6 Tips to Stop Burnout Before It Starts

People suffering from burnout may experience a number of physical and emotional problems, including exhaustion, anxiety and depression. If you're burned out but you won't change your lifestyle in substantial ways, health problems as severe as heart attacks or strokes may be in your future.

You should learn to recognize the distinctive warning signs of burnout so that you can take steps to prevent serious health problems from developing. It may be that only simple changes are needed in your life to completely sidestep burnout.

You can prevent burnout by following these tips:

1. Evaluate Your Workload. Many people take on workloads that are far too heavy, forgetting that they won't have enough time in the day to complete all the tasks. Burnout will result if you constantly tackle your workload at full speed without taking any breaks. If you want to change your approach to work, you have two choices:

* First, you can learn how to work more efficiently with the help of time management strategies. The idea is to do more work in less time.

* Second, you can eliminate unnecessary tasks from your schedule. You may not believe this can be done if you're a true workaholic, but you'll have to find a way if you want to preserve your health and happiness.

2. Don't Overwork. If you have a good mind-body connection, you'll know when you're reaching your exhaustion limit. When you reach this point, you must stop working and initiate some change. For some people, spending the day relaxing at home is enough; others may want to take a short vacation or spend the day in a favorite spot. The point of this is to get away from those things that cause you the most stress. If your major sources of stress are cell phones and computers, leave them behind for a day!

3. Welcome Change. If burnout is occurring over and over again in your life, then it's time you commit to a major life change.

* For example, your job may be a source of constant burnout no matter what you do to steer clear of it. If this is the case, you may need to find a job that you're better suited to.

4. Schedule Regular Breaks. Employee breaks are now mandatory, and there's a good reason for that. Workers need to take time out to regroup and refresh themselves. On your break, you can probably take a short walk, work on a Sudoku puzzle, or find some other way to alleviate your stress, even if just for a few minutes.

5. Don't Hesitate to Ask For Help. People often get so wrapped up in their problems that they fail to seek help from others - even when this help may be exactly what is needed to remove stress. It's important for you to have someone in your life you can go to for advice or just for a listening ear, whether it is your partner, a friend, or a therapist.

6. Just Say No. Saying yes to everything and being accommodating are two very different approaches to life. If you're a yes-person, you're making yourself vulnerable to others who might take advantage of you. Sometimes the best thing you can do is just say no. Saying yes all the time can cause a lot of stress!

7. Do Only What's Important. Ultimately, the best way to help yourself avoid burnout is to listen to that little voice within you that tells you when enough is enough. If you think you may have too heavy a workload, write down all that you need to do and mark those items that are most important. What's left will have to wait, or will have to be done by someone else.

8. Vent Your Emotions. If you start to feel the anxiety rising, take a deep breath or a short walk in order to clear your head. It's important that you express your emotions and not keep them bottled up inside. You can vent privately, to the bathroom mirror or in a journal, or you can release your frustrations with a friend. A notable source of burnout is unexpressed anger and emotion.

These burnout-stopping tips may help you enjoy your life again. Put these strategies into action now and before long, you'll be liberated from the overwhelming effects of burnout!