Burnout is not simple fatigue that each of us faces at the end of a working day or week. And it is impossible to recover from it with the help of active weekends or a short vacation. Professional burnout is a syndrome that significantly affects the quality of work and the state of human health. Therefore, in 2019 it was even included in the 11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). According to statistics, up to 79% of employees and managers have encountered it. This indicator is quite applicable to many professions and will increase this year due to quarantine restrictions, difficulties in the labor market, and increased stress levels. Freelancers and entrepreneurs are very susceptible to burnout at work due to a combination of several factors unfavorable to the nervous system. Especially vulnerable are those who constantly communicate with other people.
Every entrepreneur is constantly thinking about the business, working round the clock without days off and vacations. And it doesn’t matter how successful the business is, but most entrepreneurs have the moment when they want to quit everything. Here are some tips to help you overcome burnout.
Outsource what’s causing you stress
You may burn out because you are tired of a certain task. Maybe you are trying to compose a sales letter to send to your potential customers, maybe you are completely doing the accounting yourself, or you are performing other tasks that your employees or top bpo services can easily do for you.
Yes, it will be some expense, but your brain will become freer and you will be able to make more effective decisions.
Take a break
Even with the most beloved person, it is difficult to be together all the time. Sometimes you need to distance yourself for a while. It’s the same with business. And the more time you devote to your business, the more time you need to spend away from it.
Of course, it is best to take a month’s vacation and go to distant, warm lands where cell phones do not work and there is no Internet. But most likely, you can’t afford it right now. However, even half a day or a full weekend that you spend away from your business can help you.
Turn off your phone and turn off all notifications in messengers. Try not to worry about what happens in your absence — your business will not go bankrupt in half a day.
Exit the home office
If you work from home, like many others, it can be quite exhausting. After all, even the most ardent introverts sometimes need communication.
This is your opportunity to take your laptop with you and go to the nearest cafe to create a temporary office there. This will take you out of your habitual environment and give a shake to your brain. And change is good. If you work in a crowded place, think about whether you will be productive in such an environment. For many tasks, full concentration is needed, which means complete silence.
But at the same time, sometimes entrepreneurs need to do work that does not require deep immersion in the topic. In this case, try to find communication again.
Motivate yourself with to-do lists
Self-employment can be very monotonous, especially if you try to do more work yourself. Explore new ideas for growth and set new goals. It can give you the energy to work. Make to-do lists and get satisfaction when you cross out what you’ve done.
Also read: 5 Common mistakes small businesses make and how to avoid them
Schedule time for yourself
Regardless of how passionate you are, it is quite easy to burn out when you run a business. There are always a million things to do, and a million new ideas. But one sphere that most of us ignore is ourselves. The truth is that you can not be resultative if you work on an empty tank and a business can not be effective if you are not in great shape. Set a regular schedule and on a weekly basis set the time in your calendar only for yourself, ranging from an hour to a whole day. Spend this time doing what you like. The key is to put it on the calendar. If it is not on the calendar, it is not done. This practice works great and helps you move faster.
And one more point – do not be afraid to ask for professional help. Most likely, a sufficient pause will be required – several weeks. Do you remember about training and delegation? No matter how fascinated you are by your uniqueness, to stock up on at least a good “second number” brought up by you is just a professional approach. You may need deep internal work – if this happened, it means that you were going somewhere wrong. You will need to rethink first and then reschedule your life.
Get enough sleep, move more, and eat normally. Good handling of the body will help you get back on the right track. And if you find new meanings, and redefine your principles, you will have a chance for much brighter achievements and a much more fulfilled and happy life than you once could have imagined.