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We are all familiar with burnout - when your body goes through a series of mental, physical and emotional exhaustion due to prolonged stress. You may feel overwhelmed and struggle to meet constant demands. It zaps all productivity from you, and you eventually feel too tired to do anything as you feel like you have nothing to provide anymore.
We all do not wish burnout to happen to ourselves as it zaps away all motivation and energy to do anything. After all, being burned out renders us into an unhealthy state where we simply do not have the means to go any further.
Yet, in today’s society, we are more susceptible to burnout due to the increased commitments that we may be expected to fulfil, and with a much more devastating landscape than just three years ago.
And burnout does not exclusively come from your work at the office; you can be burnout from every aspect of your life outside work, such as at home, school, personality traits and even your social life. Whatever that is providing a sense of prolonged stress, burnout is a great possibility.
Each individual will have different signs of being burned out - some will know that they are burnt out from the emptiness and lack of motivation, while some may not even know that they are burnt out due to the immense stress they are currently facing.
Although something is certain, when you are unmotivated, emotionless, feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, and the feeling of detachment - that is when it is different from stress, and you are burnt out.
It sucks to burn out. Back then, when I was still studying for a national exam, the feeling of doom caused me to push harder every other day. The days leading up to the exams made me feel so mentally exhausted. I felt like I had nothing else to give, as if everything were all out of control.
I did not know it was burnout then until a simple google search confirmed that it was indeed a symptom of burnout (I do not recommend just searching google for answers, instead, speak to someone). Thankfully, I was going through counselling then, which helped me cope with my burnout episode, and I have managed to overcome it.
I hope no one will ever experience burnout - it can be a significant fork on the road. However, reality always hits differently.
When I was burned out, I was fortunate enough to have a counsellor to advise me on how I could be kinder to myself and put myself as the number one priority, as even then, I was extremely harsh to myself. She shared with me some tips on how to tide through that period of mine, and I found it extremely helpful. I hope to share it today through this post.
I have also done my further research and cited some tips from helpguide.org for this article - if you want to know more about burnout, please visit that website.
Talk to someone about it.
When I was experiencing burnout, I struggled to talk to someone about it, too - hence, I can understand you if you are working with it alone.
But please, talk to someone about it - friends, family, co-workers, counsellors, or anyone you trust.
That person that you talk to someone with need not be the one to fix all of your issues - they can just provide a listening ear for you to rant it out. As you talk it out, you will sometimes realise the solution to the stressors as you hear yourself speak! More importantly, as you talk it out, you release all the burden that is kept within you and all the stress you have been holding.
Just talking it out gives you a sense of clarity and makes you feel like you are back in control.
Set healthy boundaries.
This is something that I know many struggling with burnout is that they always have unhealthy expectations for themselves - even myself then too, guilty as charged.
Often, they will have high expectations for themselves, always saying yes to every work possible, doing as much work as possible just to achieve the expectations that they uphold for themselves.
Of course, setting high expectations for yourself is alright, but when you bite off more than what you could chew, you are just adding stress to yourself, and eventually, hell will break loose, and that is when the spiral happens.
So one thing that I learned is to set healthy boundaries; one of them is to say no. When I felt my workload was too high, and my tuition teacher asked me if she could give me more homework as the exams were around the corner, I said no. I explained that I had a lot of things on my plate currently; when my manager asked me to work on weekends during the school semester, but I knew I would be too tired, I said no.
By doing that, I could prioritise what was more important for me to do, and it allowed me to regain a sense of control over what I was doing. It was tough saying no at first, but when I realised how beneficial it was for me as I had more time to focus on what was more critical for me with less redundant work, I became much more in control.
Another boundary that I set was the timing that I studied and worked. For example, if it is a school semester, I will not work on the weekends unless I have finished ALL assignments. If I am doing school work, the latest I can do is until 9 pm, as after 9 pm, it is time for me to wind down in preparation for sleep. During my commute to school, I will not look at school materials (unless it is an emergency).
I know that this is impossible for everyone to set, but by having time boundaries for yourself, you allocate a strict time limit of what you could do, and the rest goes to self-care and treating yourself. That, too, allowed me to compartmentalise what was the most important and how much time I needed to spend on doing it while the rest would go to me rejuvenating myself.
Setting boundaries is all about having a proper work-life balance. Unfortunately, I understand that having a work-life balance might not be an option for some people due to the varying circumstances. If setting boundaries for a proper work-life balance is not viable, please talk to someone about it and share all your concerns to reduce the pressure on you.
Exercise, exercise, exercise!
Get your body moving! Exercise can be beneficial for you if you are going through burnout.
Go for a run - feel your feet touching the hard concrete floor with each step, feel the cold breeze ricocheting your face as you run, and feel the coolness of your sweat as you run. Once you are done with your exercise, for some reason, you will feel so much better about yourself! You will feel invigorated - and it’s so true, exercise can be a great reliever of stress.
While exercising, it is best to have an empty mind and focus solely on your workout and the sensations as you work your body. Trust me; it is such a refreshing process!
Have a healthy diet.
Ditch fast food - those contain an absurdly high amount of salt and unhealthy fats that can hinder your mood and your road to recovery from burnout. When I ditched McDonald’s almost wholly, my mood elevated so much for the better!
Also, please cut down on alcohol. Although alcohol can help release tension, too much of it will cause anxiety and even more worry when the effects of the alcohol weave off.
Never use any substances (nicotine, drugs, alcohol) as a coping mechanism. It is because as soon as the effects wear off, it will cause more anxiety - causing you to crave more of the substance you used initially, which increases your risk of addiction.
(Unless prescribed by a licensing practitioner)
Burnout is something terrible to happen to anyone - I wish no one would go through the horrors of being burned out. However, if you, unfortunately, do burnout, I hope the tips above will help you alleviate some tension and pressure, like how it did help me and millions of others.
If you have any other tips, do share them in the comments below or on our Instagram page!
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