A friend of mine once said bravery is similar to stupidity. It’s an act without analysis. To which I argued, what if it’s the only choice, the only action you can take… to be brave regardless of the out come.
I believe bravery in an action, is a step taken with the intention of change for the better.
Contextually: any change was better than remaining trapped.
You may wonder why open with this.
Well it’s simple because we all go through a season or a multitude of them where we experience feeling either trapped , burned out or both!
What is burnout you may ask? Well simply stated it’s an over-exertion of one’s ability, without recognition or appreciation. Pouring from an empty cup, if we have to use metaphorical language. We often place burnout in a bracket of being linked specifically to our jobs, but it’s so much more. A general downward spiral of detachment from one’s own needs and emotions.
There are a multitude of signs that indicate burn out or emotional exhaustion, burn out being caused mainly by avoiding to be human for too long.
Mainly the following symptoms or signs will indicate to you that you are either near the brink of burnout or suffering already.
You are ALWAYS tired.
What use to motivate you no longer does.
You are easily irritated and patience - what’s that ?
Your to do list is getting longer and more overwhelming.
You feel obligated to say “yes” to tasks.
You are having sleep issues , either too much time in the covers or simply not enough.
You are overly cynical and negative.
You may want to eat for the sake of energy gained or not eat at all.
We’ve all been there at least once in our lives. Burnout has however become more frequent in woman under the age of 30.
Human existence was vastly simpler and slower a few decades ago. Now it’s fast paced and we set the bar pretty damn high for ourselves.
Resulting in the above symptoms and that all exhausted feeling of “I just can’t anymore.” Yet we do , we get up and keep plodding along.
Not resting as we should. Not breaking away and rebooting when required.
Stress and anxiety are nasty little creatures that can take over our worlds .
Constant worrying and expectations can lead to not only burnout , but a variety of unhealthy situations .
But for the purpose of this blog, let’s focus on burnout.
The key to beating burnout is holistical action.
TAKE ACTION TO MAKE CHANGES.
Burnout is often expressed as simply as being over worked and stressed , but it’s so much more , it can be seen as long time emotional neglect. It’s about your feelings , what you’ve been feeling and ignoring. Feelings or emotions have physical manifestations, the body, mind and soul are interlinked.
If we ignore our emotions, or rather numb our emotions we often end up numbing everything, we can’t choose to numb only the bad emotions, the frustration, anger, lack of appreciation. We numb all our emotions, the good ones too. So we end up loosing our joy, our excitement and our overall happiness and satisfaction with life.
How can we manage burnout , rather try and prevent it completely .
How much can you do in a day.
Acknowledge how valuable your time is while being realistic about how long it takes to get through tasks. This is important to know how much you can do in a day. So as to evaluate the tasks you agree to complete, and actually complete. So as to feel like everyday is a success. To start the day off feeling like a success , decide on 5 things you want to complete before leaving home. It can be anything from making the bed , loading some laundry , drinking some lemon water . Any five things to check off your to do list.
Boundaries will help.
Put boundaries in place , know your worth. Know that your time is worth a lot. It’s your time to choose what you do with. Saying “no” to extra obligations isn’t being rude or unproductive, on the contrary it’s wise and will lead to more productivity. I’ve been hammering boundaries for a while now. There is nothing wrong with having them. It means you know what you need and when you are able to give and contribute, we all want to be at our best always, having boundaries allows that to take place.
Purpose helps.
Complete your tasks with a purpose, this requires asking yourself or your boss some questions to know why you are completing the task . By doing this you may actually find that a lot of your energy is going into tasks that aren’t truly as important as you’ve envisioned.
Ask for help.
Ask for help, this is essential! Not having all the resources to complete the needed tasks will certainly lead to burn out and massive frustration. Asking for help will allow you to tap into the resources and skills of those around you. There is always more power in numbers. So ask for help and listen to what you receive in return. It will certainly help you grow and learn from those around you.
Spend time with your hearts people.
Spend quality time with your loved ones. Spending time with the people who understand your heart makes all the difference to your state of mind. (Remember burn out isn’t just being over worked , it’s being neglected either by yourself or your world). Spending time with your people doing things that fill your cup will certainly counter act the feeling of neglect.
Disconnect from the world.
Schedule an hour minimum of disconnected time a day. Break away from your screens. Having a social media break is essential. We are extremely unaware of the impact of social media on us. It places us in a space of continued comparison , forgetting that what we see is someone else’s highlight real. We all wake up looking rather messy in the morning , no one posts that for likes. It also allows you to take a break from all those notifications . Note this needs to be a complete hour. Not 30 minute intervals. This allows your brain to have a well deserved break from all the information it’s been flooded with during the day. Put that phone in phone jail.
These aren’t world changing things to put in place , but they will change your world.
They will allow you to become human in a world that requires robot like precision and over time return your joy to you.
In short;
TAKE ACTION, to make changes!
Evaluate what you want to achieve and know why,
Your time is valuable
Saying “no” will make you more productive
Complete your tasks with purpose
Ask for help
Spend time with your loved ones
Put your phone in phone jail.
Allow yourself to feel again and leave the space of auto-pilot and survival mode behind.
Take care of yourself.
Alecia
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