From Burnout to Balance: How to Reclaim Your Energy by Redesigning Your Career

In recent years, burnout has become a word that we’ve all started hearing a lot more of, and sure, it might be easy to chalk this up to it just being another fancy word that people use to exaggerate, but we do think its rise to popularity deserves a bit more digging than just chalking it up to a word popularised on TikTok by pseudo-therapists.

Burnout is so much more than ‘just’ being tired or needing a break from your work. It’s a feeling that goes bone-deep and forces you to slow down and sit with your thoughts and your feelings and really examine your life and how you’re living it. For the purpose of this article, we will talk about burnout specifically as to how it pertains to your work life, as that is our niche and where we shine brightest.

So, how would you know if you are actually struggling with burnout?

1 – Physical & Emotional Exhaustion

• Chronic fatigue: When you are feeling exhausted and drained, even after you’ve managed a full night’s rest.
• Mood Swings: If you notice that your moods shift frequently and you experience feelings like increased irritability, frustrations or impatience, specifically aimed at your co-workers and/or clients.
• Loss of Drive: When tasks that you once enjoyed and managed to tick off fill you with real feelings of dread, and you just can’t seem to gather the motivation to get on with your work.

2- Cynicism & Detachment

• Negative outlook: You don’t have to be a glass-half-full person every day, but when you notice that you have a general, critical, and/or cynical attitude towards your workplace, colleagues or duties, it’s a problem
• Isolation: Withdrawing yourself from your team and any social gatherings that happen in your workplace.
• Numbness: When you just can’t seem to muster up enough energy to really care, feeling indifferent about your job, or feeling that the work that you do simply does not matter.

3- Reduced Performance

• Brain fog: This can manifest as being forgetful, struggling to focus or having a tough time focusing on your tasks
• Procrastination: Putting off your work and taking much longer to complete it than is necessary

It’s important to note that all of these in isolation and every once in a while is completely normal; however, when it becomes constant, and you’re feeling numerous of these all the time, it’s time to take stock and take steps to help yourself.

What factors contribute to feeling burnt out?

1- Workplace Factors

• Excessive workload: Unrealistic deadlines combined with consistently having more work to do than you have capacity for
• Unclear job expectations: If you’re unclear about what is expected of you it can create anxiety along with feelings of inadequacy.
• Toxic environments & conflict: Poor management, bullying, and difficult work relationships
• Lack or reward or recognition: Feeling undervalued and/or under-compensated for your effort and the quality of your work
• Values mismatch: Working in an environment that clashes with your personal values and morals

2- Personal & Lifestyle Factors[1] 

• Poor work-life balance: Spending too much time working and neglecting your need to spend time with family, friends, or rest.
• Seasons: Seasonal depression is very real and can affect your general mood when it changes.
• Lack of self-care: Self-care is not always fancy skincare; it also means getting enough sleep, eating well, and having a good support system. Lacking in any of these areas is a lack of self-care.
• Time of the year: Once the hype of the new year and all the excitement dies down, it can drag your motivation right down as well.

If this resonates with you and you want to have a better understanding of why you are personally feeling this way and want to learn about tools that can help you feel more balanced and have burnout be a thing of the past, we are hosting a FREE masterclass on how to do just that!

You can register for free HERE

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