Overcoming Burn Out

 by: Valerie Garner

Burn out, it can happen to anyone. Some of the common signs of burn out can be (although not an all inclusive list) depression, mental, emotional and spiritual fatigue, overreacting to little things, negativity, lack of concern over the work / tasks that need to be done, frustration, anger, feelings of powerlessness, weight loss or gain, insomnia.

It is vital the steps be done to overcome burn out before it causes major impact to your life’s goals and directions.

There are many things that can be done to help deal with burn out. If at all possible, take a vacation. For those that it’s not possible, or at least in the time frame you need, let’s look at some other things that can be implemented.

1. Try to clear your calendar of everything for a while that is not a total necessity.

2. Do some things on the physical level to help, get extra sleep, try eating only organic foods for a while, take some good quality vitamins, and get some exercise that especially will get you some fresh air.

3. Spend some time trying to pinpoint tasks / situations in life that are both draining, and giving. Once you’ve done that, perhaps ask for help or delegate those things that are a draining force. Increase activities that are refreshing.

4. Talk to someone else, outside of the situation, could be a friend, family, life coach, counseling, etc. They may be able to offer insights and suggestions you can’t see. Sometimes it’s tough to see the tress through the forest.

5. After a period of doing some of these suggestions, see if the burnout is on the way out. If not, it may be a time to really evaluate your life’s paths, career, etc. Perhaps it’s a bad match to who you are as a person and it would be best to make a change, but it’s better to do that from a position of strength, and not of desperation to make a change just for change’s sake.

Sometimes, burn out can be a reality check that our life is out of balance in some way and adjustments are good and very healthy and necessary to our lives. I believe there are very real seasons in each person’s lives’ as well and perhaps it can be a changing of one season to another new one. It is important however, to step back and see what our bodies are telling us when we experience burn out. Who knows, perhaps it may even be one of those “hidden blessings” that we look back on years later and think, “you know, that was the beginning of a real, positive change in my life.”

Copyright 2005 Valerie Garner