It’s okay to admit, “I can’t take this anymore….this is enough.”
If you are feeling this way, you may be experiencing career burnout.
What is career burnout? By definition, burnout is a reaction to prolonged or chronic job stress and is characterized by three main dimensions: exhaustion, cynicism (less identification with the job), and feelings of reduced professional ability.
Some symptoms of burnout can feel like:
-Viewing your job as increasingly stressful and frustrating.
-Increased impatience, irritability and annoyance.
-Difficulty concentrating and a lack of creativity.
-Increased headaches, migraines, muscle aches.
-Unable to keep up with work demands, feeling of wanting to give up.
I hear a lot of women feeling extremely guilty admitting that they are exhausted, burnt out and really don’t want this insane ‘work hard today, work harder tomorrow, no time for play’ life.
Now that we know what burnout is and often feels like, I want to speak some encouraging words to you:
⭐️IT’S OK TO TAKE A BREAK AND NOT WANT TO SELL YOUR SOUL FOR YOUR JOB.
It doesn’t make you any less of a professional.
Any less accomplished.
Any less of a business person.
It means that you are taking a stand on your mental health and saying enough is enough.
– Stop guilting yourself.
– Stop shaming other people if they need a break.
– We all want to enjoy our life outside of work too.
Congrats, you’re a human that’s ALIVE!
Have you felt major pressure and guilt when admitting you just simply need a break?
Now, here are some ways we can cope with career burnout:
- Recognize the potential signs and signals (above) and be honest with yourself.
Are you showing up in the best way you can or are you truly burnt out? Ask the people around you like coworkers you trust, friends or family to see if they have been noticing a change in your mood or tone of voice. Sometimes we can’t see how we are truly coming off so we need to get a pulse check from the people around us. - Take. A. BREAK!
I mean this. The best way to deal with career burnout is to simply tune off, rest and recharge. I know we often feel guilty about taking time to ourselves or it can be viewed as not committed in the corporate world, but this is simply necessary. You need to use that paid (or unpaid) time off to recharge or else things will only get worse. Take a week! or 2 weeks! A month? Even better! Often we need more than a day off to truly reset ourselves and come back stronger than ever. You owe it to yourself. - Get back to things that bring you JOY.
This may seem simple, but it’s extremely effective. What makes your soul truly happy? Working out? Hiking? Biking? Playing sports? Yoga? Date nights with your partner? Make a list of the top 10 activities that make you forget about the world. Then, do those things daily for the next 1 month! You will feel alive and reenergized again. - Eat healthy and exercise daily.
When we are under extreme prolonged stress, our clean eating habits tend to spiral downwards. Next thing you know, we are eating granola bars, chips and cereal all day long because they are quick and easy. However, you and I both know this kind of food is not nutritional and does not fuel our body well. Same goes for exercising. We need to get that 30 minutes in per day! Make time to go for a walk, run, stretch, yoga or whatever make you sweat. This is so key to overcoming burnout and endorphins provide a lot of remedy to stress.
I hope this helps! Reach out if you need any help dealing with career burnout. I am on your team.
Courtney