We need to understand burnout

I will be running a series of short articles on burnout - what it is, how to avoid it and how to recover from it.

Let's begin with a definition:

Burnout is a state of physical, emotional and mental exhausation as a result of prolonded stress. You will notice it by feelings of overwhelm or as if your battery is running on empty. We also no longer feel up to the daily demands coming our way.

It occurs when the demands of our workload (not just "work" workload - family and extracurricualr too) exceed our energy levels over a prolonged period of time.

There are often warning signs in the lead up to a burnout diagnosis which a lot of people miss. One simple one from a work context is that you find yourself so engaged that you work to a point that you sleep at the office or your home office desk. On the other end of the scale it can be feelings of disengagement from your job whereby the only thing that gets you going anymore is an immediate deadline...

In a general sense restoration, recovery and rejuvenation are vital to avoid the onset of burnout. Why? Simply because they allow us to escape the feeling of obligation towards constantly doing and achieving. A dedication to slowing down is vital also to help us take stock of the direction of our lives to ensure we are still on the right course for us.

This is why I have a whole module dedicated to resoration and rejuvenation called "rejuvenating downtime" in my Peak Performance Code online course.