Burnouts…burnouts… Something that might make you feel better
Do you feel something?
Notice the first flag.
Please remember last time you were laughing on something funny or just try to remember something hilarious that you’ve seen or that maybe happened to you. It can be anything — meme or a situation. Ok, so now try to answer yourself a question: “You laughed because it was funny or you laughed just because you know that you have to react this way?”. Nowadays, more and more people are struggling with burnout syndrome.
Burnout syndrome — is a process of gradual loss of emotional, cognitive and physical energy, manifested in symptoms of emotional, mental exhaustion, physical fatigue, personal detachment and decreased satisfaction in performing daily work routine. Sometimes it might be confusing for some people who think they have depression, however, depression is something more severe and needs special treatment. One of the main reasons for burnout syndrome is considered to be psychological, mental overwork. When requirements (internal and external) for a long time prevail over resources (internal and external), a person’s state of inner balance is some kind of ruined. This inevitably leads to having symptoms of burnout syndrome. Other things might be obvious, however, people tend to ignore the main factors: repetitive 8h per day job and social media. Most people who work in the office, dealing with monotonous work, will have minor symptoms of this psychological inconvenience. Social media will just create a time consuming bulb which will be an illusion of time to have rest.
Five bags that drag you down.
Under a word “Bag” I mean a group of symptoms which are red flags for burnout syndrome:
Physical State Bag:
fatigue, physical fatigue, exhaustion; weight change; insufficient sleep, insomnia; poor general health, incl. by sensations; difficulty breathing, shortness of breath; nausea, dizziness, excessive sweating, shiver; increased blood pressure; ulcers and inflammatory skin diseases; diseases of the cardiovascular system
Emotional State Bag:
lack of emotion; pessimism, cynicism, callousness at work and personal life; indifference, fatigue; feeling of helplessness and hopelessness; aggressiveness, irritability; anxiety, increased irrational worry, inability to concentrate; depression, guilt; tantrums, mental suffering; loss of ideals, hopes or professional prospects; increase depersonalization of oneself or others — people become faceless, like mannequins; feeling of loneliness prevails
Behavioral State Bag:
working hours more than 45 hours a week; while working there is fatigue and a desire to rest; indifference to food; low physical activity; justification of the use of tobacco, alcohol, drugs; accidents — falls, injuries, accidents, etc .; impulsive emotional behavior
Intellectual State Bag:
falling interest in new theories and ideas in work, to alternative approaches to problem solving; boredom, melancholy, apathy, drop in taste and interest in life; more preference for standard templates, routine than creative approach; cynicism or indifference to innovation; little or no participation participation in developmental experiments — trainings, education; formal execution work
Social State Bag:
low social activity; declining interest in leisure, hobbies; social contacts are limited to work; poor relationship on work and home; feeling of isolation, misunderstanding of others and others; sensational lack of support from family, friends, colleagues.
Better to avoid rather than treat
Burnout is hard to recognize because it might be normal daily exhaustion or it can happen constantly and become a habit — slow bomb. You understand that it is too late, when you are trying to treat diseases and they are not reacting to any type of medicine. In order to prevent this, better to act before burnout will eat you. Here are some useful habits which can improve your life and fill the state bags only with positive feelings:
Give yourself a reward every day. You deserve it!
Sometimes we think that we are not good enough or vice versa and limit ourselves in everyday pleasures. Imagine how hard it is to work without support and salary? This is what people do everyday — limit their needs or wants on a daily basis without any constructive reason. Screw it! Just make a good coffee or go and buy yourself a cup of your favourite latte, eat a bar of chocolate or prepare a dinner with luxurious serving. Try to make everyday little things prettier and you will fall in love with the magic of process, giving a present to yourself every day.
Digital Detox
Everyday we watch someone’s living the life they want or even the life we want. Usually it gives us an emotional load and tiredness of just surfing the net. Be better and find a social media or any website which will bring you only positive emotions or some kind of education. There is a bunch of different on-line free courses, which you can take any time of the day.
Schedule your day (or just try)
Being productive all day and going to bed with a feeling that you did something good for yourself has a very positive impact on your emotional state. Just a hint: try to plan your day from early morning, start your day with something easy, like, do groceries (usually they are more fresh in the early morning). Planning your day makes you get out of bed and give your mind some another bunch of thoughts, giving less time to think of something negative or destructive.
Stop thinking — it’s after Working Hours!
Easy one, stop thinking about work after working hours. Just remember that you are working for life, not living for work. Nowadays it’s not popular to work overtime, completely forgetting about your private life and self-development. If you want to show that you are a good employee or prove something to your manager — you must do that at your working hours.
Sport
Think about your health and your body condition. Regular exercises are necessary not only for your body wellness but also for your mindfulness. Try yoga or jogging, even everyday 15 min stretching exercises can make you feel better and clear your mind in the morning. Try as well practice regularly in order to develop a good habit for yourself
Food
Healthy food also can be tasty, unfortunately many people don’t know about it and follow social stereotypes. There is no need to buy additional vitamin pills if you have a healthy diet
Friends
One of the most important factors to keep social activity and mental health in balance. We all need support from family and friends. Unfortunately not all people have friends or close relationships, but it’s not an excuse to be alone all the time. There is always a person who cares about you, just keep looking, you are doing great!
Hope it will help. This is something that’s coming from personal experience, unfortunately I had a period struggling with emotional burnouts and the only conclusion I can add here is that all people are strong enough to cope with emotional issues, it’s only a matter to define first flags of the issue at the right time and do all the best in order to prevent it from developing in a serious condition.
Thank you!
Some parts taken from this source(RU): http://kanschool1.ucoz.ru/docum/psiholog/uchiteljam/konspekt_vracha_SJeV.pdf
