Burn out is a state where you experience worn out and it feels like all your physical and emotional energy is drained and you are left with none. It reduces your performance and leaves you feeling low. Your efficacy and efficiency is reduced to a minimal level.
Why is Exhaustion and Burnout Getting Common in 21st Century?
Life has become fast paced in the 21st century. To stay in the competition humans have to match their speed with the fast paced world. It feels like somebody is always ahead of you no matter what you do.
You are constantly required to put more energy, effort and time. Employees and workers feel the pressure of work that demands to be completed in a constricted time period.
21st century lifestyle also contribute to burnout and exhaustion. Materialism is the new lifestyle, everybody is in a rat race to get better this and bigger that.
People have brand conscious mindset which pushes them to work more in order to earn more. It’s all about following desires. They try their level best to go out to all those places from where they can get the approval of society.
Unfortunately, they don’t even end up feelings happy because going out, shopping don’t serve as a time out. Everyone is participating under societal pressures.
The pressure compels you to repeat the vicious cycle of earning, spending and chasing one thing after another without gaining any real satisfaction.
With every passing day, the bar is set higher. Those who are not part of any competition also find it hard to maintain a stability in their life. Due to which they don’t get enough time to relax.
Technology and social media also play its role. Media that help people to connect all over the world, disconnect them with their own selves.
Even when we are resting on a couch we are not relaxing because the ever-growing news feed on social media is keeping our minds busy.
Other Factors that Contribute to Exhaustion and Burnout:
Our surrounding and work environment play a major role in causing chronic stress and serve as the major tone for exhaustion and burnout symptoms.
If an employee is following a hectic schedule that is now beyond his management, he is more likely to feel exhaustion. In a relationship or in a workplace, support is essential for human beings.
And if that support is missing then you feel lack of interest in performing your day-to-day tasks.
It is also important that you choose to do what you love doing. If the nature of work doesn’t match with your own nature then you’ll start taking your job as a burden.
Being acknowledged and appreciated serves as a motivation, without this motivation you drag yourself to work and back and feel overwhelmed all the time.
Not being noticed at work, not having any bond that can light up your mood, and not feeling sense of accomplishment from work. All this can lead to low self-esteem.
People with low self-esteem end up committing to one thing after another without taking care of their own physical and emotional needs. And they left with the feelings of distressed and fatigued.
They feel bodily pain as well and have no clue how to cope up. Burnout have both physical and emotional signs. These signs can also be seen in a person who has under-challenged environment and monotonous routine.
For example John is more likely to feel exhaustion when he has a fractured leg that requires 2 months of bed rest.
In most of the cases when burnout goes unaddressed, People feel hopelessness and they give up on a thought to bring any change in themselves or in environment.
They feel uninterested in putting efforts and energy because chronic stress doesn’t allow them to foresee a glimpse of happiness.
How to Save Yourself from Exhaustion and Burnout?
Self-care is the most important and essential part of the journey.
Listed below are ways to overcome exhaustion and burnout:
Make Goals:
Make a list of short term goals that you would like to achieve in your daily life. It can be a visit to a friend’s place, reading a single paragraph of your favorite book or even writing your thoughts down can serve you in so many ways.
It helps you to express yourself, allows you to identify where the problem lies and releases the stress. With the completion of each goal you’ll gain the sense of achievement.
Favorite Hobby:
Choose one activity of your interest and practice it on a daily or weekly basis. You can learn to cook, learn to swim or you can get the material required for painting and drawing and start doing it.
There is no pressure of time. You just have to enjoy the whole process of learning without being judged by anyone. This can be a great source of happiness.
Choose Positivity:
Each day, note down one good thing that has happened to you or anything you enjoy in your day. Make sure you write a different thing each day. This will give value to your life.
Find the importance and value of your work as every job possesses a great value. And focus on that while performing your tasks.
Connection:
Connect yourself with a friend at workplace or outside the work. It can bring immense joy as humans are known as social animals, it is very important for us to share our pain and happiness with a fellow being and listen to his worries and achievements.
This gives a new perspective to life and make the stress bearable for you.
Time Out:
Take time out from stressful environment. Limit the use of social media by keeping a reminder of 15 minutes on app you use and scroll all the time. Reward yourself every time you take one step closer to self-care, it will keep you motivated and make your experience pleasant.
