Fried, toasted, zonked, exhausted, weary are several alternative words we use for ‘burnout’. Are you experiencing burnout? Chances are you might be experiencing a minor to a greater degree of the symptoms associated from burnout. Today the average person works longer hours per day, week, month and year. The demands of life are at an all-time high. And I’m sorry to say, there’s no end in sight!
For several years 2012-2015 I was working like a madman. Training anywhere from 8-14 clients a day, 60-80 people a week and 240-300 clients a month. I was killing it both with the results I was getting for my client’s because I was in the zone and financially. I was digging myself out of the financial hole I fell into, like so many during the 2008 economic crash. But there was no way I could keep that pace up without something giving. And I almost hit a wall where I hared what I was doing.
Burnout is not a simple matter of fatigue or boredom. Severe burnout can be debilitating and could cause someone to take their own life, as seen in other cultures including Japan. You may start to notice mood changes or irritability, detached from your life, almost like you’re on autopilot. Statistics show that 1 out 3 people or 37% are showing signs of burnout. In the age of “always on”, when emails from your boss, wife, husband, friends are at the tip of your fingers and it’s the last thing you do every day, it’s not surprising these numbers have increased over the past 10 years. We battle traffic or other people who are also on the verge of burnout. The triggers are everywhere and there is no discrimination.
Risk Of Burnout
According to Dr. Ron Friedman, a psychologist who works with private and corporate clients says that both men and women are at greater risk of burnout today than just 10 years ago. Supervisors, bosses and family members may have misconceptions about what burnout is and what to do to recognize it or stop it in before it stops you. One assumption is that employees are weak or are unable to manage their workload, so then they are considered not qualified. Or the other assumption is that you just don’t like your job or the current situation you’re in. But chances are you did like it just a year or more ago. So why is it so hard to get out of bed now? These views assume that something is wrong with you if you’re struggling or experiences consistent stress at work or home. Burnout can also be attributed to several common causes that are integrated into your daily life that I will identify this coming Friday in my 5 To Thrive Friday article of the week.
What You Can Do To Avoid or Reverse Symptoms Of Burnout Today
The first thing is to become aware of the triggers that might cause you to stress out. Stress can show up in a variety of ways.
- shallow breath
- irritability
- short tempered
- lack of motivation
- fatigue
- frequent sickness
- back pain or other musculoskeletal pain
- a headache
Write down your triggers so you can start to identify what causes you to stress out. The stress that causes you to burnout is not acute stress or stress that happens infrequently, but rather the stress that is consistent that you might not even be aware anymore that it’s happening daily, weekly and monthly. You have to pay attention to these symptoms in the list above or others.
The trigger that caused to stress out daily were the emails I would receive. I felt like I had to get back to everyone immediately. Because I work with people face to face and do not check emails until I am done with the client, I was getting stressed out when I had a buzz or chirp in my pocket everytime I got an email and couldn’t check or respond. So I took my email address off my iPhone to avoid getting frequent notifications and left it only on my computer. Now I check my email 2 times a day morning and early evening before the end of business day. I thought it would turn my world upside down. But it did not! I actually get more done and I feel great. It’s been over 10 years and I’ll never go back again. I know this may be unrealistic for some or most who rely heavily on emails to conduct their business, but give it a try where you might just check 1x an hr or 4 times a day. I know several successful business people who have done this successfully.
Give it a try my friend. I promise however you do it, you’ll feel more relief and less stress that could be causing you to feel symptoms of burnout.
Pay attention to Friday’s email for solutions and tips.
Your health and fitness coach,
Steve
