What do you do if you're showing signs of burnout in your career?

A helpful metaphor is a backpack. Stressful experiences are like adding rocks to your backpack. The antidote to stress is rest so during the night when we rest, we can take rocks out of our backpack. If we add too many rocks in compared to how many we can take out, then our backpack gets fuller and fuller and that can lead to burnout. So strategies to avoid burnout should focus on reducing the stress we are exposed to but also on increasing how much stress we can process eg more and better sleep. Many strategies focus on the former and forget the latter. Personally I have found Transcendental Meditation valuable as it provides uniquely deep rest so I can process more stress and function in high-stress environments without burning out.

Evaluate Your Workload: Review your workload and responsibilities to see if there are any tasks you can delegate or eliminate to reduce stress and prevent burnout. Practice Mindfulness: Engage in mindfulness practices, such as meditation or yoga, to help reduce stress and increase resilience to burnout. Seek Professional Help: If your feelings of burnout persist or become overwhelming, consider seeking help from a mental health professional who can provide additional support and guidance. Focus on What Energizes You: Identify activities or aspects of your work that energize you and try to incorporate more of these into your routine to counterbalance the effects of burnout.

Establish clear boundaries between work and personal life to prevent work from encroaching on your well-being. Practice saying no to additional tasks or commitments that may exacerbate feelings of overwhelm and burnout. Take a step back to reassess your career goals, values, and priorities. Reflect on whether your current job aligns with your long-term aspirations and personal values.

Start by acknowledging and identifying the signs of burnout, such as chronic exhaustion, decreased motivation, cynicism, and reduced job satisfaction. Being aware of these signs can help you take proactive steps to address them.

Reach out to trusted colleagues, friends, or family members to discuss your feelings and experiences. Sharing your struggles can provide emotional support and offer different perspectives on how to cope with burnout.

Establish clear boundaries between work and personal life. Define specific times for work-related activities and personal time. Avoid checking work emails or engaging in work-related tasks during your personal time to create a healthier work-life balance.

Sleep is essential. However, according to Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, when we only use sleeping or watching Netflix for rest, we may be leaving ourselves open to exhaustion. In her TEDxAtlanta talk, she explains that there are 7 types of rest and how we can intentionally incorporate more of these into our lives. There is physical and mental, but also sensory, creative, emotional and spiritual. To come into balance, find a quiet moment to consider which of these types of rest you need and what small adjustment would feel good to integrate into your life.

All of the above is great (and no doubt required) but the sad truth is that when you need to keep the lights on for the self/family as the sole earner all this moves to the backburner. Especially, so in an economy that is not designed to help in health situations (far be it mental health). What helps is a conscious organization and more importantly, an evolved leader. A leader who truly understands is there to help actualize the above and balance out the work front. The assumption is that your family has your back the best they can in this situation. And above all, you need to be flexible and work with the leader to make this work. On a personal note, when you get better don't forget what this leader has done for you, and pay it forward.