If you feel completely worn down, or like the little things are too much, there’s a good chance you’re suffering from burnout. It’s dangerous for even the most successful people in the world.
What the heck is burnout, anyway?
First, let me provide the definition of burnout. Burnout is defined asĀ fatigue, frustration, or apathy resulting from prolonged stress, overwork, or intense activity.
Burnout is usually tied to some sort of prolonged work. Whether it’s at the office, or at home. Burnout isn’t specific to one area.
It affects us after we dedicate incredulous amounts of time to the work or tasks we have in front of us for an extended period of time.Ā When we throw ourselves all the way in without coming up for air.
Unfortunately, most people do not see burnout coming before it’s too late. They’re caught up in work and the “just five more minutes” routine that turns into hours on end.
Is this you? If so, keep reading.
Burnout is dangerous
Whether you realize it or not, burnout mode is super dangerous for you, your health and those around you.
First, whatever you are slaving away at, eats up all your time. Which in result, takes away time for self care, as well as other things in your life such as family and friends.
Because you are so dedicated to whatever is causing the burnout, your stress levels go way through the roof.
We all know stress can do terrible things to our bodies, but here are just a few:
- Stress can cause physical pain in your body
- It’s not good for your skin
- It can cause hair loss
- It can cause weight gain OR unhealthy weight loss
- It can compromise your immune system
- It’s bad for your mental health
I mean honestly, the list goes on and on. Stress is bad for your health and burnout is just plain dangerous!
The little things become too much
When you are in a state of burnout, the littlest tasks become too much for you to handle.
Suddenly, taking your makeup off at night, or doing things you used to enjoy, like posting to social media, seem excruciatingly painful.
You’ve pushed your body and mind so far into overtime that you actually send signals to your brain that the little things just aren’t possible.
Your body and mind both need to relax.
When you’ve reached the point of burnout and feel like anything and everything is too much, you’ll end up questioning why you’re doing what you’re doing to begin with. Which in turn, can be extremely destructive when it comes to sticking to a plan for the purpose of achieving a goal.
These are the moments that most people give up, because they don’t know how to set boundaries to avoid burnout and can’t course correct when they enter it.
How to avoid burnout
In my last post, I wrote about removing busy tasks from your schedule. This is one of the first things you can do to have work life balance and find peace in your day.
Instead of focusing on staying busy, focus on being purposeful and outsource tasks that aren’t getting you closer to your goals.
Your daily to do lists should never be more than 3-5 items. I hesitate to even say five because even THAT feels too long.
Set three major goals for yourself and be able to tie back each task to one of the goals.
Make sure these goals include things that aren’t all related to work, but also to the type of life you want to live and the person you want to be.
We live in a society that is so tied to work and “success” it’s no wonder we have issues with burnout. Make sure you’re doing things to fulfill you and keep you happy as well.
I also believe it is super important to have a morning routine that includes meditation and time to yourself. You can read more about the things I do to keep calm here.
Summary
It’s super important to be purposeful in everything we do. Wasting time on tasks that won’t get us closer to our goals is a red flag that we may be on the path to burnout.
Don’t do it fiends!
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