As a child, one of my greatest wishes was to grow up and have my own job like I had seen all the adults do. I didn’t know having a job came with so many responsibilities until I actually had a job. I had to wake up very early to work , spend over 4 hours working only to end up going back home at around 5pm. For a start, it was tough for me. My sleep schedule was a mess because at the end of each day,I was so exhausted to engage in any other activity aside sleep.
For about 3 months after I started my first job, I was sleeping at 7pm. On some days, I would go to work as early at 7am and end up closing at 7pm. Funny enough I wasn’t even the boss. To cut things short, I ceased to have a life because of my job. I loved what I was doing and so I subconsciously diverted all my energy there. I wasn’t making time for my friends, family and even myself. Eventually, I started to get burnt out.
You could literally see the stress written all over my face after some months and I didn’t know the day I was going to have a total meltdown. One day, a friend of mine told me to take a step back and focus on myself. I felt I had nothing else to do so why not just work as usual. But eventually it hit me and I started to make the changes I wanted to see. So, as someone whose life revolved around her work for a long time, my first tip for someone who is trying to avoid workplace burnout is to get a life.
Have things doing in your life that will make you itch to close work at 5pm and have you rushing to get to them. What helped me was when I started making plans and always looking forward to them. I started getting off work at exactly 5pm and sometimes even earlier when I didn’t have anything to do. With this, I had a lot of time to focus on myself and other stuff that needed my attention. This eventually would lead to you having and creating a balance between your work life and your personal life.
Next thing you want to do to avoid workplace burnout is to not overwork yourself. If you’re not your own boss and you’re working for someone, you probably are being employed to perform a specific task. So, know your role at work and do just that. Don’t be going around looking for work you’re not employed to do. This way, you wouldn’t have to bear the stress of being used by others to get their work done. I’ve met people who started working in a place and ended up doing everyone’s job for them at the end of the day. Know what you’re being employed to do and stick to that. If you wish to learn other stuff, do so strategically and watch your work life become stress free and more productive.
Personally, I believe these two tips helped me a lot in preventing work place burnout. But remember, always do what you love. If you’re not passionate about what you do, there’s no way you will enjoy it. You’d probably say you’re doing it for the money but do you feel the kind of satisfaction you desire to feel after everything is said and done? Having the passion for what you do comes along with a different energy which would get you looking forward to going to work everyday. I hope this helps.
all images belong to me.
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