How To Avoid Burnout

If you’re reading this, I’m going to guess that you’ve experienced burnout at some point in your life.  You may be reaching that point right NOW. 

If that’s the case, I’m so glad you’re here.  Burnout can totally derail your life in more ways than one.  Burnout negatively affects your health, relationships and overall sense of well-being… and unfortunately, it can be really hard to recover from!  Many of us have become used to the cycle of burnout as a lifestyle, making it just another thing we deal with in our overly-packed, stressful lives.

I don’t know about you, but I HATE the feeling of just barely staying afloat, that line we toe when burnout is right on the other side, and we’re juuuust barely eking by.

I don’t think life has to be that way.  

So what the heck can you do when instead you feel burnout creeping in?

Here are my best tips about how to stop burnout in its tracks.

Identify.

Burnout usually happens with a gradual overload of energy-sucking tasks over a prolonged period of time.  It’s not an isolated incident- so there will always be breadcrumbs you can follow to discover how the heck you got to the point of burnout or overwhelm. 

The first step to avoiding burnout is identifying the problem. 

Tap into your feelings and honestly ask yourself- if you continue down this path, are you headed towards burnout?  If so, congratulations!  You’ve identified you have a problem.  That’s the first step to fixing it.  

Once you’ve identified your circumstances, it’s time to take note of what’s changed in your life to lead you this way. 

Many times burnout occurs when something changes about our workload or life circumstances (like having a child, losing or changing jobs, or a global pandemic…) and we don’t change to accommodate our new needs. 

When life changes, we need to change with it.  It’s unrealistic to expect yourself to perform the way you used to when your life has changed.  Once you can identify the reason for the overload, you can decide to claim a new reality.

Claim what you want.

Now that you’ve identified the cause of your path to burnout, it’s time to decide what you want for your life instead. 

This step is crucial in avoiding burnout because it inspires action.  If you don’t take the time to decide what you want to show up in the place of your current circumstances, you’ll have a much harder time breaking the cycle.  Our brains like to have tangible goals.  Telling yourself to ‘avoid burnout’ doesn’t necessarily help you take the steps you need to steer clear of it. Claim what you want instead and you’ll know where to shift your focus when you’re headed down the path of burnout and overwhelm.

Clear space.

Now that you’ve claimed what you want to show up in your life in lieu of your current path, it’s time to clear out everything that’s keeping you stuck on the burnout path and realign.  This involves some tough love for yourself and you schedule.  You don’t have time and energy for everything you’ve currently committed to.  That’s why you’re feeling overwhelmed!  What can you eliminate from your schedule and life that’s no longer aligned with your goals?  Do you have any old habits can be reevaluated or changed to better support you?  What can you say ‘no’ to in order to say ‘yes’ to your well-being? 

Calibrate.

Once you’ve set some of these boundaries for yourself to protect your new path from burnout, it’s time to take action. 

No plan is perfect, and the only way you’ll know if your new path is going to help you avoid burnout is to try it and pay attention.  Notice your energy levels and how well you’re able to focus.  Are you seeing improvements in your emotional state and wellbeing?  If the answer is no, it’s time to reevaluate.  Every good plan requires some tweaking, so allow yourself some space to let it evolve with you as you learn more about what you want and need.

Reevaluate.

As you’re on your way to avoiding burnout, make sure you check in with yourself constantly.  Get acquainted with the feelings in your body that signal stress and burnout.  Your feelings help you take the temperature of your actions to decide if the prescription is working.  ‘Take your temperature’ often and stay connected with how you want to feel.  When your feelings are consistently pointing to stress and burnout it’s time to make a new plan.

Self-Care.

Lastly, it’s essential to go through this whole process with an attitude and energy of self-love and self-care.  You are the only one who can decide to stop and re-route when you’re headed to burnout.  You deserve to feel supported and cared for at all times in your life, so take action consistently to reinforce this idea: You are worthy of love and care and a life without burnout!

This process you learned to combat burnout isn’t a one-trick pony.  This is the EXACT process I use to change anything and everything in my life and in the lives of my clients.  For more details about how to use this process in all areas of your life, check out my free mini-course called How To Change Anything>>