You may be heading towards burnout without realising it so it is important to know the signs of burnout and also the steps you can take to avoid it. 

Recognising how the signs of burnout show up for you 

Know yourself first 

Your first step is knowing yourself and recognising your own traits. It’s not bad to be somebody who works incredibly hard but it’s not sustainable or healthy to do it constantly.   You need to know yourself, how you work best and recognise the signs of burnout and exhaustion in your body.  

Your boundaries 

Having poor boundaries can lead to burnout especially your work/life boundaries. This has been especially clear in the pandemic with the line between work and home having completely disappeared. It’s important you set your boundaries, communicate them and be disciplined with sticking to them. 

Overworking yourself 

If you consistently overwork, at some point it is going to catch up with you. You might think you’re doing more but it’s not actually productive and the quality of your work is less. Your work can become addictive and you might resonate with the idea of being a workaholic.  

Ask yourself why you feel addicted to work and how you can find more pleasure in your personal life to get the balance back. 

It’s the wrong role 

Sometimes we’re not in the right role for us. It could be a perfectly healthy organisation but actually, we’re in a role that just doesn’t work for us. To compensate, we’re working really, really hard which leads to high stress levels, frustration and imposter syndrome. Consider whether your role is using your unique strengths, whether it fits into you Zone of Genius and if you enjoy the work.  

 

I’m burnt out! What can I do?  

If you’re reading this and thinking “I feel like I’m in burnout, I need to help myself”, here are some tips to help you get started. 

 

Build rest into your week 

Sometimes we can work really hard and then have a lot on socially as well. You might also have a family and we know that’s not very restful, particularly with young children. Create some space for yourself and scope out time for rest.  Read a book or have a cup of tea or sit in the sunshine in the garden and just watch the bees, butterflies and birds buzzing and flying around. 

Be kind to yourself 

You’re probably really kind to everybody else but you may not be kind to yourself. For example, if you wouldn’t ask a team member to do it then why are you asking yourself to do it?  You can aim to treat yourself as you might treat a child that you love or are your best friend. Look after yourself as much as you look after other people.  

Know your worth 

Know that your worth is not linked to the quality of your work. You have innate value just for being you. There is no one else on this entire earth that has your unique combination of experience, personality, relationships and the energy that you show up with.  You are valuable exactly as you are and you do not have to work yourself into the ground to prove to anyone else or yourself that you’re good enough. You just have to choose to believe that you’re good enough, and to tell yourself regularly to counteract any negative thoughts that so often come up.