5 habits that are barreling you towards burnout

But sometimes—or in the case of burnt-out people a lot of times—you’re working a second shift in the evening.

If you fall into that category, set a cut-off point for when you get off of your computer. That way you have enough time between when you stop working and when you lay down in bed for your mind to calm and unwind.

Longer periods of time off for vacation can definitely help to reduce feelings of fatigue, especially if it’s a company-wide vacation. Many workers are not even taking any days off on the weekend: They’re literally attempting to work seven days a week. Or if they don’t actually pull out their laptops, they’re at least mentally carrying the load of thinking about work all the time.

Take at least one day a week where you don’t allow yourself to work at all: no meetings, no project work, no email checking, no messaging, no nothing related to your job.  

There are some activities that you can truly only do for yourself like sleep, exercise, or making important decisions for which you’re directly responsible. But there are many tasks where you could ask others to do them or at least get some support on the overall goal.

You don’t have to do everything by yourself. Asking others for support not only saves you time but also leads to a positive emotional state that can elevate you out of the cynicism associated with burnout.

When you skip out on what you find really fun—whether it’s time with friends, exercising, playing with your dog, spending time with your kids, doing a craft, or simply being outside in nature—you end up taking breaks anyway but on activities that aren’t nearly as refreshing, such as scrolling on your phone.

Fun isn’t the thing that you do once you get 100% done with work—which is unlikely to happen because it keeps coming. Fun is what you do that helps fuel you to have the energy to get all the work done.