16 Productive Habits That Cool Down Burnout

Does your energy feel as though it has been zapped? ?

Burnout is on the rise.?

If you feel burned out your motivation is down, self-doubt and indecision are elevated, and your productivity is erratic. You’ve been triggered and understanding what is causing a roller coaster of feelings is at the heart of cooling them off and Putting Burnout to BED. Over time, certain habits, like working from home when you are accustomed to being in an office with others, or not having clear cut boundaries that enable you to end your workday and begin your personal life, begin to erode your mindset, and become a distraction. When our energy dips everything we think and do dips as well.

How can we break or amend the habits and rituals that exhaust us?

Below are 16 productive strategies and/or habits that will assist in cooling down what is burning up! Straightforward and digestible, these 16 suggestions elevate energy and invigorate routine. It is not that you have not seen or heard of these ideas before, but it may be that you are not consistently implementing them now. Challenge yourself to pick an assortment from the menu of concepts below to support you in offsetting the “hot flash” of burnout. Keep it simple. Burnout loves to get intwined in chaos!

1.????Honor yourself. This one is #1 for a reason. Self-leadership is our insurance policy against burnout and fatigue. Stay in the driver’s seat on decisions that respect and intersect your values and your goals in real time because life is happening right now. Overwhelm thrives when you disrupt your values and forget to respect yourself first. Get clear on what is important to you, adding more of that daily to both work and play. Honor yourself, and power up motivation and outlook.

2.????Celebrate and curate what is working. Overdoing it wears us down. When weary, it is common to focus on what is not going well versus on what is good. Catch yourself in the act! The next time you are overthinking what has gone crazy, or what could go wrong, flip the script and review what is working and what is possible. Lead from there and rinse and repeat.

3.????Rest. REST. REST. How many hours of sleep you get is only part of your rest equation. The more demanding shift in relaxation comes when you place a definitive line in the sand between personal and professional you. You exist in 360 degrees, so all of you needs to be accountable for all of you! There is more than one way to rest. Rest is a nap. Rest is time off. Rest is permission to end your workday. Rest is calming your thoughts. Rest is doing what fulfills. Rest is a reset gift that you give to yourself. No one can rest for you. Only you can make relaxation a part of your life. Rest more, burnout less.

4.????Move. Exercise comes alive in many ways. You can hike, bike, or take a class. You can challenge your mind. You can walk and talk for meetings. Movement creates energy and repositions direction. Move more, feel better, and open your mind to embrace change.

5.????Nourish YOU. What you eat is super important but personal nourishment takes on many forms. Nourishment is intelligent conversations. Nourishment is learning. Nourishment is having creative outlets. Nourishment is burning calories and breaking a sweat. Nourishment is drinking enough water and getting enough sunlight. When you nourish yourself, you grow. Growth erodes burnout.

6.????Rewrite boundaries from a place of head and heart. Think of boundaries as the rules you set to run your life. You may have previously assembled them based on a knee-jerk reaction to a bad boss or a relationship, or because you are emulating what you have always done before. Setting limits that respect your current feelings and thoughts edits what does not serve you and opens the door to change and possibility. Creating and implementing boundaries erases and erodes overwhelm and burnout because you are in choice, and on purpose.

7.????Do something you love. How many hours do you spend a week pursuing things that specifically appeal to YOU? For most of us, that is a low number as we tend to compromise to make others happy and to do what we feel needs to get done. So, in your mind, set a love percentage. 10% is a good starting place. If you spend 10% of the available 168 hours in the week focused on that which enriches and elevates you, then you spent the better part of one or two whole days on yourself! Reset and build from there. Doing what you like powers up energy and recharges all aspects of life. Burnout be gone!

8.????Make a new decision. Act on it. Rinse and repeat. Conquer ONE new decision at a time. Then another. Catch yourself waiting for approval, money, time, or permission and make the choice to START one new meaningful thing instead.

9.????Rewrite and reset goals. Goals and resolutions tend to be written at the beginning of each year. Base on that, our birthday wishes are possible only once every 365 days. There is a very large gap between when you set your goals and when you get your goals. That space is where burnout lives because you are often chasing something that no longer has the same merit 6-months or a year down the road. That changes the minute you lead rather than follow your dreams. The more you review and reset your goals and dreams, the more they match a today reality and make you feel successful. Success and burnout do not occupy the same space.

10.?Schedule joy. LOVE this one! Happy does not always just happen to us. Yet, we can make sure we include it in each day by scheduling in the people, places, and things that bring us the greatest happiness. If joy is a beach vacation, make sure it is on your calendar, even if only for a day. If joy is spending time with a specific friend, find the time and make the plan. Then don’t forget to show up, even if cancelling that plan would be easier. Every day, ask yourself if you have scheduled the people, places, and things that bring you joy. If you have not, take a moment to do so. Make this a habit as it is an excellent way to honor yourself and to balance life.

11.?Be spontaneous and get creative. If you want to upset the possibility of burnout, do something serendipitously! The more attached you are to living in the moment and allowing innovation to flow, the more complete you will feel. Burnout and low motivation thrive in overthought, rote routines, and predictable environments. Switch things up and reap the benefits.

12.?Prioritize connections. The Surgeon General believes that loneliness is an epidemic. Staying active in your networks and creating opportunities to connect and build meaningful relationships is essential to your well-being. Intelligent conversations, friends, family, and valued relationships allow you to feel that you are a part of something bigger than yourself. Prioritizing your people time takes you out of your head and into a sense of belonging that repels feelings of fear and overwhelm.

13.?Have a unique voice. You are the expert on you and on so much more. Power down the frustration of not being heard by finding creative and interesting ways in which you can share your thoughts and ideas. This provides an outlet for what you uniquely bring to the table. When you lead you, you also choose how you want to feel, what you want to do, where, and with whom. Having a voice empowers self-leadership and disempowers low self-esteem. You may have spent many years trying to fit into corporate culture, a group of friends, or a community. Look instead for ways you can stand out. What makes you unique is what sets you free.

14.?Manage expectations. Frustration is the end game of living a life of expectations rather than acceptance. Empower what you can control and accept what you cannot. Acceptance breeds more gratitude and higher self-esteem. Both are burnout busters leading to resolutions and changes that you CAN implement.

15.?Identify and clear triggers. All change and all growth require clarity. If you understand what sets a spiral in place, you can get better at recognizing this disruptive pattern and choose differently before burnout and overwhelm even start. Doing a daily check in to record what triggers may be present is a great way to stay ahead of them and to opt into different behaviors that support a better use of time and energy.

16.?Get support. Therapist. Coach. Yoga class. Best friend. Mentor. At the first twitch of a trigger, make sure that you have the accountable resources that you need to reset direction before things begin to ignite. What do you need? Let me know how I can help. When we coach together, we identify what powers you down and we replace it with what elevates and expands you! Fresh perspective, more clarity, desired results!