Burnout, stress, and mental exhaustion- are all things that we have dealt with through our rather busy lives. The truth is that when life becomes busy, our priorities shift. So we try to do everything we can with the bit of time we’re given, which often leads us to neglect our own mental and physical health.
By definition, burnout is a state where you are mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted at the hands of stress within your work life. Burnout is the state that leaves a person completely drained of energy and demotivated to the extent that simple everyday tasks become impossible for them to do. As a result, a person suffering from burnout starts to fall behind in life quickly as they lose the ability and power to function correctly due to exhaustion and stress.  

Once you can identify that you are dealing with burnout, you can think of how you will pull yourself out of the given state. This is where we discuss several strategies and tips for you to deal with the aftermath of burnout.  

Pay Attention To What Is Stressing You Out 

The first step to dealing with the aftermath of burnout is not to let yourself be stressed by the same things that led you to this situation in the first place.  

To understand your burnout,  you need to wake up and start to assess where you went wrong with stress in the first place. 
 
Think about what you do throughout your day and pick out the things that often cause you stress. It’s time to eliminate them from your daily life if you wish to free yourself of the feeling of getting lost within these certain aspects that hold you down.  

Think Of What You Can Change For The Better 

Once you start to remove the things that stress you out, you may think that you are all set and ready to go. However, to honestly deal with the stage of emptiness you are left with after burnout, you need to start to better your life in all the ways you possibly can. 

Start to add more positive aspects to your life, even if they are as tiny as eating healthy and going to bed early. Then, when they come together, they will make a massive difference in your life. 

Get Yourself Back On Track By Prioritizing  

Prioritizing the neglect of your priorities got you into the state of burnout in the first place, so when you find yourself on the other side of the mess, you must make firm changes in your life regarding your priorities that help you from going back to square A.  

If your boss starts asking you to work late hours again, learn how to say no.  

If your friends can’t stop taking you on nights out even when you need rest, get a cab and get your sleep. Then, start implementing these boundaries in your daily life to stop yourself from falling down the rabbit hole of regret once again.  

Add Structure To Your Life  

Creating structure means it’s time to pick up. After burnout, you may feel helpless, leaving you to keep in mind that it is never too late to pick up and start doing what is best for you. You can begin by adopting new hobbies, making new friends, and going home to see your family more often.  

Talk About It All. Consider Therapy  

After going through such a draining and helpless stage, you mustn’t hold everything you have witnessed inside you. Instead, at this point, you must share your feelings and start with the little things. Tell the people around you about your experience and what is inside your head.  

If you find it hard to open up to those close to you, you can always consider therapy, where you are given a safe space to let out everything you’re feeling without fear of any sort of judgment.

As a society, we are very good at burnout. It has become somewhat of a norm to be so stressed out that we can’t even function. We have become used to working constantly and not taking any time for ourselves. This is not sustainable, and it’s not healthy. So we need to find ways to alleviate burnout before it takes over our lives.

Author(s)

  • Dr. Tomi Mitchell

    M.D | Leadership Coach| Wellness & Productivity Coach

    Dr. Tomi Mitchell Holistic Wellness Strategies

    Dr. Tomi Mitchell, MD, empowers executives, lawyers, doctors, business owners, and other leaders to eliminate burnout and increase workplace productivity and relationships.  She uses her three-step framework, Embrace, Evaluate & Energize, to empower her clients to have clarity. 

    As a public speaker and trainer, she brings energy to the crowd, captures their attention, and gives them clear, actionable steps to apply immediately to their life. Dr. Tomi Mitchell believes in getting to the root causes of life's challenges, instead of taking a temporary BandAid approach to life. She is a writer, with a book coming out in Summer 2023. She is also the host of The Mental Health & Wellness Show.  To learn more about her framework, check out the following link: Learn More.