Wellbeing & Wellness
Burnout Getting You Down? Here are 5 Ways To Keep It At Bay
Burnout is something that can affect us all; we’re here to show you five ways to combat it
Human beings are incredibly resilient individuals, but now and then we may suffer from something known as mental and physical burnout. Burnout is intense exhaustion that can seriously wear down your mental health. It can even cause physical symptoms like nausea and migraines to onset, which only works to make one more miserable.
While it is encouraged to see a professional if your burnout is causing you severe distress, there are ways to assuage its effects early on.
Here are just a few to get you started.
MAKE A SLEEPING SCHEDULE AND STICK TO IT
Going to sleep and waking up at the same time has been proven to reinforce the circadian rhythm. Put simply, this is the body’s natural 24-hour cycle. If we wake up and sleep at the same time every day, it can encourage our natural bodily cycle and its functions to operate at peak efficiency.
Not only is this beneficial for things like organ function, but it can also keep stress and burnout at bay. If you’re encouraging your natural circadian rhythm, you will find yourself enjoying sleep more, and sleeping more soundly through the night. Getting this rest is crucial to abating exhaustion. Mental and physical.
HAVE AT LEAST A ROUGH DAILY SCHEDULE
It’s hard to keep to an intensely rigid routine. Or it can be for many of us at least. It can apply too much pressure, and you can start associating your routine with stress. Your routine should exist to provide comfort and control. It should help you stand tall and function efficiently, not drag you down.
By simply having even a skeleton of a daily schedule, you can have a structure to fall back on. This comes especially in handy when you’re the burnout kind of exhausted. Sometimes, even making decisions is stressful.
Have set times to make dinner, or do the washing up. Substitute big chores for little chores on the day if you have to, to take care of yourself. That big room clean you had planned for today? Maybe just reduce it to a little polish and sweep. Wanted to go for a drive? Maybe just walk the block instead. You don’t have to stick vehemently to what you have planned; adapt around it to what suits you. For your happiness, and to ensure you get as much rest as you need.
COMPARTMENTALIZE YOUR WORK AND HOME TIME
This is important. If you’re bringing your work home with you, you can never get any rest. You’ll always be in hyperawareness mode. Checking your phone or laptop, scrolling through emails, it’ll just encourage the stress to mount further. You’ll hit burnout quicker than you can blink.
When you’re off work, ensure you’re off work. Engage wholly in your hobbies. Spend time with friends, which may be helpful to distract you from work if you’re having trouble relaxing your mind. Similarly, while at work, dedicate yourself entirely to your time there. Without putting more strain on yourself than is necessary. It’s also important to monitor your overtime, and only take on what you can handle.
If you work from home, have a clearly defined working and living area. This can be as simple as separating a room with a divider. You could even get creative by hanging up some tapestries! Also, don’t take your work to your bed. We know it may be tempting, but your brain will associate your bed with work – thereby, sometimes stress. The last thing you want is not even being able to recover from burnout in the comfort of your own bed.
TAKE SOME TIME OUT TO EXERCISE
Exercise is incredibly important to combatting stress. When you engage in physical activity, a number of things happen.
Your body releases the hormone cortisol, which is essential in managing stress. It is also the hormone that helps your brain decide what is and isn’t harmful in a fight-or-flight situation. Essentially, it curbs anxiety.
Other ‘happy’ chemicals such as dopamine are also released and you may even experience the ‘runners high.’ This is a euphoric sensation that many feel after a long bout of exercise. This is speculated to be due to a burst of endorphins and endocannabinoids naturally produced by the body. These combined bring about a feeling of calm, reduced anxiety, and even a lessened ability to feel pain!
As we’ve mentioned previously, don’t strain yourself. If you’re too tired to go for a run, knock it down to a walk. Even a few stretches are better than nothing at all.
BE KIND TO YOURSELF
This may seem like a simple one, but it’s one often forgotten. Again: humans are resilient. We’re tough, but sometimes that can become stubbornness. Sometimes strength is being able to recognise when you need help, or to rest, or to be extra kind to yourself. Instead of pushing yourself above and beyond and eventually into burnout.
Learn what your specific burnout presents as, and what specifically appeases it. These are all very general tips, of course! You may find that some things help more than others. Or some things that appease the burnout of others actually don’t help you at all.
There are always basics that will at least partially improve your mood in times of burnout. Those are what we’ve listed here, but generally taking care of your body ( and yourself! ) is additionally crucial. Eat well, and try to eat at around the same time. Don’t skip meals. Don’t skip out on hours of sleep. Nap if you have to, a twenty-minute nap can do wonders! Exercise, even if it’s only a little bit. Finally, a tip from us to you: limit your coffee intake – trust us, being a little tired is better than too much caffeine!
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