burnout – Step Ahead Life Coaching

Ways to Rest When You Deal with Burnout and Overwhelm

When people talk about mental health, you might assume it is only about severe stress or mental illnesses like anxiety and depression, but it can also be about your general mental state at any given time. This includes if you are overwhelmed in your life and facing burnout.

It is just as important to rest when you have burnout as if you are dealing with a diagnosed mental health condition. Here are some tips for figuring out how to rest your mind and body.

Find Your Stressors

Before you can figure out how to get more rest when dealing with burnout, you need to first understand what is causing the overwhelm or burnout in the first place. This is in the form of your stressors or triggers.

A stressor or trigger is something that is causing you to feel more overwhelmed or anxious throughout the day.

Is something in your life different right now?

Maybe your loved ones have been more demanding, you aren’t taking enough breaks, or work has gotten chaotic.

It can be anything from your job to your home life to the people you are around. Something as simple as falling behind on your daily journal can trigger burnout because you don’t have those few minutes to unleash all the thoughts in your head and stop obsessing over them.

Take a Break From Work if You Can

While this is not always an option, try to take a break from work in whatever form you are able to. This is of course a privilege not everyone has, but if you do, take advantage of it.

Take a mental health day where you don’t even think about work and might even get out of your house for a day. Take a long weekend or go on a short trip.

If this isn’t an option, then try to lighten your work load. Figure out if you have any work tasks that can be delegated to other people, or if you can move your schedule around to have a few days a week that aren’t quite as hectic.

Learn How to Say No

Learning how to say no is a beautiful thing, and can benefit you in so many ways, beginning with helping you to rest from burnout. This might be personal obligations or people in your life who are always asking you for help, or work being more demanding. Burnout can happen in such subtle ways, where you think you’re just helping out a friend and don’t realize how much it is impacting your own life.

Find Ways to Practice Daily Self-Care

Self-care doesn’t need to be overly complicated or cost any money. It can be as simple as going for a walk after dinner, sitting in your office with the door closed during your lunch break, or reading a book in the evenings instead of watching TV.

Warning Signs That You Are Headed for Burnout

People often say they have “burnout” just to describe any feeling of being stressed, overwhelmed, or overworked.

But the term is often used too generally, whereas real burnout is an actual state of complete emotional and mental exhaustion.

If you don’t get help for your burnout, it can lead to a lot of negative consequences in your personal and professional life, and make it much harder to get out of. Here are some warning signs that you might be facing burnout.

It is Getting Harder to Complete Simple Tasks

When you complete the same task several times, you know approximately how long it takes you to complete and how difficult it is.

But when you suddenly take 2-3 times longer to finish that same task or you can’t seem to focus long enough to ever get it done, that is definitely a warning sign that something is wrong.

Don’t ignore these moments when it is hard to do even the simplest of things, that you used to breeze right through. Sometimes it may be a sign that something else is going on.

You Have Severe Mood or Behavioral Changes

There are many reasons to have mood shifts or behavioral changes, like stress and anxiety, but burnout can also be added to this list. You should never ignore changes with your mood, attitude, or behaviors.

Maybe you are falling back into unhealthy habits and it is becoming a crutch for dealing with your negative motions, or you are getting irritable and angry at your loved ones at the drop of a hat.

Sometimes, when you face burnout, the stress can overpower your logical thinking and it becomes harder to keep your cool.

Increase in Mental Health Problems

When you have burnout or overwhelm, you might notice that your other mental health disorders are also getting worse, like anxiety. Never ignore mental illnesses that seem to be getting worse, whether you are getting them treated or not.

Lack of Energy or Severe Fatigue

Have you noticed that it takes all your energy just to take a shower or get in your car to run simple errands? Among other things, this could also be a warning sign of burnout.

If you have ruled out physical reasons for the fatigue or energy loss, it is time to consider your mental health and see if you might leading toward burnout. There are some practical ways to deal with your burnout.

No Interest in Social Activities

You might also find that you don’t have much interest in anything you used to enjoy. This can apply to relaxing at night and watching TV, reading, spending time with friends, or creative projects.

Keep in mind this can also be a warning sign for depression, and many people experience both depression and burnout at the same time.

Finally, remember burnout does not need to be a life sentence. It can feel insurmountable, however it’s your body’s way of telling you that something needs to be fixed.

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