Beware of burnout

Life is demanding. Life doesn’t give us what we desire but what we pursue and in the pursuit of life we expend a lot of resources. We daily spend time and money in a bid to achieve things. We expend our emotions and physical strength daily. We make demand on our mental abilities. All these have a toll on us and if care is not taken we will depreciating and gradually become ineffective.  We will get tired physically, emotionally, mentally and life will become a drag and a liability. Care must be taken that we don’t burnout.

Burnout is a luxury we cannot afford to get involved in. Symptoms of burnout include mental exhaustion – we just can’t seem to think our  way through even the simplest of problems. When we burn out we get easily irritated, we snap and get into emotional crisis.

“Individuals experiencing burnout view their jobs as increasingly stressful and frustrating. They may grow cynical about their working conditions and the people they work with. They may also emotionally distance themselves and begin to feel numb about their work.  Chronic stress may lead to physical symptoms, like headaches and stomachaches or intestinal issues. Burnout causes people to feel drained, unable to cope, and tired. They often lack energy to get their work done. Burnout mainly affects everyday tasks at work—or in the home when someone›s main job involves caring for family members. Individuals with burnout feel negative about tasks. They have difficulty concentrating and often lack creativity.”Elizabeth Scot

Burnout will lead to cynicism . We begin to feel what we are doing no longer matters. We just become disillusioned and seem not to be bothered about anything again. Our attention span becomes reduced and our minds begin to play games on us as it will seem to lose the ability to focus well. We begin to find it difficult  to concentrate.  We begin to become pessimistic . . .life no longer has meaning and we just want to float along not caring about the consequences.

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To deal with burnout we need to find time to rest. We need to get invigorated regularly if we are to keep going. If we will not burnout we need to consciously take a break regularly to get refreshed. When we just keep going without taking a break to refresh we will get exhausted and our output will begin to diminish.

“Burnout is not the result of doing too much; it is the result of not getting enough rest.” John Patrick Hickey

We must take a break from our regular schedule just to refresh. We must also ensure we rest our body and mind through adequate sleep.

“Research suggests that having fewer than six hours of sleep per night is a major risk factor for burnout, not least because poor sleep can have negative effects on your job performance and productivity.

TO BE CONCLUDED

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