Suffering from burnout? Learn how entrepreneur, Abigail Horne, dealt with burnout after the birth of her first child.
Abigail took a year out of her business to help her recover and reflect. She comments:
“The raw truth of being a working mum is that it isn’t a journey of sunshine and storms. It’s true that success is never a straight road. We all have our own trials and tribulations, lessons and blessings, successes and failures, that all lead to who you are today.”
With the apparent need to be on the go 24/7 and to be constantly online, burnout can start with feelings of exhaustion, loss of motivation or anxiety about your life. This can often culminate with you losing sleep or finding decision making impossible to do.
Burnout is on the rise in the general workforce population. The factors for this range from increased screen time, long hours of work, little personal interaction and loss of meaning in professional life.
Here are some of Abigail’s tips which help her and may help you avoid burnout:
Take Responsibility & Ownership For How You Feel
When you are feeling overwhelmed, or uninspired, it is easy to shut down, and feel paralysed to take any kind of action. This leads us to being hard on ourselves. When you feel this starting to happen, you need to take a step back.
Are the factors that are causing these feelings avoidable? Can you cut down the seemingly endless list of tasks for today, and do them tomorrow, or next week? Are you putting too much pressure on yourself?
Identifying the daily and weekly triggers can help you avoid full-blown burnout. To identify these stress triggers, note down when stress arises and the tasks you’re doing at that specific moment.
The reality is that there is often no-one to tell you it’s okay to take a break. YOU need to be the one to take responsibility for your health and take a break when you need one.
Make Time For Yourself
It’s easier said than done, but to help avoid burnout, you need to make time for yourself.
With technological developments, it can sometimes feel like you’re switched on all the time. To help, schedule designated time for you to relax, read a book, or spend time with your family. Even if it’s an hour a day, it will help put perspective into your life.
Making time for exercise is proven to be one of the best ways to battle burnout. Scientists have proven that regular activity works to decrease levels of tension, elevate and stabilise mood, improve self-esteem, and improve sleep.
Go Back To The Start – The Why
One thing we all have in common, whatever career path we find ourselves on, is that we all start with a vision, a purpose and a passion.
I know from my own entrepreneurial journey and business success, that I often push myself to overcome obstacles. I work long hours and justify busy schedules in order to see the BIG vision become reality.
To help avoid burnout, it is important to keep your big vision/dream in the front of your mind. Reminding yourself why you are doing what you are doing can help avoid burnout.
Try and rekindle the spark inside that burnout is trying to put out – come back to the why.
Think About What You Can EXCHANGE
I exchanged watching the soaps (that always seemed so drama and anxiety filled) and instead watched motivational trainings and YouTube videos.
Reading gossip magazines was replaced with self-help books. And I began to make small steps forward with positive changes.
I exchanged absorbing the energy of those who drained me, for those who were crazy enough to believe that as humans, we can achieve anything.
I started to feel like the younger me again, that version of myself before the world told me that I couldn’t, shouldn’t and won’t.
Meditation
Finally, for me, meditation has been life-changing. It can be beneficial in many aspects of life, and anything from 60 seconds to 10 minutes can transform your mindset and ignite your spark and creativity.
You are more productive coming from a calm, relaxed mind and you need to remind yourself that self-care and love needs to be a priority.
It is important we are all aware of the danger of burnout to save ourselves and help each other.
Bio
Abigail Horne is an award-winning entrepreneur, best-selling author and multiple 6 figure business owner.
