How to Overcome Burnout

Burnout sucks.

You know this because you’ve likely faced burnout at some point in your life. If not, you will.

I achieved burnout status in 2009. I can even narrow it down to a specific day at my old job. Until I left that job in 2011, I was absolutely miserable.

I couldn’t sleep. I dreaded going to work but I wouldn’t dare take a day off. I wasn’t giving myself permission to rest. I was taking my frustrations out on my family. It was affecting my health, too.

Are you nodding? Is this you?

During a recent readers survey of The Daily Blur, one person asked, “How do you deal with burnout?”

It’s a good question. But I wasn’t sure I had the definitive answer. I know how I dealt with it, but I was curious how others had battled the burnout beast. So I reached out to the masses via social networking and asked…

1. Have you ever reached Burnout?
2. How did you overcome Burnout?
3. What advice can you give to someone dealing with Burnout?

Here are some of the awesome responses:

• “I have found that pacing myself is the best way to avoid burnout. There are times when all-nighters are necessary. But there is no need to work to the point of exhaustion every night. When I hit that brick wall, I know it is time to quit. Getting plenty of sleep helps me wake up refreshed and ready to start a new day. It also helps that I love what I do.” – Travis
• “Take a day or a couple of days off. Visit museums, go on a trip. A change of scenery can reinvigorate.” – Carrie
• “When possible, leave work at work or set a time limit for dealing with work every day. Own your off time.” – Joe
• “At the beginning of each semester (I work at a college) I put in for one day off per month and get it on my calendar right away so I don’t back out of it.”         – Adrienne
• “The only remedy I found is some cold water reality to splash your face and make you want to do better and to reinvigorate your life. Don’t wait too long, failure is around the corner. Let that motivate you. That means making some changes that are not easy, but the alternative is failure.” – Mike W.
• “Trying to discover the source of the burnout helps. I love my job, but every year around July/August I hit a wall and begin to struggle with burnout of the daily grind. A vacation (NOT a “staycation”) often helps. Even if I just go visit my brother & his family, the change of scenery does me a world of good.”         – Sue
• “Find another job.” – Kim
• “Take a step back and breathe. A lot of the time burnout is experienced because you are doing so much, too much, and you lose sight of the big picture. When you step back and reevaluate, you have a chance to see the things that don’t need done, or don’t need done by you and you possibly see a new path to the goal with a fresh mind and spirit.” – Danette
• “Ryan, I was telling a friend about reaching a plateau of three months when starting a workout regiment and how when I started crossfit I was able to workout for a year and a half. I credit the fact that you rarely do the same workout in crossfit, it’s always a new experience. My friend related a technique in horse training called 7 Games by Pat Parelli. I’m not sure if your answer lies in horse training or not but it might be worth investigating.” – Mike S.
• “Having great friends and family helps with burn out. When I had burn out with the military, I went to school and received my associates, bachelors, and masters degrees to get a better job after the military. Having great faith in my God to get me and my family through it gave me peace about it.” – Noah
• “My advice is to 1. Look at the warning signs. If you are really down about any situation, access the situation, see what opportunities there are and act accordingly. 2. If you think you are burnt out, you probably have been for longer than you realize. 3. Do not take your work home with you or your home to work. That will drive you to burnout quicker than anything. Have time for work, have time for your family, and have time for yourself.” – Michele
• “In my first job out of college, I was in complete disagreement with the goals and values of the company I worked for. Exhausting, and took me months to recover. Be sure you know what the company stands for and stands against before you say “yes!” Otherwise, plan on burnout sooner rather than later.”       – Lynn
• “Burnout comes from mental weariness. But no amount of stress wears us out when we’re doing what we love doing… that’s exhilarating. But doing what you don’t enjoy will wear you out.” – Chuck
• “Prioritize your life activities. Get rid of those you do not enjoy. Learn to say ‘no’ to family and friends if you need to ‘make room’ for what they’re asking of you. Someone above said own your time. That’s a bit of good advice. Stressed? Take a nap. Eat some chocolate. Then defuse the stress point any way you can.” – Jacquie
• “I suggest some beach time…the ocean is my only medication!!” – Tracey
• “Be careful who you involve yourself with. Sometimes co-leading a something with a person you don’t see eye to eye with is more exhaustive than doing it alone. Also, sometimes a good conference can get your enthusiasm back up.” – Elizabeth
• “Is there something we need to talk about?” – Tim

Thanks to my friends and colleagues who contributed to this piece. You guys rock harder than Skynyrd.

Oh, and Mr. Miles? I’m going to need some more time on those TPS reports…

 photo credit: shoothead via photopin cc