Life Balance and 16 Signs You are Burned Out
How much are you trying to do every day and how is it making you feel? Are you energized or are you losing ground in your effort to achieve life balance? Do you feel like pulling the covers over your head so you can stay in bed for a week? I’ve felt that way before and it’s not fun! I had to step back and let things go for a while so I could bounce back. How much is too much which leads to burnout and what is burnout?
According to HELPGUIDE.org, burnout is:
A state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest or motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place.
Have you been saying “yes” to volunteer positions, committees and social events when you should be saying “no” to preserve your sanity and your life balance? Your body will let you know and you should be listening, here are some signs from HELPGUIDE.org to help you determine if you need a break:
Physical signs of burnout:
- Feeling tired and drained most of the time
- Lowered immunity, feeling sick a lot
- Frequent headaches, back pain, muscle aches
- Change in appetite or sleep habits
Emotional Signs of Burnout:
- Sense of failure and self-doubt
- Feeling helpless, trapped, and defeated
- Detachment, feeling alone in the world
- Loss of motivation
- Increasingly cynical and negative outlook
- Decreased satisfaction and sense of accomplishment
Behavioral Signs of Burnout:
- Withdrawing from responsibilities
- Isolating yourself from others
- Procrastinating, taking longer to get things done
- Using food, drugs, or alcohol to cope
- Taking out your frustrations on others
- Skipping work or coming in late and leaving early
If you are at this point, this is a red alert that it is time to make some changes in your life to turn things around. You need to take care of you and you need to be strong and healthy. What are some things that you can do to slow things down and beat burnout?
- Get enough sleep, if this means cutting some obligations out of your life so you aren’t burning the midnight oil, do it.
- Choose a time that you will turn off all the gadgets, beeps, vibrations and alerts from your electronics and stick with it.
- Learn how to say no to protect your time. I have 10 ways to say no gracefully right here.
- Take time for yourself-this is perfectly acceptable and will recharge your batteries-a bath, a pedicure, a massage, reading a good book at the park will all go a long way!
- Take a vacation and get away from it all, that’s what I’ve finally started doing!
- Take care of your body with exercise-bike, walk, yoga, run, stretch, meditate-whatever floats your boat.
- Make sure that you aren’t overfilling your calendar and being pulled in 10 different directions. If you need to let some activities go, don’t feel guilty, just do it-you are the only one who can.
You can read more about my own balance buddy and the reason I can’t get a date! 
Tags: achieve life balance, Balance-Family, burned out, burnout, DIY organization, exercise, HELPGUIDE.org, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, overwhelmed, Self, stress, work
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