Article: 10 brilliant tricks to prevent burnout at work

Life @ Work

10 brilliant tricks to prevent burnout at work

There are several effects of burnout out at work such as job withdrawal, ineffectiveness, lower productivity, decreased job satisfaction and reduced commitment to work.
10 brilliant tricks to prevent burnout at work

Burnout is an individual’s reaction to chronic interpersonal and emotional stressors at the workplace. It doesn’t simply arise out of working too long in a high-demand environment, but occurs as a multidimensional response due to many complex causes. There are several effects of burnout out at work such as job withdrawal, ineffectiveness, lower productivity, decreased job satisfaction and reduced commitment to work. So, to avoid this exhausting byproduct of a burnout at work, consider these stress-relieving tips that will help you maintain a healthy mind at work.  

1. Know When to Say "No"

Most often, to impress our bosses or display a team-player attitude, we often say yes to everything that comes our way. Besides, a few people just don’t know to say no when a favor is expected out of them. This is a habit you should change as being a "Yes Man" (or Woman) can result in dire consequences, like biting off more than you can chew, which in turn can affect your productivity negatively. In that case, you'll look like you can't handle the workload which won't bode well for advancement opportunities. Thus, learn how to say no. If you're already at capacity, let your bosses know so that they can help you find the balance.

2. Keep Plants in the Office

Plants not only add a sense of life to an otherwise drab office environment, but studies have shown that the presence of plants help increase energy, happiness, and productivity. If your workplace is devoid of green plants, talk to your coworkers about getting some bonsai plants to brighten up the surroundings. Plants help to lift our moods, besides the color green helps to revitalize our senses.  

3. Set a Time to Unplug Each Day

As creatures of habit who are more plugged in than ever, it's hard to put down our devices and disconnect. But it's necessary to set a time where you keep away your office laptop and Blackberry and try to unwind the streets. Jacel Egan, media relations coordinator for the blog TechnologyAdvice, suggests “setting a firm time to 'unplug' and unwind and stick to it." By doing this, she says, "you're making a commitment to yourself, your family, and your sanity to quiet the buzz in your head and recharge your batteries."

4. Delegate Responsibilities When You Can

Feeling overwhelmed? Is there too much on your plate? If you're behind, or if you feel like you're in danger of falling behind, delegate the work (if you have that luxury) to someone who can handle the work without your supervision. There's nothing wrong with delegating work if you're in the position to do so, so long as everyone is contributing to the team equally.

5. Use Your Well-Earned PTO or Vacation

Most of the people have plenty of accrued time off but they rarely take it which culminates into stress and burn out. If you have the opportunity to enjoy a break then seize it to destress and feel rejuvenated. You should use your PTO or vacation time, whenever you get a chance. When you start feeling burnt out, clear your schedule to rest, relax, and remember that the only way you're going to make it through the next two decades of work is to strike a decent work-life balance — starting today.

6. Sleep optimally

People suffering from burnout often have sleep issues. Either they’re shortchanging themselves on sleep and overworking, which then results in or contributes to burnout in the first place, or they attempt to sleep but have difficulty falling or staying asleep due to stress from work.

Because burnout can send hormonal balance off a cliff, it’s critical to move toward realigning with your natural circadian rhythm. To that end, you may benefit from short-term use of melatonin, but don’t ignore the basic lifestyle choices you can make to aid sleep, such as cutting out screen time two hours before bed, sleeping in a completely dark and cool room, and going to bed by ten o’clock.

7. Use your flexible work options

Are you someone who spends more than two hours of the day commuting to work? It’s two hours out of your day which could have been spent doing yoga, having quality time with your loved ones or pursuing a hobby.

So, talk your way into being able to work from home at least once a week. With all the ways to work remotely nowadays, trying flexible work options will save you from commute to work. If that fails, consider relocating houses or jobs. Life is too short to watch it pass by on a train every day.

8. Keep Reasonable Work Hours

While developing Macintosh, Steve Job made “working 90 hours a week and loving it” t-shirts. But, you don’t have to work than you please and love it. Employees differ on how many hours they can work so don’t barter your sick days, paid time off, and vacation days to increase your work hours. Overworking can be detrimental to your overall health and well-being. 

9. Edit Your To-Do List

To-do lists are helpful, but you can quickly overwhelm yourself if you pack too much to do all at once. If you feel overwhelmed by the items on your list then revisit it and decide which items are indispensable and which can be shelved. Prioritizing your to-dos will help lessen the stress and declutter your mind so you get the chance to immerse in the work at hand. 

10. Simplify Your Work Life

Every day, we're inundated with all types of communication and media such as news, ads, e-mails, texts, digital documents, that can wreak havoc on our ability to concentrate. Simplify your work life a little more by taking steps to streamline or eliminate distractions, like unsubscribing from nonessential e-mails, putting mobile and social media conversations on mute for a period of time, organizing your hard and digital files, and keeping the number of time-sucking meetings to a minimum.

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