In today’s world, burnout is at an all-time high. Burnout affects a person’s home life, and it’s present in all professions. The teaching profession is especially prone to burnout. The University of Missouri released a study this year, in which they interviewed 500 public school teachers. According to this study, 78% of teachers considered quitting after the pandemic. The reasons they gave were a lack of administrative support, difficult workloads, and student behaviors.
Burnout doesn’t just affect you emotionally and mentally. It affects your physical health. One effect of burnout on the body is insomnia. Researchers in Italy surveyed healthcare frontline workers during the peak of the pandemic, and 55% of the workers experienced insomnia, while 40% had nightmares. Changes in eating habits are also linked to burnout. You may eat more or less because you’re stressed out. Other physical symptoms include headaches and stomachaches.
Burnout doesn’t have to control your life. We live in a society that glorifies hustle culture and nonstop work without taking breaks. Our bodies and minds weren’t meant to endure high levels of stress regularly without any rest. If you find yourself in this situation, here are some ways to protect yourself from burnout.
Maintain Good Nutrition
Your diet plays a role in how you protect yourself from burnout. Cut back on heavily processed foods and focus more on whole and unprocessed foods. Increase your intake of fruits and vegetables. Instead of eating pasta and rice with your meals daily, substitute vegetables. Prepare healthy desserts that contain fruits and natural sweeteners. Drink more water throughout the day. Incorporate lean proteins such as chicken, turkey, and fatty fish such as salmon. Snack on healthy nuts like almonds, pecans, and walnuts.
Delegate Tasks as Needed
Burnout often happens when you try to do everything yourself. Delegate tasks when you need to unload and take a break. Identify people in your life who are skilled at doing the tasks you don’t want to do or are not skilled at doing. Ask them to complete the tasks and show them how you want them done. If you’re a manager, train your employees to do certain tasks so that if you’re absent one day, they can pick up the slack.
Set Appropriate Boundaries
Another way to prevent burnout is to set appropriate boundaries. If you have young kids at home this summer and you can’t afford childcare, speak with your boss about your need to work remotely a few days out of the week. If your workload is overwhelming, speak with your boss about assigning some of your projects to other employees.
If your child wants a new gadget but you won’t buy it until his birthday, remind him that he can’t have the gadget until his birthday, but he can find creative ways to play with the toys he has at home to entertain himself. If your friend asks for money even though you already gave him money last week, tell him that you will not give him more money, but you can help him create a budget and increase his income.
Get Organized
It helps to get organized when preventing burnout. Use a time-blocking schedule for your daily tasks. Time-blocking is when you set aside chunks of time each day to complete certain tasks. For example, between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., you’re cleaning the bathroom, and then from 10:00 a.m. to 12 p.m., you’re working on blog posts for your website. Set timers for each block of time and work in a distraction-free area of the home.
Automate as much as possible. Automate your savings and investments every pay period to maintain consistency in saving and investing. Automate your most important bills from your checking account, such as your mortgage, cell phone bill, car note, life insurance, and utilities. I sometimes order groceries online when I don’t have time to walk into the store. You can automate meeting scheduling by using software such as Calendly to book appointments on your behalf.
Protect Yourself from Burnout with Breaks
Breaks are vital to burnout prevention. Take breaks when tasks get too overwhelming. Don’t use your lunch break to complete more assignments in the office. Go to your favorite restaurant and grab a delicious meal, or take a walk around the block. Use your vacation time throughout the year to relax and get refreshed for the month ahead. Take a day off from work if you’re stressed.
Focus on The Most Urgent Tasks
Don’t try to tackle so many tasks within a given time. It’s better to focus on your most urgent tasks, then proceed with your less important ones. Suppose you’re working on a list of tasks that include writing proposals, composing emails, and creating the monthly budget for your department. However, your supervisor tells you that a bug is affecting his computer’s software and needs to be fixed. You’re the information technology manager, so this task falls on you. You put the other tasks on hold to help your supervisor.
Consider a Digital Detox
Maybe it isn’t your job or relationships that cause you to burn out. Maybe you’re affected by what you watch on certain websites and on social media. There is a constant barrage of news and articles that create fear and stress in you if you’re not careful. Protect yourself from burnout by doing a digital detox periodically. Start with small steps. You can avoid scrolling on your phone for an hour after you wake up. Turn off notifications for the duration of the detox. Replace social media with more rewarding activities such as reading, learning new hobbies, or date nights with your spouse.
Burnout happens to all of us, but we don’t have to stay in it. With these effective strategies, you can reclaim your peace of mind and thrive in everything you do.