If you have ever experienced extreme exhaustion, frustration, and dissatisfaction all wrapped up into a single, messy emotion at work, you have already met most working people’s nemesis, the burnout. However, prevention is always the best route, and having a few failsafe measures and relaxation techniques to restore your own calm mindset is perhaps the number one way to once and for all forget about this hindering feeling.
Whether you’re new at the office, have an unusually stressful job, or you simply need stress relief from your everyday tension at work, the following tips will surely help you establish a routine that will prevent and treat burnout in its many shapes and forms.
Determine your triggers
From a disturbingly annoying client, a challenging project, all the way to the people you work with on a daily basis, the well of things that can cause stress can be endlessly deep. While you cannot escape or control them all, and you need to build up your tolerance, once you pinpoint exactly what drives you up the wall, you can find a way around it, or at least minimize its negative effects.
Perhaps you can be reassigned to a different team, you can ask for a new mentor, delegate a portion of the project that wastes your time, or simply talk to your supervisors as to the best way to approach the problem. Limiting your distractions, such as emails or messages, after work hours, can also help in reducing the levels of stress that leads to burnout.
Create a soothing environment
Just like you dedicate a portion of your time to working out in order to stay healthy, and to providing your body with the right nutrition, your mind could use a few of your own techniques to create your own emotional and mental oasis. For some, that may mean waking up half an hour earlier than usual to introduce a soothing morning ritual, while others might prefer simple breathing exercises.
When you begin your day with a calm mind, prepared for the day ahead, you will be much more resilient to the stress that comes along. On the other hand, if you start noticing that a negative emotion is piling up inside of you, resorting to a calming technique can help you restore your energy and avoid burnout.
Enjoy your wanderlust
When your own world feels too crowded and stressful, exploring a new city or heading to an exotic beach could be the perfect recipe for rest and recuperation. Once your travel bug gets excited, and you immerse in a new culture, you will quickly feel present, in the moment, and grateful for the experience.
In case you are able to travel on a regular basis, you can use memberships such as the American Express Explorer card with various perks and reward points that will make your travels all the more comfortable. That way, you’ll take travel stress out of the equation by having insurance ready, travel credit, and similar benefits for frequent travelers.
Ask for help and support
Sometimes, burnout can come with a slew of health issues such as insomnia, panic attacks, or even depression. Learn to listen to your body for early symptoms, but do your best to treat the cause, and not the consequence alone. For that, it’s often necessary to talk to your superiors, or to go to your doctor and ask for guidance and the best way to move forward.
Taking a vacation or practicing meditation can be useful tools in such situations, but they might not be enough to get to the root of the problem. Perhaps a few conversations with a professional would help you rekindle your own passion for your job, remember all the reasons why you built your career in that direction, and find the best ways to handle burnout.
Take a break
In an ideal world, we wouldn’t have to work at least 40 hours per week, or spend a major part of our days sitting in an office and away from our families. But until that utopian day of life balance comes, we can do our best to take little moments of peace and quiet that will remind us of our own purpose and aspirations. Perhaps what you’re doing now is necessary for you to soon start your own business, or start a family.
To contemplate all those wonderful dreams, or just enjoy a quiet moment, why not go to the nearest park, take a stroll around the block, or head for a cup of freshly squeezed orange juice? That way, your 15-minute break can be just what your brain needs to reboot and for that stress to subside.
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