7 tips for avoiding workplace burnout

Do you feel like you’re on the road to being the one of every 10 workers in Belgium who suffers from burnout? Burnout is more than just feeling stressed or overworked. It is a serious condition where stress and fatigue become so extreme that you find yourself complete exhausted with no motivation or energy to perform your normal routine.

Usually burnout happens when big stressors – either at work or at home, or both – reach a point when they become overwhelming and a person starts to shut down. It’s often accompanied by both psychological symptoms such as feeling trapped, dissatisfied, unmotivated or detached from your work or life, as well as physical symptoms including muscle, head and back pain, low immunity and frequent illness and feeling tired. You also might find yourself forgetting things, withdrawing from social life, using drugs or alcohol more frequently, or procrastinating. All in all, burnout can take a major toll on your physical and mental health and your relationships.

Avoiding burnout needs to be a join effort on the part of the employer and the worker. Businesses and organisations have a big incentive to minimise burnout as it lowers the quality of work produced, increases absenteeism and raises the likelihood that a worker will leave their post – all of which can be very costly for employers.

On your side as a worker, there is plenty you can do as well. Burnout is not necessarily about the number of hours you work, but how you feel about them. Since it can be hard to turn a 12-hour day into an 8-hour day, the one of best things you can do is practice habits that will make you more resilient to stress and give you more balance between your work life and your home life.

These seven tips can help you start taking back control of your time, renewing your energy and making sure you’re working towards the priorities you care about most.

1. Start your day off right

Prevention is better than a cure and staving off stress is better than de-stressing later. Even before your day begins you can start yourself off on the right foot by creating small rituals that let you have some time to be quiet with yourself before the rush of the day begins.

Whether it’s meditating, stretching, reading or journaling, take 15 minutes before you get ready for work to do something that makes you feel calm and inspired. Hold this time as sacred and don’t let the pressure to get up and go impinge on it. It will leave you feeling fresher and more awake as you head to the office already with the sense that your day isn’t only about your job.

2. Exercise

You’ve heard it a million times, but I’ll say it again: being physically active comes with a whole host of benefits including lowering stress and anxiety, boosting energy and helping you get a good night’s sleep. It also gets you out of your head for a minute and lets you focus on something besides your job.

Add regular exercise into your day by biking or walking to work, taking a stroll at lunchtime or joining a gym. Any exercise you enjoy doing will be good for you, but a good place to start to de-stress is with yoga. Brussels is full options to get your zen on. Join the Brussels Yoga Cooperative mailing list to find English-language classes near you.

3. Be creative

When you’re creative you’re taking control and making something that is all your own out of the materials given. This can be a very empowering feeling if you’re feeling uninspired or unmotivated. Find ways to express your creativity, with others or on your own. Learn spontaneous drawing in Ixelles, weave baskets, throw paint as a canvas or master a new cuisine.

4. Get a hobby

Along with finding creative outlets, hobbies can go a long way in combatting burnout. If you’re working all the time, you can easily get the sense that your work is all that you are. When you carve out time to do the things that interest you, you’re pretty much guaranteed to feel happier. It reminds you that, even if you can’t stand your job, at least you have someone you like to be outside of it.

Being the international hub that it is, Brussels has groups ac activities many collect stamps, join a sports team, learn a language or volunteer. Doing anything that lets you feel fully interested and engaged will make you more resilient when you encounter boredom or frustration.

5. Get away

Getting away can mean many things. Taking a weekend trip somewhere, seeing a new city, breathing in some fresh air in the woods, or anything that creates a feeling of holiday and escape can be a great reset for your mind and body.

However, if you’re nearing a burnout, you probably need more than just a weekend trip. It’s important to learn how to take pauses in your day-to-day life that let your mind disengage, wander and get bored. Drink of cup of coffee, go to the water cooler, take shower or nap. Often, resilience is about being able to let go at will of what is occupying your mind.

But whatever you do to disengage, don’t turn to Facebook or Instagram. Poking around on screens is stimulating and won’t provide the rest you need.

6. Re-evaluate

If you feel you’re heading towards a burnout, or that you’re in the midst of one, this is a clear sign that something in your life isn’t working. It might be time to reassess your priorities and your expectations about what you want from your job and your life.

If you don’t think you can do it alone, seek help. Talk to friends and family who you think can be empathetic. If you think you need professional help, Community Help Services offers a listening ear as well as counselling services in English at a sliding scale based on your income. There are also private counsellors, therapists and life coaches who can help you learn useful ways to manage your stress and set your priorities.

Photo courtesy ING Image