Step Ahead Life Coaching™

Tag: stress

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Anxiety/Stress Mindset/Strenghts

Ways to Rest When You Deal with Burnout and Overwhelm

woman walking on pathway during daytime

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. 

Categories
Anxiety/Stress

Warning Signs That You Are Headed for Burnout

A woman in the bathtub with clothes on in Daytona Beach

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.

Categories
Anxiety/Stress Fresh Start Mindset/Strenghts Personal Growth

Will Life Ever Return To The “Normal” We All Knew Before Covid?

Covid-19 has been a test for all of us like no other. Never before have the lives of so many people globally been disrupted and affected in such a way as they have been this past year.

So much has changed, and it is impossible to look forward with absolute certainty as to how this will all play out in the months and years ahead.

So your life has likely changed dramatically, and perhaps it is continuing to challenge and unsettle you.

Sometimes circumstances and people will break you into many pieces. Thats when you need to focus on the positives, keep your mind open to love and continue to get out of bed each day and put one foot in front of the other. That way you will put the pieces of yourself back together again and rebuild your life, and often times come back much stronger, more resilient and happier than you ever were before. Your attitude may well change and you will have different priorities.

I have found this to be true in my own life when life dealt me some nasty blows that knocked me down. But it was the brokenness which then forced me to start over, rise again and become a much happier and stronger version of myself.

Everything is changing, nothing is certain. We hold on to hope while at the same time we continue to experience loss, transition and more adversity.

But today, I want to remind you that you will be OK, even if you don’t feel OK right now.

Everything in this life is temporary – nothing lasts forever. But every moment gives us a new beginning. One moment ends and a new one begins – we literally get a new start…or a second chance every second!

Isn’t that just so amazing!!

Right now, as I write these words, the rain is pelting down outside. But one thing I know for sure is that it will stop raining.

The sun is not currently shining…but I know with certainty that it will shine again!

If I throw a ball in the air, I know it will come down again, because everything that goes up comes down again.

The darkness of night always gives way to daylight in the morning, we experience this every single day……but somehow we seem to get caught up in life and we don’t see it.

So take a moment right now….and let yourself see the truth. The truth that you will be OK. You’ve already survived 100% of your worst days, so whatever you are experiencing right now will also pass.

You may be a product of your past but you certainly don’t have to be a prisoner of it. You do not have to let it continue to control or torment you. You become a prisoner of your past when you continue to cling to the past – to what no longer exists.

Therefore, if you can find the strength and are brave enough to let go and say goodbye to the past, life will reward with with a new and often different (and better) hello.

It may be very difficult, but you ARE ABLE to let go, you must let go….

Let go and accept the feeling of not knowing where the future is leading you, or where you’re going next…..and practice leaning into this, learning to love and appreciate this freedom. Because, just like a little bird leaving the nest, it is only when you have no destination in sight and you are suspended in the air, that you will force your wings to fully open so you can take flight and soar. You may still not know your destination…and thats okay because that’s not what is important.

What is important is that you have opened your wing’s and begun to fly, and you know that as long as your wings remain open, the winds of life will carry you forward through your difficulty to your destination.

It has been said that the best lessons in life often come from the hardest of days. Often it is the low points in life that teach you the lesson you needed to learn that you couldn’t have learned any other way.

So stay strong and always remember – the sun will shine again! 

Making a perspective shift like this – thinking better is sometimes easier said than done. It takes practice, determination and consistent effort and it helps to have someone to support you and keep you accountable when you want to give up.

If you would like some support or private coaching, click here to book for free clarity call:)

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