My Ways of Dealing With Burnout

I’ve been working as a freelancer for over two years now. During this time, I’ve faced my fair share of Burnout. Through this experience, I developed strategies to continue being productive while also taking care of my mental and physical well-being.

My Condition

To start, a quick fact about me: I have sinus problems. In particular, I frequently get chronic rhinosinusitis, which makes my nose runny and plugged for an extended period. In addition, I experience eye irritation, frequent headaches, and general discomfort.

It becomes difficult for me to work for an extended amount of time while experiencing this. Stress also worsens my problem and makes me ineffective while working. I continued to put in a lot of overtime to create my career and gain independence. However, I have been experiencing burnout at its worst for the past three months.

To tackle this situation, I developed strategies to overcome this burnout to preserve my productivity, health, and sanity. But first, let me tell you a little about burnout.

What is Burnout?

Burnout is a term used to describe a condition in which one is physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted after being exposed to chronic stress. It is characterized by extreme exhaustion, decreased motivation, and an emotional exhaustion sense. Burnout can have serious negative effects on a person’s general health, professional performance, and personal life.

Some symptoms of Burnout are:

⚫ Lacking the physical and emotional stamina needed to carry out everyday tasks.

⚫ Despite efforts to maintain the required level of output, experiencing a drop in work performance, efficiency, and productivity.

⚫ Withdrawing socially or secluding oneself from coworkers, friends, and family.

⚫ Unable to focus on work, memory problems, and difficulty paying attention.

⚫ Being agitated, impatient, and easily irritated by minor issues. developing a pessimistic viewpoint and viewing situations unfavorably.

In simple words, Burnout is simply losing the willingness to do work, interact with others, and experience fatigue all the time. While this is a serious condition that affects most people, not everyone is aware. However, it’s important to become wary of the symptoms of burnout and tackle them before they take hold of you.

My Ways of Tackling Burnout

Everyone has their way of reducing Burnout. These are some things that I do when I’m feeling overwhelmed.

⚫ Taking a Break: While this may seem trivial, taking a break from work, or any situation that is uncomfortable for you is the best way to regain motivation. The duration of this break is different for everyone, but it’s important to prioritize oneself over other things.

⚫ Changing your work environment: This is easier said than done, but for me, it helped a lot. In particular, as a freelancer, I can decide where I want to work. In this case, I shifted from working on my PC for long hours to outdoors on my laptop to get a new perspective and atmosphere.

⚫ Spending time with close ones: This is really simple but extremely effective. People forget the impact of spending quality time with their loved ones. For instance, your spouse, family, friends, or even just your pet. Spending time and living in the present gives a new perspective on things.

⚫ Doing something you love: I’m an avid gamer, but in my earlier days, I stopped doing everything just to focus on my work. However, now I realize that skipping something you love to do is one of the biggest reasons for burnout.

In the end, I would just say that choosing to do what you love is one of the best ways to tackle burnout. I know these seem generic, but it’s the simple things that can change your life. Hopefully, this helps you, and I’m open to listening to how you handle burnout when you face it. Prioritize yourself and treat yourself occasionally, you are worth it.