How To Avoid Work Burnout
If you're the type of person who is always working and never getting away from it, or if you know someone like that, then this video is for you.
This is me, during my mental-health day-off. But before we get to this point, here’s what happened last week.
So here’s what happened: I had a rough weekend.
I had some projects that I had to finish, and studying for my University degree had become very intense. I filled my whole weekend with tasks and homework, and I was doing everything I could to get them done quickly - so that I could do more work afterward.
As you can imagine, after the weekend was over, I was already exhausted (and the new week had just begun!).
For the rest of the week, I felt agitated and irritable. I had to admit that I was feeling under the weather, so I decided to take a "mental health day off" instead of dealing with school or work.
For many of us, these daily commitments can become stressful. I have felt that time and time again: between work, studying for my psychology degree, socializing, youtube, and dealing with administrative tasks, it can be hard to stay (and feel) healthy.
This lifestyle can easily become a habit and before you even realize it, burnout is taking over.
In today’s video, we’ll talk about burnout and how a dedicated mental-health day-off can help you. I’ll guide you through my mental health day off so you can have an idea of how to actually reap all those sweet benefits.
What's the big deal about mental health days?
Tying to stay productive every single day is challenging and -in the long run- will definitely have an impact on your mental health.
This shouldn’t be a bold statement. But in the hustle culture we live in where many people are trying to be the next Elon Musk or Gary Vee, this statement might sound controversial.
Forget hustle culture for a moment. There’s a lot of wisdom in slowing down every once in a while. And the benefits of doing nothing (so to speak) can be huge - if we ground ourselves in the present every once in a while we can be more innovative and efficient.
As Lao Tzu put it*: “Search your heart and see. The way to do is to be.”*
A mental health day away from work or school can help you relax, recharge, take better care of yourself, discover new things about yourself, and ultimately become more productive.
Sure, you can use it to get out of work or school, but there's much more about this special day. The key is to make it intentional that this day will be dedicated to activities around your mental health and well being, and not just another day off.
<It is an increasingly popular trend for companies across the world to offer employees paid time off for their mental health (and this, in turn, does wonders for employee morale). For example, a well-received energy boost and higher levels of motivation in employees.>
Have you ever been in a situation where your brain just… stops working? You might have noticed that sometimes your thoughts get stuck on one topic and won't let go, until something else distracts you. That's because your brain has run out of energy! That’s the response your brain has, when it has run out of energy!
When this happens, we tend to react by trying harder - we start thinking about everything else we have to do, worrying about all the mistakes we made yesterday or thinking about what our manager said earlier today. And that makes things worse! It becomes a vicious cycle: the more stressed we are and the harder we try, the worse our brains get at processing information correctly (which makes us even more stressed).
The danger of burnout
As a result of this whole process, you can begin experiencing something called burnout.
You've probably heard about burnout before.
Burnout is something that happens to all of us from time to time. But it's essential not just to know that burnout exists - it's also vital that you understand what it means, why it happens, and how you can avoid it.
Burnout is a work-related phenomenon characterized by low energy, negative thoughts and feelings about your job/workplace/school, and low productivity.
Burnout can come from working too hard, but it can also come from being exposed to stressful situations at work - for example, when you're working in an environment where there's a lack of support or unrealistic expectations about what you should be able to accomplish.
So the next question would be, What happens when you're burned out?
Hormones like cortisol, adrenaline and epinephrine rise when dealing with a stressful situation. These hormones are very helpful for short-term bursts, for example when you have to deal with something that needs your immediate attention, but being in a state of releasing these hormones for a prolonged period of time, is detrimental for your mind and your body.
People who are burned out (especially repeatedly) are more prone to suffer from health issues like heart conditions and diabetes. They also have a higher mortality rate than the average population.
But the dangers of burnout are not just physical - they're also mental and emotional. Burnout is dangerous because it can lead to anxiety or depression if left untreated. It can also make your productivity go down due to decreased motivation levels.
When you're burned out, it's easy to lose perspective on what matters in life and what doesn't matter at all. You may feel like everything is pointless because nothing seems important anymore. There are no longer any rewards for doing well at work or school because everything just feels so exhausting all the time! So then the question becomes..
What to do when you need a mental health day away from work or school?
If you're like most people, your first impulse is to push through the day. Maybe you'll get some coffee or you’ll eat something sweet to boost you. You'll then try to power through the day somehow and hope for the best. But how long does that last?
What if your mental state is so bad that it worsens just because you're trying to hold yourself together? If you push yourself too much for a long time, you may suffer a mental health crisis.
The cost of "pushing through" those bad days is way higher than a day off to allow yourself to relax or be mindful.
What if there were a better way? What would it look like?
Well, there is. And that’s why I’m riding my bike in the middle of the desert.
So come with me and I'm going to take you through the steps for this mental-health day away from everything - These are also the steps I'm taking today.
STEPS:
Preparing and setting the mood
The first step is to prepare yourself and set the mood for the day.
The idea here is to mentally and emotionally check out for a period of time, free from obligations. Not just school or work obligations — but also from checking out your phone, school notes, and maybe your laptop; doing something that disconnects you from all your responsibilities, something that removes you from your day-to-day environment, for at least a few hours.
So the first thing that I felt necessary to do is put all my work or school stuff far, far away. The further, the better. Ideally, out of sight!
That way, I don't associate everything else I'm doing with work or school but rather set the scene for a different kind of day.
Ensure you have everything you need for your mental health day at home -like food, entertainment, and outfits.
I treated myself to a nice breakfast, took a shower (a long one this time), and got dressed in something that made me feel good and comfortable.
I also turned on some music in my headphones and hummed the tune in my head before getting ready - this helped me release endorphins and feel good!
Deciding on an activity
The second step is to decide on an activity.
Remember: a mental health day off means doing anything that helps to relieve tension. You can do that through highly engaging activities, as well as more passive ones - you get to pick
If you're out of ideas, some examples of activities may include:
a nature walk
yoga or another form of exercise that you enjoy
Reading an book (or two)
For me, it was riding my bike and reading a book. I wanted to start reading books that are not related to psychology. Fiction books or books that can take my mind away and help me travel to unknown worlds. Today I’ll be traveling to Arrakis, the planet of the House of Atreides, in the book Dune. Im reading a book called Dune that talks about a very unfriendly planet full of sand and deserts, while I’m in the middle of the desert… I just can’t help but smile thinking about this.
Choosing the location
The next step is to choose the location of where you’ll spend your mental health day.
Location is key when you think of your day off.
It can be somewhere you've never been before that's far from home (like a new cafe or park). It can be as simple as going out for lunch or coffee together with a friend, or it could be an entire day trip somewhere fun, like an amusement park!
This should go without saying, but I'm going to put it as a reminder throughout: make sure there are no distractions like work emails or schoolwork hanging over your head. And no, you can't pick work as an activity!
As I mentioned, I picked riding and reading as my activity, but I decided to make it more exciting and choose a different reading spot. I found this cafe in the middle of the desert and I thought to try it out.
Taking a friend or family member with you
The next step is optional.
Choose the company of your favourite person - ask them to come with you on your mental health day adventure. The point is to spend time with someone who makes you feel good about yourself. It doesn't matter who it is;
Research shows that connecting outside of activities, deadlines, and obligations strengthens relationships. Yet it is something that we, as humans, so often neglect.
I decided to spend this mental health day with myself, enjoying every moment. I heard a quote saying that if you always want to be with others, then you must be in a bad company when you’re on your own.
Much of my week is also spent socializing and collaborating with other people, so I wanted to take some time off from that too.
Staying in the moment
Last but not least, have a great time! But don’t pressure yourself to enjoy this moment either.
Just remember that this is supposed to be fun and relaxing; don't push yourself physically if it hurts emotionally (and vice versa). Remember that one of the best things you can do are activities that re-enforce your body to mind connection. I made a video about body and mind connection so have a look if you want to know more about this concept. I’ll put a link here. And remember, don't turn this day into something that requires any type of work
Struggles I dealt with when taking a mental health day away from work/school.
Taking a day off is great. But it can also feel weird.
You know what I mean…. You're so used to working and learning all the time that when you take a day off, or even just a few hours off, you don't know what to do with yourself.
It can be a bit scary until you get used to it. Here are a few things that you can expect:
Feeling guilty
Something to consider is that you may be feeling negative emotions about taking the day off.
One thing that I've experienced the most is guilt. I know some of you can relate to this. If you're so used to doing something all the time - working, learning - when you stop doing it all of a sudden, you don't always know how to approach this new thing.
You might feel negative emotions about taking time away from work/school/whatever you're used to doing all day long. You might feel like you're just sitting around doing nothing. And that's okay; this is totally normal and that exactly is the point. To feel ok for doing nothing and just be.
Remember that taking breaks from whatever we spend so much of our lives doing, is good for us both physically and mentally.
Difficulty letting your mind unwind
Another thing that you’ll find yourself struggling with is focusing your thoughts on one activity & on the present.
Your mind will probably wander a lot more than usual. I found myself thinking about every little thing imaginable - it seemed almost as if my brain didn’t want to relax.
It might feel like your mind is going in 10 different directions at once. If this happens to you, just allow it to happen without judging yourself.
You have been working hard, and now your brain needs time to digest all of that information and just chill out!
Whatever happens, no matter how many tasks, deadlines and homework are scrolling through your mind, remember NOT TO PICK UP YOUR PHONE OR LAPTOP!
Resist the urge! Resisting Instagram and tik tok would be an amazing thing too. The last thing you want to do is to spend the whole day scrolling and then feel you didn’t use your mental health day properly.
Final thoughts
Let’s see what helpful things we can take away from this experience. When the day is at its end, take time to reflect.
Take some notes about your day. What activities helped you the most, how it was overall, and last but not least, your thoughts about the day.
Remember I mentioned that you might be having some negative thoughts about taking a day off (accompanied by negative emotions like guilt).
Think about why you feel guilty about taking time for yourself. Who are you really trying to amaze with your dedication to work? Are there things in your life that make you feel that taking time for yourself is difficult? If so, what changes can you make so that taking time for yourself doesn't feel so stressful?
Make sure you got value from your day off by analyzing your thoughts about the day and how you feel about the experience.
You can refer to this exercise to evaluate your negative thoughts about the day and restructure them - to make sure you're taking away all the benefits that might not seem immediately apparent to you!
So if you are to remember one thing from this video, then this is it:
Figure out who you are outside of work or school
Work is such a big part of our identity that it's hard to separate ourselves from it.
If you're the kind of person who defines yourself based on your job, success, achievements, or other activities, it may even feel impossible.
It can be easy to tie your self-esteem to these things, but we humans can benefit more from self-acceptance and a life full of meaning. And I think a life full of meaning involves more than work., Although, work that gives you purpose is also important.
But seeing ourselves independent of these things can help us nurture other aspects of our lives, like our relationships, more organically.
A day away from work or school every once in a while shouldn't be controversial., it shouldn't have to be shameful to take time and be; to just do nothing. To just exist for a while, and let that be enough.
Don't worry; you won't get too carried away. The obligations of day-to-day life will bring you right back in!
So why not take a chance and give yourself some space whenever you feel like you need it? After all, you're the only one that can give yourself a pause.
It's the only way to remember who you are outside of work or school and discover other unexplored paths of your personality - essentially becoming a more rounded human.
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Did you like today’s topic? Then don’t forget to also give a like or a share to the video, so that others can see it (and maybe plan their own mental health day away from work or school). You can also tell me about your own experience with taking a day off in the comment section below!
I’m Dimitris, and thanks for watching!