Whether it’s ambition that drives you forward or high morality, striking a balance between all aspects of your life is important. As we live in the age of over-productivity, it’s easy for people to slip into a cycle that neglects aspects of their lives, and prioritize the company’s good.
Our performance is quantified, we’re numbers on excel sheets, and our productivity is generously measured in percentages against all sorts of targets. We’re expected to outdo ourselves and break these arbitrary milestones set to drive us forward, but what we forget is that this entails a risk – the risk of burning out.
Understanding Burnout and Its Downsides
Burnout is a well-defined phenomenon, although science still cannot agree whether the term can be applied to an actual medical condition. Where depression has been studied for a while now and is officially accepted as a disorder that needs treatment, the idea of “burnout” only appeared in 1970. Since then, a growing number of people have fallen victim to the silent predator.
What’s burnout really? According to psychologist Josh Cohen, it’s a feeling of exhaustion combine with a “nervy compulsion” that we’re constantly falling short of a mark, that our performance is being judged around the clock and that any failure to accomplish the pre-determined targets is met with scorn and disdain by a society that has grown too accustomed to committing itself to work and nothing else.
Ultimately, it’s the loss of the capacity to relax, and this is what we’re here to address today. How do we stop ourselves from falling prey to this widely-spread phenomenon?
Your Worth Shouldn’t Be Associated with Your Achievements
It’s a competitive world and many of us grow under the illusion that unless we put every waking minute into work, we’ll end up on the fringes of society, unable to provide for ourselves or gain recognition. Once we’ve decided that we value ourselves only as much as others values us by way of achievements, we’re far more likely to engage in prolonged working sessions without realizing the implications.
The habit can be taught in childhood or we can pick it up as we grow up and become active individuals in the work force. Still, the question remains – is it worth it? While achievement is good, it cannot come at the expense of your peace of mind, and it’s important to establish a balance between how much time you allocate to completing a task and how much you invest in replenishing your energy after a hard day’s at work.
Get Proper Sleep
It’s very simple, really. Burnout leads to multiple disorders, including insomnia and once you are at the point of not getting sufficient rest at night, that’s when complications start arising. Most commonly, the work-related drawbacks are lack of sound judgement and a significant dip in your productivity. An array of physical conditions exist that only exacerbate burnout if you don’t sleep enough, and that ranges from cancer to depression.
Thankfully, establishing a proper sleep pattern is not difficult. All you need to do is say “No” at the right time when you are staying up and watching a movie or playing a video game. Having a visual aid to show how much sleep you need can also help you avoid unhealthy patterns, and this ultimately reduces the risk of a burning out at work.
A Hobby to Love
Once you have buried yourself in work, it’s hard to climb back out of it, especially if you are accepting a growing number of responsibilities while failing to comprehend the implications and leave little time for yourself. But having a vibrant social life or even a hobby you love means that you’ll be less inclined to take on extra work when your workload is already plenty full, and instead concentrate on the completion of your tasks at hand so that you can enjoy your after-work life.
Not all hobbies need to be done socially, even. A lot of option exists. Most commonly, people play video games or catch some TV series. For those with a competitive nature, playing poker at the best legal US poker sites is the perfect solution. You’ll soon forget about all the stress from work and focus on getting that perfect hand to show the rest of the players who’s the boss.
Having a proper hobby will help you stave off burnout as it would ironically leave no time for getting involve in work to the point where the capacity to relax becomes a distant memory.
Start Saying No!
Everyone likes the most helpful employee in the company, and that could easily be you. However, what the majority of people might fail to realize is that you are a living, breathing person who does need time to themselves. Once you’ve put yourself in this position, you will see your co-workers looking for your help and assigning you tasks, because they are safe in the knowledge that you will do them, and do them well.
There exist ways to say “no” and still remain on good terms, and mastering this is important. You can shoot for honesty, which describes the reasons why you wouldn’t accept the task. This builds not only understanding between two people, but it also helps you bond with a co-worker. There’s strength in saying no and character-building, too, as many people feel that saying “yes” is one of the easiest ways to immediately avoid an unpleasant situation.
If there’s one instrumental palliative to avoiding burning out at work, it’s building a good rapport with your fellow co-workers and letting them know when you simply cannot accept any more responsibilities.
Socialize Outside the Work Place
By now, it should be pretty clear what all the drawbacks are from burnout. Chances are, you got into the situation thinking that it would lead to more productivity and a better career prospect. However, the reality at the end of that road is actually quite the opposite. Thankfully, you don’t have to walk this path alone. In fact, socialising not only improves your mental health, it also achieves the result that you were originally hoping for – improved work performance. Even Forbes agree that socialization between co-workers is key to a healthy and great work environment, which ultimately results in happy employees and boost productivity.
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