Decrease in motivation
- Paralyzed in inaction (basically feeling too overwhelmed to do anything at all)
Know what burnout looks like for you so you can recognize the signs!
THAT’S NOT ALL
But What if You Are Already Burned Out
Don’t worry, I got you covered if you are reading this and already burned out. There is a science to recovering from burnout. Below I will tell you how to recover mind, body, and spirit.
Body: How to cope with the physical side effects of burnout
- Overdose on rest and get consistent quality sleep. Take time to slow down and recover. Be aggressive about making sure you get the sleep you need every night for at least 1 month and hopefully indefinitely (7-8 hours).
- Exercise! Counter to what you feel like doing, force yourself. This will help regulate your mood and give your brain the oxygen it needs to recover.
- Eat cleaner than ever! Essentially your body needs to heal after exhaustion and you want to consume foods that will help with the healing process.
Mind and Spirit: How to cope with the mental and emotional side effects of burnout
- Stay aware of the common symptoms of burnout like irritability, depressed mood, low motivation, restlessness, and work avoidance.
- Then when you notice yourself being irritable for example, use mindfulness to separate your divine identity from these burnout symptoms.
- Offer yourself compassion for experiencing burnout, and find ways to accept your current status without judging yourself.
- The more you accept these burnout symptoms for what they are (separate from your identity) the easier it will be to release them.
Given you aren’t suffering from clinical depression or anxiety, using the mindfulness practice of awareness, acceptance, and releasing, you will find the emotional symptoms of burnout quickly fade away.
Be strict about these things for at least 1 month and you will see your exhaustion fade away.
Avoiding burnout is a way to empower your soul to take control of your hustle. There is a conscious way to grind. Hope these conscious go-getter tips help you honor your journey.
– Tiffany Shelton, M.A. is a conscious lifestyle blogger and training to become a neuropsychologist in Los Angeles, CA. Her passion to elevate consciousness incorporates brain science, psychology, and spiritual philosophies. Her writing goes beyond the message of self-care or wellness, but instead consciously adds to these movements by demanding awakening and insight. Learn more about Tiffany Shelton by clicking here.
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References:
https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/burnout-and-the-brain (Michel)
https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-relations/pages/employee-burnout.aspx (Wilkie)
How to Prevent Burnout and How to Recover from Burnout.
