On Monday I wrote a post about being a little bitter about life. I must admit that I was amazed to find myself admitting that I’d become a bit frustrated (read bitter) about how things were going for me. The other issue that has come up from actively changing from a work focused life and trying to live a more balanced life is that I was clearly dealing with burnout for at least the past 5 years.
Burnout as I would define it is the physical and mental fallout from pushing oneself way beyond the body’s physical and mental endurance of stress beyond what is normal for most healthy adults.
Just like with the bitterness situation there were clear signs of burnout.
February 2009-Caught Whopping Cough. Recovery time took 9 weeks. Let me just say I was HELL on wheels during this time. The cough was horrendous. People-vaccinate your kids
May 2009-Lost my voice for a week in Argentina while going to a Spanish language school. The partying may have been an issue. But, I was already run down so I was susceptible to getting sick
Late Fall 2010-Caught the Flu
Late Fall 2011-Caught a hell cold
February 2012-Caught the Flu one week before my friends flew over for a 10 day ski week in Breckenridge, CO. And my hot water heater broke and I replaced my fridge. All in the same week. I keep heaving after every run down the mountain. Fun.
November 2013-Caught the Flu
February-2014-Caught the f$^#*ing Flu AGAIN!
I also was dealing with increasing amounts of fatigue. I would say “I’m so tired” all the time (still do) as I was really physically and mentally tired from dealing with the extreme commute, work stress, and MONEY stress. It was just too much for one person to deal with.
All of this stress and exhaustion was a clear sign of Burnout and if it hadn’t been the Great Recession I probably would have quit and gone to South America for awhile. I didn’t, I stayed and unfortunately didn’t manage my burnout situation and made my work life worse.
I also began gaining weight. At last count I probably gained around 30-35 pounds during this time.
I was somewhat aware of the fact that I was Burnt out, but I didn’t have the tools to manage the situation. As a result of not managing the situation I was unable to perform my best at work and THAT AFFECTED MY MONEY. How did it affect my money?
- By being perceived as bitchy/bitter/etc. My colleague’s trust in my abilities was affected.
- My personal “brand” wasn’t excellent anymore. I was too tired to be excellent at work.
- I couldn’t focus on dealing with my money because I was tired.
- ***I work in a small part of a very large organization, when opportunities for advancement came up I was usually not on the list for advancement.*** This had a long-term affect on my self-esteem and my wallet. While most of us weren’t getting huge raises, my raises could have been bigger.
Luckily, I have discovered some tools to deal with Burnout and while in some respects it feels like too little too late. If you’re unable to leave your job, here are some things that you can do to help manage Burnout.
- Ask to use your vacation time in an unconventional way. I have tons of vacation time. The issue is that I don’t have tons of time during my week to do the things that I need to do for me. I asked to leave early every couple of weeks 2 days in that particular week. So in May I will leave early on a Tuesday and Friday of the same week (about 3 hours early). Then, I will go home, exercise, go to a social event, see my mom, etc. I requested time like this through the month of October. This will be a lot more beneficial for me than taking my typical 3 week vacation. I also requested long weekends off and this doesn’t include the following 3 day weekends: July 4th and Labor Day weekend. I will be at a conference for Memorial Day week (it’s going to be amazing!!!)
- Take a mental health day-I have almost 8 weeks of sick leave. I hope to never get sick enough to use this time. Instead, I occasionally take a mental health day. This allows me to get mental and physical rest. Sadly, I’m using those mental health days when I feel like I’m actually getting physically ill!
- Get out of the office during lunch-I try to walk for my entire lunch hour or go hiking. I also go to hot yoga on occasion to help break up the day and reenergize myself.
- Let your colleagues know that you’re feeling overwhelmed-I work with great people and they have been supportive of me taking care of myself. Quite frankly they benefit when their colleagues are happier.
- Journal-This is something that I’ve always enjoyed doing since childhood and had fallen out of the habit of doing for the past 5-7 years. Get whatever you’re thinking about, dwelling on, out of your head and write about it. Spend some time dealing with what is in your head.
- Take your vacations-I’ve always been pretty good about this one 🙂 But, for those of you who aren’t take your time. You can take a Staycation if it’s too expensive to travel. Just remember to spend time with your family and friends.
- Work isn’t your life-America is a very workcentric society. Because we are so work focused we forget to focus on what is important: health, love, friends, etc. This one is hard to do-especially if you have debt like I do. Just keep reminding yourself that work is a part of your life-not all of your life.
- Get to work early-When you arrive late, even if it’s just a few minutes you’re already feeling some anxiety at the beginning of your day. Get to work early (which you should be doing anyway) and start your day without thinking that everyone noticed that you were late.
- Don’t bring work home-Rock your work day. Try as hard as you can to keep work out of your home. A lot of people are in the habit of bringing work home-why are you doing this? Do you get paid more for this? Or, a gold star? Unless you run your own business keep work at work.
Finally, if none of this works it may be time to reevaluate your work situation and figure out when it’s time to leave.
I’m amazed at how much being burnt out affected my life. As I work hard at recalibrating things, getting more rest, and staying focused on what’s important I hope to never be this burnt out again.
Have you ever dealt with Burn Out? How did you deal with it?
Did you recover?
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I’ve never seen someone keep track of their illnesses like that before! Everyone deals with burnout in one form or another. When I do I either try to find productive coping mechanisms or try to move towards another goal to get out of that situation. Depends how severe the situation is. It’s good you’re finding ways to make your current work situation work a little better for you until you make the leap to freelancing.
Tonya, when each illness lasted between 6-8 weeks from start to finish-you remember. The Whopping Cough year was the worst!!! I have a new boss which is great! She has been open to requests from her staff re: time off etc. My old boss was very resistent to these types of requests so I am really thankful that I am working for someone who “gets it!”
I know that burnout affects your money. I did really well last month for side hustle income, but also spent a lot on going out because I was too tired, lazy, and depressed. It’s not healthy. Even though I am working less this month, I think the spending will be lower too. Take care of yourself and keep on going!
Burnout for me also really, really affected my health as detailed by my sick list. This year I’m working very hard at keeping myself healthy so that I can work on my life and freelance projects.
I can completely relate with you. Over the past year I can’t even count how many times I’ve gotten sick. I’ve been trying really hard not to spend too much time working. At times it can be pretty hard to do!
It has been super frustrating trying to start freelancing, lose weight, take care of everything, and commuting. I clearly have been pushing myself beyond what is possible for my body. I’ve begun to feel a lot better as I focus on taking care of my health and wellness.
Good tips, Michelle..
I am a very hard worker by nature, and burnout hits and hits hard on occasion as a result.
I have to remind myself to take “personal days” and even more importantly– to schedule regular vacations!
Jefferson-take a vacation!! I am now a lot more focused compared to years past now that I am aggressively trying to take care of my health. We live once, so I want to leave a long and healthy life so no more pushing myself past my point of endurance.
I’m a firm believer in mental health days. Sometimes you just need them! You need a day off for no other reason than you are getting burned out and can’t take it. They make you a better employee in the long run.
Mental health days made such a huge difference in my energy level this year. I am so glad that I became vigilant about taking them.