You’ve worked hard, very very hard. Day in and day out, you’ve driven yourself to deliver and step up to meet, and even exceed others’ expectations of you. You are “always on.” Being “always on” has also accelerated burnout. The average career burnout age is 32!(1)

If you are starting to feel chronically fatigued, and dream about a different life, pause. Let’s have a real heart-to-heart on what you can do to reverse burnout before you jump careers.

1. Take ownership. It is easy to say “I’m overworked, my hours are too long, my work-life balance is terrible, my kids keep interrupting, my boss makes me…” and so on. Stop shifting your blame for how you feel to others. Your reality is a product of your environment and your perception. Ask yourself which factors in the work environment are making you feel fatigued, upset, angry, frustrated, or stressed. Make a list.

For every item on the list, identify what is under your locus of control to change; then identify the change you commit to making. For items not under your locus of control, pick the top one or two that are daily themes of irritation. With the top theme, ask yourself, “how could I make this a negotiable, and who do I need to negotiate with?” For example, if your schedule is 9-5 with no lunch break, and you are shaky and fog-headed by 3p.m., you need to negotiate a lunch break with your team leader, boss, or whoever is preventing you from taking a lunch break.

Before your present your ask to the boss, re-frame it as a win for the company. Instead of asking for a lunch break, share how your fog-headed feelings from lack of food are hurting your productivity, and how being allowed a 30-minute lunch break would change your productivity, customer service, or other skills and metrics that matter to management.

2. Stop over-delivering. As natural achievers, we want to help others achieve the potential we can see for them. When those we help start self-sabotaging with excuses or counterproductive behaviors, we are driven to keep offering solutions. We provide more resources, more support, more motivation –until we can’t anymore. More, however, is not better.

We become resentful that our energy is going to waste. Clients become resentful that we are trying to change them at a rate or level they don’t feel ready for. Instead of constantly being driven to overdeliver, or assume that our clients want to achieve the potential we can see in them, stop to ask your client what they really want and need, and what time frame they expect that in. If their expectation is unrealistic, help them see what is realistic. Then, meet the client’s energy and efforts without pushing them into what you want for them.

3. Everything needs a place in the planner. Achievers also tend toward over-committing. We are the doers, fixers, motivators; we are the glue that makes everything else work. I remember a time when a boss showed me how he had triple booked calls for the entire day. He seemed proud like he was showing off his productivity. It was like being pulled into an involuntary competition to see who could be busier. The reality is that we cannot multitask, and we will fall short of our own and other’s expectations chronically if we try. A double or triple-booked planner, canceling on people, and no-showing, are all signs that you have over-committed.

Over-commitment is like jumping on the express train headed for destination burnout. The only way to stop over-committing is to assign everything a spot in your planner. Everything. This includes your sleep, workouts, meal prep, family obligations, work, and other commitments. You will have to choose. You will have to prioritize. You cannot be everything for everyone all the time. There is no better time than now to start practicing the “place in the planner” skills.

4. Mind your gut-brain connection. Nutrition is the fuel that determines your thinking clarity, energy, and so much more. When stressed and fatigued, your body will go for caffeine and sugar. Stop. Instead, start tracking what you are eating and why you are eating it. Focus on 90% of your daily choices being minimally processed foods from a variety of food groups. When you have a treat, make it intentional, as opposed to a reaction to stress, fatigue, or a strategy to keep burning through the late-night hours. Your body will thank you; after the initial commitment to change weeks, you will begin developing mental clarity and energy naturally.

If you can’t seem to overcome the feeling of being a sugar and caffeine-addicted gremlin after a few weeks, meet with a registered dietician. Nutrition is complicated. Your addictions go beyond what you eat, as each body absorbs nutrients differently. Having a professional’s perspective can offer new ideas on small changes that can help you re-energize effectively.

5. Refill your own cup. What makes you feel good? Is it reading, learning new things, connecting socially, working out, walking, pursuing a hobby? How often do you slate time out to do this? If your answer is less than once a week, you need to shift and make a commitment to yourself. You can only pour from a cup that is full. Get out a permanent marker and make an unbreakable commitment to yourself. Put it in your planner, and let nothing (not even a nap) get in the way of recharging your soul.

Summary: Shifting careers to overcome burnout is often only a short-term strategy. Give yourself a chance at long-term success by auditing your own daily habits using the above checklist. Habit changes are hard. Try committing to one small change per week, and achieving that change 80% of the time. See what energy begins emerging as you start stacking new habits toward long-term success within your career.

Reference:
(1) https://www.studyfinds.org/average-worker-career-burnout-age-32/