Avoiding Burnout On The Job

It seems like people are working more and more these days. It doesn’t matter if you are working as a big executive at a large corporation or if you are an entrepreneur working out of your own home–burnout can happen to you. Burnout can happen to executives that dedicate too much time to their jobs and don’t spend enough time away from work. Work related burnout is such a growing phenomenon that you can even find treatment for it.

Again, you don’t have to be at a big company to get burnout on the job. Freelancers working from home on a multitude of clients can just as easily experience burnout, they just might have less as far to fall if it consumes them.

Signs of Burnout

If you are suffering from burnout there are sure signs of it. These signs won’t just be noticeable by you though and they could affect your family and your job as well.

Your emotional burnout may make it harder to deal with other people, at home and at work. It can lead to conflicts which can cause you to overreact. Emotional outbursts and anger are common when you are feeling this emotional drain.

You may also start to feel as though you are tired all the time. This emotional fatigue can come from many sources, from being too busy or spending too much time worried about work. The tiredness can make you feel negative more than not and may make you have a bad attitude.

Not only will your attitude begin to change, but you may begin to feel boredom when it comes to projects you once enjoyed doing. You may also find it hard to get energy to get your work done. These emotional problems may resemble depression or sign of drug use.

On top of these emotional issues, burnout can also cause numerous health problems. When your energy is drained and you are feeling run down it makes it easier for illnesses to take over. You may experience chest pains, colds, headaches, strange body aches and more. You may also suffer from insomnia which can greatly affect your sleep of which you really need in order to fight the burnout. You may also be more prone to addiction.

How to Deal

Don’t let burnout ruin your job or your home life. Talk to someone that can help, make an appointment with your doctor so that you can be recommended to a therapist or maybe go on a retreat. What you really need is a break from your job, where you don’t think about work at all.

Talk to your family. Don’t let them get pushed away. They’ll be there for you if they know you are feeling pressure and that is what has been making you feel crazy. Burnout can be really bad, but it can also be treated. You should also take some time to talk to your boss, or your employees if you are the boss, and come up with a way that you can feel less pressure when you are back on the job after healing.

Avoiding Burnout

Rather than waiting until you’ve already suffered the energy zapping effects of burnout, you can start working now to avoid it in the future. To someone that is dedicated to their job you may wonder how it is that you can ever avoid it, but there are a couple simple ways.

Start by leaving work at work. Whether you spend your work hours mostly at home or in an office building, you can still leave work at work. Once you’re home, or away from your at-home work desk, focus on the things going on in your home. By being aware of what is going on around you now instead of thinking about work you’ll start to be more present. Before bed, if there are things about work that are weighing on your mind take a moment to write them down so that you can get them out of your head and they’ll be less likely to keep you up at night.

Don’t be afraid to take a day off once in a while. If you only “work” five days a week, devote the other two to some hobbies or family time. Leave the phone at home and don’t check your emails. The main thing that can help you avoid burnout in the first place is living more in the now.

A healthy sleep routine is going to go a long way for your mental and physical health. If you get too little sleep you’ll not only be aggravated, but your body also doesn’t get that healing time that sleep gives you and it can open you up to many other illnesses which may take you away from work even when it’s the most important thing to you.

It is possible to be career minded but still have a life outside of work. If you’ve ever experienced executive burnout, what did you do to get back on your career feet again?