DO YOU:
1. find it difficult to say 'no' to additional commitments or responsibilities
2. feel like you have been under intense and sustained pressure for some time
3. feel like other people do not match up to expectations and you dare not delegate
4. you are being asked for more than you can give, or that you are tired of being considered the leader.
5. you just don’t give-a-damn, your work lacks interest , or your performance is not up to your standard – however hard you try!
6. An intense desire to run away. Panic
7. Feel irritable and tired, yawn a lot or swallow without real need
8. Food lacks flavor, nothing is funny, just want to sit …..
Symptoms of Burnout
Burnout will normally occur slowly, over a long period of time. It may express itself physically or mentally:
Physical Burnout
Feelings of intense fatigue
Vulnerability to viral infection
Immune breakdown
Mental Burnout
Feeling of lack of control over commitments
An incorrect belief that you are accomplishing less
A growing tendency to think negatively
Loss of a sense of purpose and energy
Increasing detachment from relationships that causes conflict and stress, adding to burn-out
If you are in late stages of burn-out, feeling deeply demotivated and disenchanted with life get help from a good friend or someone who is honest in their perception of your behaviors. TALK, DESCRIBE and VALIDATE. Consider therapy.
If you are in Danger of Burning Out...
If you feel that you are in danger of burning out, or are not enjoying your life, the following points can help you correct the situation:
First:
Learn to say NO to commitments that you do not want to take on - otherwise you will be in severe danger of burning out as you become unhappy with your situation. Involvement must be fun, otherwise there is no point in doing it.
Re-evaluate your goals and prioritize them , even change the way you look at them
Evaluate the demands placed on you and see how they fit in with your desires or choices
Identify your ability to comfortably meet these demands.
If you are over-involved, reduce the commitments that are excessive
If people demand too much emotional energy, become more unapproachable and less sympathetic , then try consciously to involve other people in a supportive role. You owe it to yourself to avoid being bled dry emotionally.
Learn stress management skills
Examine other areas in your life which are generating stress, such as work or family, and try to solve problems and reduce the stress
Get the support of your friends and family in reducing stress
Daily:
Ø Ensure that you are eating a healthy, balanced diet - a bad diet can make you ill or feel bad. Watch your caffeine and alcohol intake . Eat several snacks a day and avoid taking your main meal of the day at night.
Ø Acknowledge your own humanity: remember that you have a right to pleasure and a right to relaxation
Ø Check in with your body several times a day – are you hot, cold, skin dry … and take steps to correct that. To be aware and de-escalate try
Ø Meet with yourself in the morning to plan your day and at night to review and prepare.
Ø When you get home do something that ends your work day
General Issues:
Exercise the body to shake off the dust. It will revive you. The best
cardiovascular activities include walking, swimming, and
jogging. But anything physical works. Simple Office Stretches
Leave your work at work. If you must lug home
work, get it done early in the evening. Better yet,
do it in the office and leave it there.
Don't schedule all of your leisure time. You live by a
schedule all day long. Leave yourself some "open space."
Get plenty of veg-out time. If you are well rested, problems do
not always seem so large. Try napping for less than 20 minutes.
Pursue a project or hobby. Find something that
requires so much concentration that you forget about
work for a while.
Find a friend. Enlist a trusted listener. Talking a problem
out won't make it go away, but it will relieve some of the
stress associated with the problem.
Don't procrastinate. Having something "hanging over
you" can cause more tension than the project is worth.
Don't feel that you must do everything. You can't and
you won't. So why worry about it?
Keep a "things to do" list. Review it daily and do at
least one or two things. But limit yourself to what is possible.
As the list gets smaller, you will
feel a sense of accomplishment.
Recognize and accept your limitations. Most of set
unreasonable and perfectionist goals for ourselves. But,
we can never be perfect, so we can come to feel a sense
of failure or inadequacy no matter how well we perform.
Think “I Want …..”
Learn to tolerate and forgive. Intolerance and judging
others often lead to frustration and anger. Try to really
understand the other person's concerns and fears.
Learn to plan. Disorganization breeds stress. Having too
many projects going at the same time leads to
confusion, forgetfulness and a sense of uncompleted
tasks. Plan ahead. Develop your own method of getting
things done in an orderly manner.
Learn to play. You need to escape from the pressures of
life and have fun regularly. Find pastimes or hobbies
regardless of your level of ability.
Rid yourself of worry. A study has shown that 40
percent of the items people worry about never happen;
35 percent can be changed; 15 percent turn out better
than expected; 8 percent involve needless concern; and
only 2 percent really deserve attention.
Body Check
Mind Vacuuming
Bridges
Awareness
Imagine Possibilities
Validation and Vulnerability
Renunciation
Storytelling
Ghost Elimination
Felt-Sense Experience
Meaning
Ø A. Defer and Revisit:
When a thought bothers you to the point where it interrupts your flow, write a phrase down and promise that you will come back to it later. Then it is out of the back of your head and onto the paper.
Designate a ‘worry period’. Take ten minutes ( no more than half an hour) and sit down with your list.
What can be resolved note for action. What can’t be resolved just note
Get up and change task – do something nice for yourself.
Ø B. Fun or Funny:
Each day look for conversations, scenes, or items that are interesting or fun. Note achievements and write down a phrase that will help remind you when you recollect later that day. If you have a partner – share these with him or her each day
Ø C: Lucid Dreaming:
If you can’t sleep, relax – tell yourself a story and just rest. Weave an issue into the dream by use of metaphors … and above all, do not worry about not sleeping.
Ø D. Food:
Honey and warm milk ( and for some people carbohydrates ) are good relaxants.
Try and eat four smaller meals a day remembering that 4:00am and 4:00pm are Nature’s alarms.
Ø E. Doodle and Coloring
Ø F. Stop Comparing
Ø G. Stretch and breathe frequently throughout the day.
Ø H. Think Wishes not Needs
Try not to set goals but look at aspirations or things that you would like to do. Then you will not feel dissatisfied if you do not realize goals, and you will enjoy the journey.
Ø Chunking
– not Chinese food but a way of managing tasks by doing them in short (20-40 minute ) bursts. Start and end with something you can complete and break up the bursts by a change in task – even looking up and beyond the immediate surroundings.
Ø J. Business Meetings : both domestic and professional
Ø K. An adventure a week!
… And now for some extraneous words --- Looking through the eyes of the other …. And come upon one’s self as Stranger.
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