How to Recover From Burnout

By: Addie Speidel

What is Burnout?

Burnout is when a person is in a state of mental and physical exhaustion. It often occurs when you’ve been experiencing long-term stress and trouble keeping up with life’s demands. When someone is experiencing burnout, they are often overwhelmed and emotionally drained. While it is not considered a medical condition, it is still important to recognize the symptoms and learn ways to take care of your mental health!


Signs of Burnout

A person with with burnout may (According to “Recovering From Burnout”):

  • Feel that every day at work is a bad day

  • Be exhausted much of the time

  • Have no joy in work or passions and may even feel depressed by it

  • Feel overwhelmed by having too many responsibilities

  • Engage in escapist behaviors like eating or drinking

  • Have less patience with other people than you used to

  • Feel hopeless about life or work

  • Have physical symptoms like chest pain, shortness of breath, sleeplessness, or heart palpitations (see a physician about these particular symptoms!)



Burnout Self-Test Avoiding Burnout



Recovering From Burnout

Burnout doesn’t go away on its own, and it will often get worse if the underlying issues aren’t addressed. Recovering from burnout is a slow journey, and it takes time, space, and balance to recover. Ignoring the signs can cause health problems later down the line.

Burnout is a mixture of three components; Stress, exhaustion, and overload. It is often associated with work, school, and personal passions. Here are some strategies you can use to find what works the best for you!

Find the “Why” or the “Source”

Sometimes the “why” or “source” of your burnout is obvious, but other times it takes time and introspection to figure out. Once you identify this, it makes it easier to solve the problem and fix it.


Take a Break

Sometimes it is hard to take a break from something taking up so much time, but it’s a good way to start recovering. It gives you time to rest and think about long-term solutions, as well as a chance to step away. Burnout can cause a cycle of negative thinking, and it can be challenging to develop a habit of positive thinking. Start small. Celebrate small accomplishments, think of something positive before and after you go to bed each night.



“Positive psychologist Martin Seligman says that all of us require five essential elements in our lives in order to experience well-being. These elements – positive emotions, engagement, positive relationships, meaning and achievement – are described in his PERMA Model . Use this model to discover whether any of these elements are missing, and to think about what you can do to incorporate them into your life” (“Recovering From Burnout”).



Reassess Goals

Burnout can occur when work is out of alignment with your values, or you don’t know what your values are. Reconnect with what gives meaning to your work, or identify the purpose of your being there. This can change the way you structure your own work or how you view your role.


Learn to Delegate

Putting more things on your plate only adds more feelings of being overwhelmed. You have the right to politely say no. And besides, no one can say yes to everything. Try making a list of the demands of the things you are burned out from asking you to do. Is there anything you can delegate to someone else or offload?


Self-Awareness

The three key components of taking care of yourself are sleep, exercise, and eating. Sometimes suffering from burnout means we’ve not given our bodies enough attention, so make sure you’re thinking about the basics and prioritizing your own health.

You can also learn from tendencies you have in your personality like “perfectionistic tendencies, mental strength, coping strategies, ability to navigate challenges and adversity and your core values and beliefs about the way you think the world should operate” (“How To Recover From Burnout”). Being aware of your own tendencies will help you figure out if the way you are wired makes you more or less likely to burn out.


Conclusion

Learn to take care of YOU! Life can easily get overwhelming, and it’s important to know how to take care of yourself. You get one body and mind, so make it a nice place to live. Never hesitate to reach out to someone or seek help.