Recover From Burnout
Recovering from burnout is a practice that requires identity development in multiple areas of one’s life. Recharging from burnout entails concentrating on diverse, all-encompassing personal development in addition to improving boundaries and expectations for oneself.
Symptoms of burnout can appear at work as well as at home, particularly since many of us now work from home and find it difficult to distinguish between our personal and professional lives. Similar to depression, burnout can be characterized by a person's low mood, impatience, and general lack of interest in activities that formerly motivated them.
Common signs of burnout include:
Irritability and/or low mood
Mental exhaustion
Difficulty sleeping or resting even though tired
Lack of interest in previously enjoyed activities
Difficulty controlling one’s mood – being emotionally labile or quick to anger
How to Recover from Burnout:
1. Examine “Locus of Control”
You may be adding to rather than reducing your stress if you find yourself dwelling on issues over which you have little to no control. Check-in with each stressor or worry to see if it's something you can genuinely manage. If not, try your best to shift your attention to another area.
2. Do a Stress Inventory
Be honest and detailed about the things in your life that are causing stress. Is there anything you can outsource or modify little by little to make it better? Sometimes we let progress toward perfection get in the way of what is good; even reducing a stressor from high to medium status is considered progress toward stress reduction.
3. Move Your Body Each Day
Exercise is a direct stress killer, yet it is something that many of us fail to give the credence it deserves. By moving each day for even a brisk walk or a 20-minute yoga session, your body begins to regulate its stress response. Daily movement is the one "must do" takeaway that there is.
4. Employ Self-Compassion
By taking the role of being a mindful observer of your burnout and giving yourself love and compassion for going through a particularly difficult time, you will automatically remove some of the irritability and self-hostility that can be part of feeling burned out. Note that what you’re going through is uncomfortable, yet it is temporary, and you will not always feel as you do at this moment.
5. Connect With Your Support Network
Burnout does not cure on its own. Rebuilding one's social network—ideally in person—is essential to beating burnout. Openly discuss your struggles with family and close friends, and encourage them to do the same.
6. Unplug From Social Media
Social media can make it all too easy to think that everyone else is doing just great, leaving too much room for dangerous comparisons that are based on what others are presenting and not necessarily experiencing, which can contribute to job burnout. You may spend more time on yourself and less time comparing yourself to others when you take a break from social media. You'll also probably get back hours of sleep from scrolling.
7. Try Something New & Different
Burnout can occasionally result from concentrating too much on one aspect of our lives, such as our jobs, parenting, relationships, or homes. Try concentrating on a completely different skill, ability, interest, or area of identity development that provides you joy, or a new perspective on who you are and what you can offer, instead of trying to "fix" an area that could be causing you stress.