Burnouts

Definition: A burnout can be defined as a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion occurred due to long term exposure of demanding work situations.

A lot of people experience a burnout at some point of their career, regardless of how much you like your job. Burnouts can create feelings of powerlessness, hopelessness, resentment, cynicism, and failure.

Burnout is not a sudden occurrence, hence it is very important to identify its early symptoms:

Psychological symptoms: negativism irritable boredom indecisivenessparanoia alienation

Physical symptoms: fatigue insomnia excessive sleeping headache excessive weight loss or gain gastrointestinal problems sexual problems frequent colds

Behavioral symptoms: social withdrawal relational problems excessive alcohol use workaholic more prone to accidents

If you feel you are suffering from burnout, it is advisable to make changes in your life style to improve your overall well being and help you cope better with day-to-day demands.

There are several ways to treat or prevent burnouts. Since burnouts are a physical and psychological response related to your feelings it is very important to take care of both your body as well as mind when treating burnouts. To get rid of burnout, you can make the following changes and develop your physical, social, and mental well-being:

The very first thing you need to do is to become well aware of the common signs of burnouts and try to recognize its possible causes. Most of the preventive strategies are the same as those recommended for stress and stress reduction. Stress reduction helps you to reduce stress through several stress reduction techniques such as meditation. Stress management techniques helps to increase your personal power so that you can handle all difficult situations in life and work without stress.

If you are depressed of your job, talk with your supervisor and take necessary steps to lighten your stress. You can even consider a career change if possible. But keep in mind that you are not making choices quickly because of panic or desperation. Sometimes it's better to wait until the right time when you are able to make logical and rational decisions, but sometimes you need to force yourself to make decisions to get you out of your impasse.

Motivation helps you to reduce the side effects of burnouts and helps you to achieve your goals. A positive motivational philosophy is needed to improve your work quality, productivity, and service. Self motivation creates a personal power – a feeling of “I can do it” – which helps you to control and manage your work effectively. As you develop self motivation, you will gain a sense of control and mastery. Here are some tips to become motivated again:

• Read inspiring books: here's one to get you started: 'Unlimited Power - The New Science of Personal Achievement' written by Anthony Robbins.
• Contact some people you have a positive feeling about, but whom you didn't have contact with for a while.
• Make a list of things that need to be done and work on the list one step at a time
• Try a new hobby or something you really enjoy doing.

Develop an exercise routine! Fitness is a very important feel-good factor. Try to exercise 4 times a week. This doesn't have to take hours, 30 minutes is enough. Take it easy in the beginning and slowly build up. Do cardiac training (jogging, cycling) as well as strength training (weight lifting). Weight lifting is very effective for getting you out of a slump. Get that testosterone going!

Take care of your diet! What you eat determines how you feel. One of the reasons you are out of energy is because you have been eating low-energy food. Here are some tips to get you started:

  Eat vegetables a lot!
  Cut down on red meat, soft drinks, coffee, dairy products and      sugar.

  Drink plenty of water
  Eat fish at least 2 times a week (fish contains omega 3)

  Do your own research on how to eat healthy

Sleep! You need at least 8 hours of sleep a day.

In short, to recover or prevent from burnout, you need to develop methods of self-awareness, personal renewal, and a good relationship with others. Keep in mind that to enjoy a happy, healthy, and sustainable life, your mind, body, and spirit need to be renewed continuously.