Five Brilliant Tips to Help Banish Burnout
Burnout doesn’t play favorites. It is a very real possibility, and not just for those Type A folks that are predisposed to being ambitious and driven.
Did you know that burnout is often a sign of unmet needs? It’s true! I recently shared on how to best meet those needs in this post.
Overdrawn
Burnout is like being overdrawn at the bank. If you are overdrawn too frequently or for too long, it destroys your credit score and threatens your peace of mind. Ultimately it could lead to bankruptcy.
It’s easier to prevent a financial disaster than it is to clean one up.
The same thing is true when it comes to burnout. Prevention is the better way! After all, burnout often leads to…
- Feeling super stressed
- Critical or negative attitudes
- Fatigue and/or low energy
- Insomnia
- Health issues like heart disease, high blood pressure, or type 2 diabetes
- Headaches, stomachaches, or intestinal issues
- A weakened immune system
- Sadness, anger, anxiety, or irritability
- Alcohol or substance abuse
- Reduced work performance
- Lack of concentration
- Apathy towards work and life
- The absence of peace and joy
Given the choice, I think you would want to skip all of the above, right? I know I would.
What Is Burnout?
Merriam-Webster defines it as:
“Exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation
usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration.”
Some describe burnout as work-induced depression.
Given the choice, I think you would not sign up for that either!
Avoiding Burnout
The reality is that you do have a choice! It is possible to avoid burnout. It requires you to change how you lead you. Depending on how far down the path you are to burnout, the life adjustments may be simple or you may need the support of a coach to help you navigate the process.
Either way, here’s how to banish burnout:
1. Identify What’s REALLY Most Important
If you know what your To 5 Values are, they are a helpful clue to what’s most important to you. If you don’t, I would encourage you to pause and identify your Top 5 Values now. Here is an exercise to help you.
The temptation is to operate like everything is important, but by definition that simply isn’t possible! If that is your perspective, it makes giving in to the urgent all the more tempting!
In reality, sometimes it’s what isn’t seemingly pressing, and is in alignment with your values, that is actually the priority!
Every day you have a limited number of hours to accomplish a limited number of tasks. What is truly most important today?
Knowing your goals for the year, quarter, and each month also help to narrow down your focus in useful ways so that your workload is more reasonable.
2. Maintain Your Boundaries
Boundaries are meant to protect what is most important to you. Do you struggle with setting and maintaining boundaries? If so, then you are more vulnerable to burnout.
Do you…
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- Ignore your limits and overextend yourself?
- Feel obligated to say yes?
- Put off blocking out time to rest, engage with others, or invest in life giving or creative outlets?
- Allow your phone to consume your time, leaving you distracted and zapped?
- Work or play too much?
- Forget to periodically take breaks, schedule downtime, and take vacations?
- Attempt to be everything to everyone?
- Avoid making time to reflect and/or process?
- Schedule back to back activities leaving very little margin?
- Skimp on time with God and/or self-care so that you can get more done?
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If you had a number of “yes” answers, you might need to strengthen your boundaries. Over time, the absence of boundaries leaves you feeling frustrated, resentful, and angry. Those aren’t happy feelings!
Thankfully, you are the one in charge of your boundaries! You have the freedom to establish the boundaries in your life that won’t leave you feeling drained.
3. Face Your Fear Monster
Explore how fear is pushing you to perform, produce, and seek validation. Fear is sneaky. You might not even be aware that it is what’s motivating you to do more and more. Have you identified your Fear Monster?
Think about it, if your Fear Monster is “you are a loser”, what will you do? You will work like crazy trying to prove that you are not a loser.
If your Fear Monster is “you are selfish,” you will be generous to the extreme to show everyone how selfless you are. Do you see the pattern?
Your Fear Monster might not be the only mindset that needs to be addressed. Your thinking and beliefs determine the actions you take. Have you ever explored the thinking or beliefs that are hiding behind your actions? They might just surprise you!
Living in fear sets you up for burnout! However, when you know how deeply loved you are by God and that there is nothing you can do to be more loved, the need to prove yourself fades. Then you are able to focus on being who God create you to BE. It gives you purpose. It eliminates the need to strive.
4. Develop Healthy Habits
What kind of habits do I have in mind? Well, habits like…
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- Getting plenty of sleep.
- Eating healthy and drinking enough water.
- Exercising regularly.
- Periodically detoxing.
- Laughing!!!
- Spending time with the treasured people in your life.
- Connecting daily with God.
- Journaling/reflecting and processing what you are experiencing.
- Practicing consistent self-care.
- A healthy rhythm of work and rest.
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Good boundaries and leaning into who God created you to BE, makes it more possible to incorporate healthy habits. However, don’t try to add them all at once! Pick one, master it, and then add another habit. Before you know it, you will be well on your way to new healthy habits that will help protect you from burnout. And as you begin to practice healthier habits, there will be less space for potentially harmful activities.
Here’s more on essential habits.
5. Take Control!
You are in charge of your life, and that includes your work! Here are some terrific ways to take charge:
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- Prioritize – you can’t do it ALL so identify what is the priority!
- Eliminate or delegate tasks that don’t bring you joy.
- Plan, adjust, and revise your plans.
- Time is valuable! Take steps to steward your time well.
- Get a handle on your screen time.
- Be more realistic.
- Intentionally create margin.
- Tune in and pay attention to what you need.
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For Leaders
One last thing I want to address on the topic of burnout and this is especially pertinent to leaders. Did you know that there’s currently an employee burnout crisis? It’s true! A Gallup study suggests that 27% of US Employees experience burnout very often or always. That means many others experience burnout often! Burnout is even more prevalent among Gen Z workers. In a survey of 11 countries and more than 13,000 front-line employees and managers reported that 83% of the Gen Z workers were feeling burned out.
As you leader, you want to pay attention to how your people are doing because burnout leads to sick days and increased turnover. It also negatively impacts morale and more.
What can you do to minimize the effect of burnout in your organization?
Here are some positive ways you to help prevent burnout:
- Set clear expectations AND consistently follow up.
- Clarify roles and responsibilities.
- Make the health of your team/organization culture a priority.
- Utilize the strengths of your people.
- Help people understand how they contributes to the overall vision of the organization.
- Provide rewarding roles.
- Communicate, communicate, communicate.
- Address excessive workloads.
- Provide the necessary support for your people – develop, equip, train, and systematically check-in with them.
- Acknowledge, recognize, and appreciate the awesome work your people do.
- Deal quickly with issues.
- Avoid a fear-based or political environment.
No one wakes up one morning and decides to head down the path to burnout. You just end up there if you don’t choose to intentionally engage in burnout prevention.
Burnout is a red flag, a warning that it’s time to do life differently.
Need some help navigating that process? Enlist the help of a coach! That’s a fantastic way to help uncover the missing boundaries and the mindsets that are tripping you up.
And when you have a team of thriving folks…imagine what your organization can do!
How will you prevent burnout?
