If constant stress has you feeling helpless, completely exhausted, and in a slump, you may be on the road to burnout. But you don’t have to be ready to throw in the towel in order to make improvements. Learn what you can do to regain your balance and feel positive and hopeful again with these five tips on preventing burnout.
1. Analyze Your Job
One of the main causes of burnout happens because of unhappiness with the work that you are doing. Take a deeper look and analyze your job. This analysis may be able to relieve some of the feelings of burnout. Evaluate what exactly is expected of you in your role or if there are tasks you can delegate or eliminate for your daily routine that has you overcommitting yourself. This can lighten your workload and help refocus and reenergize yourself. After your evaluation, create long-term professional goals for yourself and use them to guide your future decisions.
2. Find a Hobby
Work can be stressful and at times, feel all consuming. Finding a hobby outside of work that you genuinely enjoy doing can help combat feelings of burnout. Something as simple as reading a new book or joining an exercise class can help expose you to new people and experiences that will broaden your horizons. Spend a few hours a week doing something that brings you joy. It doesn’t need to be expensive or take a lot of time—it just needs to be an activity that allows you to separate your work time from your personal time.
3. Be Social
Spending time with people outside of work gives you some much-needed emotional fulfillment. Seeing the same coworkers every day can often focus too much on work activities. Try scheduling regular social activities on weekends, whether it’s simply grabbing dinner with friends you haven’t seen in a while or getting a coffee. Breaking up a monotonous schedule can lessen feelings of burnout by reinvigorating your daily routine.
4. Start a Gratitude Journal
Feeling overwhelmed or stressed out? Research has proven that focusing on gratitude can have positive health benefits. A gratitude journal is the perfect place to document what you’re thankful for. It can be as simple as taking a couple of minutes each day to write one thing down on paper. No matter what you journal about, make sure you are using the right tools. The Sarasa Grand Gel Retractable Pen has a weighted feel that gives you an exceptional writing experience, while still be sleek and stylish. If you’re looking for something more rugged, try the metal-accented M-350 Mechanical Pencil, available in three barrel colors. No matter which pen you use to Choose Different, incorporating a gratitude journal into your daily routine can help center and calm yourself, preventing burnout.
5. Take Care of Yourself
In a recent study, two out of three millennials said that they don’t take lunch breaks or eat lunch at their desks. These highly engaged workers believe they have too much work to accomplish and can’t take time away. Overworking is a huge cause of burnout. Take the time to eat your lunch away from your desk—and use it to catch up with coworkers on a more personal level or step outside for fresh air. Even a 5-minute break can help you refocus on the tasks at hand. Food is also important for your brain and putting forth your best work.
Burnout is a very real feeling and it can happen to anyone. The accumulation of never-ending stress and feeling of being unable to step away from your work can lead to mental and physical symptoms of burnout. Take these tips and implement them into your routine to help prevent burnout and keep working at your best.
