4 Ways Burnout Sneaks Up On You & How to Prevent Them

Like most things, burnout isn’t something that just shows up out of the blue. Here are 4 distinct causes, along with effective prevention strategies. 

Here are four of my favorites that I share with my clients: 

1. “I want everything all at once.” Ever so often burnout affects those who least expect it: successful professionals who are highly engaged and motivated and have a lot of resources. People who want to be successful in all areas of their lives, and also have the potential to accomplish this: in their careers, their relationships, their spare time and even in their community service engagements. The reality is: we only have 24 hours in a day (of which at least 7-9 should be spent sleeping). The more we can embrace this, the better. Even the most capable among us can’t do everything all at once. We can do thing one after another – but not all at once. Focusing and prioritizing are key here.

2. Treat professional peak performance like you’re an elite athlete. It’s easy to get caught up in an intense and demanding professional engagement. My son-in-law completed a graduate program where, at times, he only got 1-2 hours of sleep a night. I have clients in consulting jobs who are expected to be available 24/7 for months at a time. All of these things are fine when we experience them for shorter time periods. And take the same approach as an elite athlete would: getting enough rest and sleep, healthy movement and the right nutrition. Every successful athlete honors these lifestyle practices; and every professional should as well. 

3. Before making a big commitment, ask yourself the following question: What were the last five years of my life like? Were there a lot of challenging and stressful situations? Like professional or financial pressure, a traumatic experience, a health crisis, the death or illness of a loved one, a relationship crisis or any other type of severe emotional or physical stress. Pressure or stress has a cumulative effect. Your body and your mind need time to recover from it. Too much and too quickly is the ticket to burnout and illness. Our body keeps the score.

4. Last but not least: Which of my emotional patterns or beliefs could lead to a burnout? When you’re deeply convinced that your self-worth is dependent on you constantly working; then that’s also a path to burnout. Or you might have a tendency to care more about others than yourself and neglect your own needs. This results in a lack of self-care which can also pave the path to a burnout experience.

It’s important to devote yourself to a practice of regular self-reflection: which areas in my life are fertile ground for exhaustion? Which preventative measures can I take? – a timeout, a period of time with a smaller workload, a profound physical regeneration, committing to the lifestyle of a top athlete, receiving coaching or some form of psychotherapeutic support. With the right kind of support we can develop resilience and rekindle our joy for work and life.

Wishing you wellbeing,
Ulrike