After hiring Black Tie Moving for your upcoming move, you start to feel overwhelmed with the pile of work sitting next to you. Stress from work is something that we’ve all experienced. The good news is that there are ways to help prevent some of this exhaustion and stress from work.
Here are 4 tips to avoid workplace burnout.
Take a Break
If you don’t take regular breaks while you’re on the clock, then you are setting yourself up to get workplace burnout. Research continues to show us that regular breaks increase our mood, focus, and productivity. It’s all too easy for us to fatigue ourselves from overworking.
If you find it challenging to step away from the screen, there are some tips you can do to help ensure you’re giving yourself a break from time to time. Here are just a few:
- Set an alarm every 3 hours to remind you to step away from work for 5-10 minutes.
- Put sticky notes in your office that remind you to take a few deep breaths every time you look at them.
- Wear a smartwatch, like a FitBit, that reminds you to get up and walk each hour.
Use Your PTO
Are you someone who lets your PTO run over into the next year? If so, it’s time to reevaluate this. Taking time away from work is incredibly beneficial to our mental and physical health. After all, we weren’t designed to sit at a desk for the majority of our life. We are meant to explore and enjoy life to its fullest.
Scheduling vacations or time away from work is a key component to avoiding workplace burnout. Studies have shown that a vacation helps to relieve stress. The positive impact vacations have on our overall mental health acts as a protective barrier from experiencing exhaustion with your work. Bottom line: use your PTO.
Healthy Work-Life Balance
What good is a job if you neglect what happens outside of work? A work-life balance is essential if you want to not get burned out with what you’re doing. Oftentimes, people don’t even realize that they are prioritizing their work over their personal life until they start to notice the negative consequences. You don’t want to let it get to this point if you can help it.
Harvard Business Review describes work-life balance as a cycle composed of 5 steps:
1. Pause and demoralize.
2. Pay attention to emotions.
3. Reprioritize.
4. Consider alternatives.
5. Implement change.
Set Boundaries
Boundaries are important for any relationship, and this includes the relationship with yourself. Without respecting and designing boundaries at work, you set yourself up to potentially be taken advantage of or not prioritizing your mental health. Consider what boundaries you have in place and if they’re currently working for you.
We could all benefit from evaluating our boundaries and their effectiveness. If you notice that you’re starting to experience burnout at work, it wouldn’t be surprising if you’ve let go of some boundaries. It’s never too late to set new boundaries or enforce old ones.