How to Recover From Burnout 

Burnout is a state in which a person feels constant physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion. When a person is burnt out, they’re in a state in which their stress levels may begin to have an impact on their physical and mental health.  When a person is burnt out, either at work or at home, then it is a sign that something in their life needs to change.

At Sivana Bali, we can help make that change possible. We can help people recover from burnout and give them the skills they need to prevent themselves from burning out in the future. 

How To Recover From Burnout

Burnout is generally tied to work, and many who are burnt out can feel overwhelmed at work. This can lead to chronic stress, and this stress is what causes people to burn out. 

Being burnt out can be debilitating and have a detrimental impact on a person’s performance at work and other parts of a person’s life as well. Because of this, many people find ways to reduce stress. Some of the ways that people try to recover from being burnt out include:

Taking A Break

Taking regular breaks can help reduce stress and exhaustion, both of which are associated with burnout. By taking regular breaks, a person catch their breath before their tasks and responsibilities overwhelm them.

Taking regular breaks can help refresh a person to some extent, allowing them to refocus on their tasks. It can be something as simple as taking a few minutes to grab a coffee or even taking a whole day off.

Take A Mental Health Day

For moderate cases of burnout, some people can take a mental health day. This is when, instead of going to work, a person disconnects from their day-to-day responsibilities and engages in things that they enjoy doing.

Take A Vacation

On a related note, many people who experience burnout often take vacations to recover. Taking a vacation takes them out of the circumstances that led to their work-related stress, allowing them an extended period of time to refresh and recover.

Career Changes

It’s often the case that people may experience burnout because of their jobs. Some people make changes to their careers to get a better work-life balance. Not only can this help people recover from the symptoms of burnout, it can also help prevent burnout in the future.

Seeing A Professional

One of the ways to recover from the mental exhaustion of being burnt out is to see a mental health professional. A mental health professional can help someone manage stress and anxiety. Beyond that, going to a professional can give someone a safe space to just vent, which can provide them with a sense of release.

How Long Does It Take To Recover From Burnout?

Recovering from burnout doesn’t have a set timeline. For some people, their burnout is so severe that nothing less than an extended period away from work and a change of career will rejuvenate them.

Others who have milder cases can refresh themselves after a weekend or even a single day. Recovering from burnout is not an exact science, and the timeline will vary from one person to the next.

What Are the Signs of Burnout?

Burnout can manifest through various signs, both physical and emotional. Physically, individuals can experience constant fatigue, headaches, and changes in sleep or appetite.

Emotionally, they often feel overwhelmed, detached, and cynical about their work or responsibilities. It’s not uncommon for them to significantly drop their productivity. They can also struggle with feelings of helplessness and defeat. 

Burnout can also lead to increased irritability and frustration, which can strain interpersonal relationships. Additionally, it might cause a lack of motivation and a diminished sense of accomplishment. 

These symptoms collectively signal that an individual is overextended and needs to address their work-life balance, stress management, and overall well-being to prevent further deterioration of their mental and physical health. Recognising these signs early is crucial for implementing effective strategies to recover and prevent long-term damage.

How To Prevent Burnout

Preventing burnout is just as important as recovering from it. There are several strategies that can help people deal with burnout. These strategies include:

Prioritising Health

A great way for people to prevent getting burned out is to take care of themselves physically. For example, getting around 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night can help the mind and body recover from whatever work they had to do earlier in the day.

Exercising regularly, being well-hydrated, and eating a balanced diet can help a person maintain their physical and mental health, which can help prevent them from feeling burnt out and aid in the recovery process if they do burn out.

Taking Care of Themselves

Taking care of yourself doesn’t just mean staying mentally and physically healthy, though they are important. It also means engaging in self-care activities that bring joy and relaxation. Self-care can be different depending on the person. Some people like cooking, some people like art, and some people like taking bubble baths.

The point is that self-care activities are supposed to give people some relief from their stressors and take care of themselves instead of their work tasks. Having time away from work can help people who are suffering from burnout by giving them an opportunity to refresh themselves.

Manage Stress

Because burnout is so often tied to prolonged stress, being able to manage stress can aid in burnout recovery and prevention. Activities that can help manage stress include yoga, meditation, mindfulness practises such as paying attention to the present moment, and breathing exercises.

Organise Work

Because work-related stress can often lead to burnout, better managing a workload can often help prevent burnout. This can mean reducing a workload or breaking everything down into smaller, easier-to-manage tasks.

Organising work can also mean organising a workspace, like getting a chair that’s more comfortable or adjusting your monitor’s settings so they don’t put as much strain on your eyes. If it’s possible, having flexible work hours or a remote setup can help keep a person from burning out.

Being organised can also mean organising your time and setting boundaries between your work and other parts of your life. For example, during working hours, then focus solely on your work. When you’re outside of work, however, then you focus entirely on everything but work. Having boundaries between your work and your personal life can help keep you from burning out.

What Are The Stages of Burnout?

Burnout typically progresses through five stages. Initially, there is the honeymoon phase, which is when individuals feel enthusiastic and committed, often taking on excessive workloads, but they often don’t realise just how stressful the tasks ahead are going to be.

But stress does follow. A person can start to notice that some days are harder than others and have difficulty coping with increasing demands. During the chronic stress stage, symptoms such as irritability, persistent fatigue, and reduced performance become prominent. 

The burnout stage is characterised by emotional and physical exhaustion, cynicism, and detachment from work and personal life, leading to a significant decline in functionality.

Finally, in the habitual burnout stage, the symptoms become part and parcel of day-to-day life, which can potentially lead to serious health issues, chronic sadness, and a pervasive sense of failure. 

Recognising and addressing burnout early can prevent progression to these later, more debilitating levels of burnout.

What Causes People To Experience Burnout?

The causes of burnout can be varied, but it’s often primarily linked to chronic and overwhelming stress that is often due to demanding work environments or personal pressures.

Key factors that lead to burnout include heavy workloads, unrealistic expectations, and lack of control over one’s tasks. Insufficient support from supervisors or colleagues can exacerbate feelings of isolation and helplessness. Furthermore, not being recognised or rewarded for hard work diminishes motivation and satisfaction. Poor work-life balance, where individuals have little time to rest or engage in personal activities, can add to stress levels. 

There are also emotional factors, such as perfectionism and a high need for achievement, which can also drive individuals toward burnout by causing them to push themselves relentlessly.

In some cases, there are external pressures like financial instability or family responsibilities that add to the stress a person feels. The combination of these factors creates a chronic state of mental and physical exhaustion, leading to burnout if not addressed promptly.

What Are the Effects of Burnout?

Burnout can have profound effects on a person’s physical and mental wellness.

Physically, it can lead to chronic fatigue and headaches and weaken a person’s immune system, which makes them more vulnerable to illnesses. Mentally, burnout can result in persistent feelings of cynicism, detachment, and a pervasive sense of ineffectiveness.

This emotional exhaustion can lead to depression, anxiety, and reduced productivity. Relationships with colleagues, friends, and family as people can become more irritable and short-tempered. Burnout can also impair decision-making abilities and cognitive function, making it harder to concentrate and solve problems.

Over time, if unaddressed, burnout can lead to severe health issues like cardiovascular disease, further underscoring the importance of recognising and managing stress to maintain overall well-being.

Many people who are burnt out can also be vulnerable to substance misuse as they may turn to drugs and alcohol as a means of coping with their stress.