Burnout and Resilience
Hello friends...
Welcome to my very first blog post ever... Here's to stepping past my comfort zone and expanding my life experience. Today I want to talk about burnout. I know that many of you have experienced burnout at some point in your life. I can imagine that these past couple of years have increased the likelihood of this experience.
What is Burnout?
Burnout is the feeling of "I just can't do this anymore, I have nothing left in the tank, don't ask me to do one more thing." It is also the feeling of complete exhaustion or depletion physically, mentally, and cognitively. I know I have felt this way many times in life. Especially this past couple of years. It's challenging to feel like you are totally spent and just have nothing left to give. But wait… I still have to work, take care of my family, my house, my pets...the list goes on and on. Does this sound familiar?
You know that habit of waiting for the weekend thinking, "I'll get some rest then ." Pushing through till the project is done, bargaining with yourself that you'll get rest and take time for yourself. "I have a whole week's vacation; "I'll catch up on my rest then." Well, this is not going to cut it. The myth is that you will get the rest you need. The reality is.. you cannot bank rest. You don't store up rest on your weekends, so you can get through the next week, month or year. How many times have you said, "I need a vacation from my vacation."
Preventing Burnout
Preventing burnout, exhaustion, and fatigue takes intentionality every single day. So here is where the concept of resilience comes in. Resilience is about thriving in life, not coping. Resilience is learning to and taking action towards recharging yourself throughout the day. To improve your personal resilience and prevent burnout, you must develop an awareness of the 5 different sources of energy that get you through the days, weeks, months, and years.
The 5 Energy Sources
The 5 sources of energy that help you thrive are Physical, Mental, Cognitive, Spiritual, and Relational. So think about and pay attention to how you are charging these areas. How are you taking care of your body and brain? What are you feeding it? Are you exercising it? How are you taking care of and respecting your emotions and feelings? Do you allow space for your feelings, or do you shut them down? How are you taking care of your cognitive energy? Are you making too many decisions, reading/staring at the computer, not taking mental breaks when you become cognitively fatigued? What about spiritual energy? Where do you find inspiration, motivation, purpose..? Last but not least, how are you filling your relational energy? Where are you finding belonging, connection, and contribution to others?
Creating Balance
It's important to turn inward and reflect on what you need. You may be killing it in a couple of these areas, but are there areas that need a little more effort? This may feel overwhelming, but the beauty of it is that it does not take much to fill your energies. You can do many small things throughout the day to help yourself; get proper rest, adjust your routine, change a small habit or two to get improved results. These small changes and steps will help you have the energy to enjoy your life outside of work at the end of the day.
Now it's time for me to take a cognitive break step away from the computer. Stay tuned; there's more to come.
*** Take some time to reflect on what areas you could work on to help you thrive in life, not just coping.
May you be joyful. May you be well. May you be at ease.
~Kristina