Keeping Burn Out at Bay

Whether you are an entrepreneur or working within the traditional job market, burn out is a dangerous state to slide into.  I had a friend recently ask me what do I do when I feel myself approaching that edge, the cusp of feeling burned out.  I had a laundry list of things that I told him, and I thought I would share several:

Take a Break

Usually, when I’m starting to feel too tightly wound and on edge, it’s because I am insanely busy.  I feel that I cannot take a break because I have too much that needs to be done, but I know I need it.  The only way to force myself to take a break, is to schedule it. It may be a 1 hour break or 1 day, but I have to pencil it in.  When I put it on my calendar, I magically find a way to work around it because I treat it like any other appointment.  If I need a day or two, I schedule it at the end and/or beginning of a week so that it becomes a 3-4 day weekend.

Laugh

Laughter is great medicine and good for the soul.  As silly as it may sound, I will randomly start laughing.  At first it’s a bit forced, but after a while it becomes real as I realize how silly I must look. I even get a kick out of thinking how I would look and what the reaction would be if I did the same thing at a former job, or at a restaurant, or the grocery store…you get the picture.  If I cannot succeed at making myself laugh, I head over to good ‘ole YouTube and watch a video from one of my channel subscriptions. There are a ton of comedic channels and I’m subscribed to a few for this purpose.

Dance Like No One is Watching

I love music and I love to dance. I’m not a very good singer and I’m a terrible dancer (but I have rhythm).  I listen to music while I work, and sometimes I get up out of my seat and dance like crazy. The dance usually migrates throughout the house and occasionally I pick up a set of dumb bells for an exercise boost. The only person watching, is not actually a person, but my dog.  I think he enjoys these sporadic moments although I am sure he is convinced that I am nuts.  After all, on any given work day I am laughing like a crazy person by myself and and dancing aerobics-style all around the house.  I would think I was nuts too.

Exercise

I took up running a few years ago and while I am not the fastest or best runner; I find it a great way to take a break and clear my mind.  I run outdoors (which my chiropractor hates), because the treadmill bores me.  I like to see scenery passing by plus, I am not quite coordinated enough to stay square on the treadmill.  Running also does not take a lot of time from my workday.  I have distances mapped from my front door and back. I run, come back, check my email and then hop in the shower.  Sometimes the shower is delayed if there is something pressing I need to attend to.  Now that it has gotten a bit too cold for me to run, I have been doing some weight training with some dancing mixed in between sets at home.

There are a few more things that I told him, but these four are the main ones in my arsenal. What should be in my arsenal is to slow down in general, but I’m too much of a busy body and I have too many goals, ideas and plans to execute to do that!  What are some of the ways you stave off burn out?