Stressed, burned out, or suffering from chronic fatigue?

Download this free ebook:

Stress & Burnout Diet Guide

© 2016 RemedyDiet.info

Burnout resulting from chronic overload can plunge you into

an erosive spiral that undermines energy, confidence, and

even physical health.

Some time back I found myself in a tricky situation, burned

out and unable to get anything done on my PC (I write for a

living). Then the burnout and helplessness plunged me into

stress!

Burnout evokes an experience of loss: from loss of control or

abandoning a cherished goal to a sense of helplessness and

hopelessness. However, wrestling with loss often yields new

possibilities. Managing burnout ultimately comes from

finding new ways of responding to pressures, providing an

outlet for your creative energies, finding other passions

besides your work, even minding your diet.

Resist the

temptation to prop

yourself up with

drugs, or liters of

coffee.

As Mark Gorkin the

original Stress Doc

used to warn,

Practice Safe Stress! Below is his definition of burnout:

The gradual process by which a person, in response to

prolonged stress and physical, mental and emotional

strain, detaches from work and other meaningful

relationships. The result is lowered productivity,

cynicism, confusion...a feeling of being drained, having

nothing more to give.

In one of his writings he cited the story of Bjorn Borg, the

late '70s-early '80-s Swedish tennis great. After winning the

French and Wimbledon championships five years back-to-

back, Borg suddenly burned out and dropped out of the

circuit. Despite his many triumphs and the glamour of this

stellar world, the novelty and thrill were gone. The hours

and hours of repetitive practice was taking a toll.

"When Mastery times Monotony provides an index of

Misery" the Stress Doc recommended to “Fireproof your

life with variety.”

Here are a few genuine reasons why you want to combat

burnout:

Burnout can rob you of the joy you once had in your work.

You don’t want to wake up feeling “Oh, God, another day to

slave away!” What you should be feeling instead every day

that you wake up is, “Great! This day I will make a difference

in my life, and the lives of my loved ones!”

If you fail to implement the strategies in this ebook you need

to understand that you will be letting the other side down –

the other side being your family and friends. Burnout can

reduce you from being in control to being dependent on your

significant others.

Once you learn to master how to manage burnout and stress

you will go from “What happened to me?” to “This is just a

passing phase and all I need is to reshape, recharge, and

reconfigure!”

And if you show to others around you that you are still in

control (your family, friends or co-workers) not only will

you be able to feel better about yourself, they will too. The

other option is to give in to your burnout situation. Nobody

wants to associate with a wreck! (Except perhaps

archaeologists, forensics, and pirates )

Below are some of the Stress Doc’s recommendations for

recovering from burnout:

1. Start by restructuring your current roles and responsibilities. If you are employed in a company/corporation you might consider working in another department or division. Or teaching something else if a teacher, writing in a different genre if a writer, etc.

2. Taking a sabbatical or a holiday (doing some extended travel). Where this is not an option you might consider seriously scaling down your work load and engaging in

more leisure activities, especially hobbies (for example quilting, cycling, hiking, gardening, etc.

3. For the execs and professionals, you might consider consulting independently or working for a foundation, an association, or an institute. If regaining your focus is more important than earning an income you could consider doing volunteer work.

4. Do you have a heartfelt interest you never got the chance to pursue? You may consider pursuing it now.

5. If you have been employed you can consider being self-employed. If self-employed and running on empty, consider joining a company.

6. Take up a previous creative pursuit you once had or even turn it into a new career path. Or you may balance your job with a hobby you are passionate about, for example writing, or playing the guitar, etc.

7. You can also consider pursuing a different professional setting or field, working in a new geographical location or even making a major "out of the career box" transition.

8. Exercise is very important too. Need I say more? Actually I will. Regular aerobic exercise or physical conditioning is so critical. Not only does exercise help you to stay fit, to manage your weight, and to improve your cardio-vascular functioning, it also releases those mood-uplifting endorphins, which are a good antidote to mild feelings of agitation and/or depression. When you are coping with burnout and feelings of helplessness this works great.

Mark Gorkin suggested these activities for burnout rejuvenation and recovery the 4 R’s:

Running, Reading, Retreating, and Writing

The others are fairly obvious for how they could help you, that is, reading, writing and running. This is how retreating helps:

Retreating allows you time for engaging some existential big questions:

What are my skills, gifts, and talents? What are my emotional, knowledge, and learning gaps? What direction(s) and what enterprises really feel like

me?

This allows you to start drawing plans for your life from a blank canvas. As Walt Whitman said, “Follow the open road and discover or recover your soul.”

All these guidelines may sound easy and doable but this is how you may fail to implement them.

1. Not giving yourself enough time to really appreciate your predicament. For example if you are the bread-winner in your family it may sound preposterous that you should “take time off” to recover your mental and physical energies. The solution to this is to consider what would happen if you stopped working altogether and what other alternatives you have for moving on.

Don’t underestimate your capabilities. Find the time to re-think and re-plan your livelihood.

2. Failing to realize that this isn’t all about you. Significant others are involved anytime you burn out. Maybe you are the head of the family. Maybe you have loved ones around you whose needs still need looking after. You may understand why you burned out, but they probably don’t. If you fail to explain to them why you suddenly can’t bring bread to the table, don’t expect them to “read your mind.” Having them on your side (and rooting for you) is critical at this point.

3. Pushing on, regardless: It is all too easy to ignore, or try to ignore, burnout. But the damage you are doing to yourself can take a lot longer to reverse.

Are you stressed at work? Stress can quickly progress into burnout. Download the free ebook for solutions:

Stress & Burnout Diet Guide

The book gives you a list of brain booster foods to keep your brain healthy and strong to counter burnout, as well as practical guidelines to stop stress and prevent burnout.

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