In my last post I gave a definition of burnout and identified four signs that you might be experiencing burnout in some area of your life: emotional exhaustion, problems with coworkers, a reduced sense of accomplishment, and working too many hours,
There is a high prevalence of burnout among workers. Two-thirds of full-time workers experience some burnout in their careers. In 2021, 79 percent of U.S. adult workers experienced work-related stress. This stress led to physical, emotional and mental fatigue, along with a lack of lack of interest and motivation. So it is important to know some practices that can help you prevent burnout.
1. Set up rituals of transition from work to home.
Carrying work home with you is more than taking files and your work computer with you as you leave. In your mind, you can still be working on work situations. It is helpful to develop rituals that tell your mind and body you are leaving work behind for the day.
Use your drive or commute to transition from work to home. Put on your favorite playlist and sing along loudly. Listen to an audiobook or a podcast, if the topic is not work-related. Call a friend or a relative. For example, I use my 20-minute drive home to call my dad, my sister, or my brother.
Pause for a moment before you enter your home. Take a few deep breaths and set an intention to be present to what is waiting for you inside, whether that is time alone or time with family.
Make changing your clothes a part of your transition. Make this the first thing you do before you turn on the TV or start to spend time with your family. You can lay out some comfortable clothes before you go to work, so they will be waiting for you when you get home.
It is especially important to have some of these transitions from work to home if you work virtually from your house. Do whatever you have to do to experience this transition. Have a place in your home that is for work and nothing else. I have some clients who go to their car and drive around for a few minutes before coming home.
2. Set good boundaries.
Setting boundaries is a practice that is often misunderstood. Boundaries are not walls that separate you from other people. Boundaries are saying clearly what is true for you and what you need for your own health.
One of the hardest things about setting boundaries is learning to say no. To be able to say “no”, you need a clear sense of what is important for you in any situation. I often work with clients to help them distinguish between what is urgent and what is important. Urgency comes from the external world. Someone or something makes a demand on you, and you feel you must respond. Importance comes from within. Someone or something makes a demand on you, and you decide how you want to respond based on your values.
3. Spend time doing things you enjoy.
Even if it is only for a few minutes, find time for activities that you love. If you love music, take a moment between tasks to listen to a favorite song. If it is reading, read a few words in a book or an article. Stop and reflect on the meaning of those words. If it is walking, get up and walk around the office or your home for a few minutes and feel the movement of your body.
4. Practice mindfulness.
Mindfulness is the awareness that arises by paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, in an accepting, non-judgmental way. There are a variety of mindfulness practices that are simple to do. Mindfulness of breath is giving your attention to your breath as inhale and exhale. When you realize that your attention has moved from your breath to something else—a thought, a feeling, a physical sensation—gently, and without judgment, return your attention to your breath.
Mindfulness can give you balance, which is important in our lives. If you don’t know how to calibrate the balance between action and reflection, you can experience burnout.
With mindfulness, you accept that you can’t change the reality of the busyness of everyday life, but you can equip yourself with tools, techniques, and a way of being that impacts how you ‘show up in the world.’
If you would like to know more about how Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) can reduce the symptoms of burnout, please visit my stress reduction specialty page.