No matter what industry you work in, preventing burnout is very important. Some may say that burnout is more prevalent in those who work for themselves. This is because it’s easier to get lost in all the tasks, no one to delegate them to, and the more you do usually the more money or freedom you get.
The truth is if you don’t work on preventing burnout, you’ll end up not reaching your goals when you want to, likely losing some clients and the quality of your work will decrease.
What is Burnout?
Burnout occurs when you stay in a state of mental, physical, or emotional state for a prolonged period of time caused by stress. Some common symptoms are feeling drained, overwhelmed and experiencing a lack of motivation.
Most often we don’t attribute these symptoms to burnout until it’s too late and we need to take a step back. This is why setting yourself up for success and preventing burnout is the way to go.
Habit 1 – Daily Movement
One of the best ways to help prevent burnout is to add in some daily movement to your day. This does not need to be anything crazy. In fact, it’s easier to keep it simple, unless it’s already a part of your daily routine. Daily movement just means exactly that – move daily.
You can schedule time for a quick walk, stretching, yoga, weightlifting or anything else that you enjoy. Bonus points if you can do your daily movement outside as this helps to make you feel even better.
The timing of your daily movement is whatever works for you. You can do this first thing in the morning, at your lunch break or even after you completed your daily work. The key is to schedule in when it works best for you, so it does not create more stress.
Habit 2 – Balanced Diet & Sleep
Daily movement is great, but it can only take you so far when it comes to preventing burnout. If eating habits and sleep habits are off, then daily movement won’t be as effective. This is generally due to the fact that you will already have lower energy from not sleeping well and not fueling your body with the nutrients it needs.
Good nutrition helps make sure that your body is getting everything it needs to function optimally. A proper sleep also aides in giving your body what it needs to function. Without good energy our motivation can dip, we become more irritable and are less likely to stick to our daily routines.
One easy way to ensure you are getting the nutrition you need is to plan your meals in advanced, so you always know what you are going to have. For sleep stick to a schedule where you wind down and get up at the same time every day as much as possible
Habit 3 – Asking for Help
Being able to move every day, eat well and get good sleep is not always attainable. Life happens and things can get in the way of our daily routines. The good news is that there is always one thing that we are in control of when these things aren’t falling into place. This is the power of asking for help.
No matter what your situation is you can always ask for help. Turn to family, friends, colleagues or even your clients to assist you when you need it. Asking for help also includes taking a break. The help is merely those around you accepting that you need to take a break in order to reset and get back on track.
Why Habits Are Important
By building a habit around daily movement, eating, sleeping and asking for help you are setting yourself up for success. You are also creating a system that will help prevent burnout, ultimately allowing you to enjoy your work and your life.
Start by adding one of these habits into your daily routine over the next few weeks until each one becomes integrated without question. If you aren’t sure which one to start with, we suggest starting with asking for help!