BEWARE OF THE BURNOUT MAN
Who is the Burnout Man you ask?
Much like the boogeyman, he creeps up on you when you least expect it.
When all the stress has piled up and you've given in. The Burnout Man comes to take what's left of your energy. He leaves you feeling depressed, distressed and in a seriously hot mess.
As a result you feel unable to get anything done. You can't keep going on because the more you do, you feel like it's never enough because you're never going to get ontop of things and life just won't seem to work itself out.
The burnout man has Tanesha in the palm of his hand - I'm tired man. Everything is wrong yet - I can't pinpoint what exactly is wrong. I've been stressed for so long because of meeting university demands and wanting to keep up with my 'creative' side and then my mind keeps whirring. It won't shut up. I've gone back to not being able to sleep through the night. I cry a lot. I scream internally. I feel sick and weak. I am currently experiencing this thing where I don't even feel as if I'm in reality. I am just going with the motion but everything is so surreal as if nothing is actually happening and nothing has a purpose. I am very forgetful and I just feel lost and alone.
There are ways to prevent yourself from reaching the point of burnout and there are ways to run away from the grasp of the Burnout Man: Keep Reading!
Okay let's get serious now - WHAT IS BURNOUT
The definition I found on the help guide website was "a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest and motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place."
Many of us may experience burnout due to stress from work, university, school and/or other organisations we may be a part of eg. a charity. Then with added personal problems it can really become stressful!
SIGNS YOU MAY BE EXPERIENCING BURNOUT:
- Lack of motivation
- Emotional Exhaustion
- Feeling Depressed
- Procrastination
- Feeling Numb Mentally/Emotionally
- Physically Exhausted/Unwell
- Self Neglect
- Similar symptoms to feeling stressed
CAN WE GET BETTER? - YES:
- STOP NEGLECTING YOURSELF: START TAKING CARE OF YOUR BASIC NEEDS
- Have a rest! Whether that be actually try to sleep, taking a holiday, taking a day off work (if possible)
- Learn to say no - avoid taking on excessive responsibility. If you know your plate is already full, don't add to it!
- Ask for help - what are friends and family for? Don't go through it alone. Talk to someone. If you don't feel comfortable talking to someone close to you, maybe try therapy?
- If it's at work or university or school - speak to your manager, a teacher; they're supposed to help you. See if you can create a plan together. It's better to make them aware of your situation than just go on struggling in silence.
In order to avoid burnout, I would suggest all of the above with an additional step which is manage your stress when it is minimal. Create task plans, deadlines, spread it out, eat properly, exercise...
I feel as if many times we actually know what we should be doing but we just don't do it.
Anyways thank you as always for reading. Please make sure to check out my Youtube channel which is linked at the bottom/top of this page
(featured image found at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/150941024991081141/?nic=1)