How to recognise burnout and protect ourselves against it
Burnout is a word we’re hearing more and more. It is usually associated with being under pressure at work, but it can be brought on by any area of your life where you’re under pressure, like being a carer. Burnout is more than just a bad day, and it’s more than getting a bit stressed because of a deadline. It’s important to remember that burnout is a physical and/or mental breakdown which can cause permanent damage.
What are the signs that we are heading towards burnout?
We all have bad days from time to time, but in general, we should enjoy our jobs. Even if we’re not in our dream role, we can still feel fulfilled knowing we’re playing our part in the world, or providing for our families.
But when work turns sour, we always feel under pressure and it’s affecting our self-esteem, we might be on the road to burnout. Here are some signs to look out for:
- Doubting ourselves and feeling the need to prove that we’re the best
- Working harder because we think we’re not doing enough, but actually being unproductive
- Neglecting ourselves, our relationships and our interests
- Imagining problems have been created by us because we’re not working hard enough
- Losing perspective and feeling helpless
- Behaving uncharacteristically
- Not feeling fulfilled by work, and feeling empty, detached and isolated instead
- Developing depression
How can we protect ourselves against burnout?
Fortunately, there are ways we can progress in a fulfilling career without burning out. At Get Ahead, we’ve seen for ourselves how working flexibly has created career opportunities balanced with fulfilling family life, and how this turns into high productivity and achievement of business goals.
Here are some pro-productivity, anti-burnout mindsets we’ve learned:
- Value yourself for who you are, not just your job title or how much money you earn
- Make time for your physical and mental health
- Taking breaks increases productivity
- Enjoying life outside work helps you maintain perspective and build resilience
- Making time for relationships, with yourself, your partner, family and friends helps you look outwards while also maintaining your support network.
Let Get Ahead help!
If you’re worried you’re heading towards burnout because you’ve got too much on your plate, Get Ahead can help. Your local regional director can meet you and do a time audit, working out how much time you’re spending on different responsibilities and helping you manage your time more effectively. Our diary management service means you can concentrate on the task in hand, confident that the others are not forgotten. And if you’ve got a list of tasks that you could delegate, our virtual experts are ready and waiting.
Find a life or business coach
Get Ahead has many life coaches and business coaches in our network of clients – many of them support us too! If you think you might benefit from talking to a coach about the problems you’re experiencing, we’d love to put you in touch with the right person.
However overwhelmed you’re feeling, Get Ahead can help you get things under control. Get in touch today – we’re here for you.
