Trying to push past the exhaustion when you notice that you’re burned out will only lead to more physical and emotional harm. You must take steps to overcome burnout and be healthy again. The following steps should be taken to deal with burnout and make you regain your enthusiasm, focus, and feeling of well-being.
Reach Out
Burnout makes every situation look bleak, saps you of energy, and leaves you viewing all problems as insurmountable. The most effective way to deal with this and get your life back into balance is by reaching out to others. Humans are social beings, and social contact is the number one antidote to dealing with stress.
Psychologists have shown that talking to a good listener is the fastest way to relieve stress and calm your nervous system. This stands true even when the person you’re talking to doesn’t have the means to help you or “fix” your stressors; they only have to be a good listener.
Find Value In Your Work
Whether your job leaves you always feeling stressed or is unfulfilling and monotonous, an efficient way to beat job burnout is to quit your job for one you love. Of course, this isn’t an option for many of us as that would leave us unable to fend for our families. This doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways to improve your state of mind and beat work burnout though.
Psychologists recommend finding value in your current job as the most straightforward way to beat job burnout. No matter how mundane your job is, you should focus on how you help others or on the aspects of the job that you enjoy.
This can be chatting with your co-workers, working on a particular device, or the joy of seeing a project through from beginning to end. This change in how you view your job goes a long way to give you control back and regain a sense of purpose.
Reconsider Your Priorities
Burnout is an irrefutable sign that your life isn’t going according to how you want it to. It’s also a good time to reevaluate your priorities, dreams, and goals. Consider what truly makes you happy and how you can chase this happiness without leaving yourself feeling stressed and at risk of burnout. Put in place clear boundaries that separate your work life from your personal life and know your limits.
Exercise
While exercise might be the last thing on your mind and considered a waste of time when you’re burned out, psychologists say that exercise is an incredibly powerful antidote for beating burnout. It is also an immediate method of relieving stress and fixing your mood.
It doesn’t have to be anything extreme, as research has shown that a 10-minute walk can boost your mood for as long as two hours. You should try to get in 30 minutes of exercise per day to maximize stress relief and boost your mood. Exercising relieves stress by taking your mind off the anxiety and focusing it on your body and the sensation of exercising.
Eat A Healthy Diet
Research has linked the food you put in your body with your energy levels and your mood. While refined carbs and sugar might be tempting, high-carbohydrate foods have been shown to quickly lead to a drop in mood and energy levels.
Studies also recommend that you avoid excessive alcohol consumption and smoking. While these habits might seem calming, alcohol causes anxiety once its effects wear off, and nicotine is a strong stimulant that leads to increased levels of anxiety.
