It’s no secret that running a business takes its toll – it can be demanding, exhausting, and sometimes feel like an uphill battle.
A long day with your team leaves you feeling proud of what you’ve achieved and fulfilled about your job, but it can also be draining.
What is Burnout?
Burnout is a state of physical, emotional or mental collapse caused by long-term stress.
It’s more than just feeling tired and fed up. Burnout occurs when you’ve been consistently exposed to difficult working conditions for an extended time. You’re doing tasks beyond what’s reasonable because you feel like you have to. Perhaps the most significant risk factor is that you don’t even recognize when you’ve burnt yourself out.
This is why burnout is such a common problem among entrepreneurs, business leaders and startup founders.
It’s down to you as the business leader to take care of yourself and your team in a sustainable way. You need to recognize and avoid these pitfalls before they overwhelm you.
How Can You Cope With Burnout?
Here are some tips, tricks and habits that can help you cope with this tricky condition:
1) Take Regular Breaks: As a business leader, you might think that the only way to manage your time is to work harder and for longer. You feel that taking breaks will just slow you down. While this can sometimes be true, it’s usually more productive in the long run to take regular breaks during the day or week.
2) Check Your Diet: Your body needs fuel to keep going and working at peak capacity each day. While it’s easy to focus on coffee and other drinks that will perk you up in the short term, it’s your diet that provides energy for the long haul. Make sure you eat well and stay hydrated throughout the day. It will improve how you feel even if it doesn’t seem like it at first.
3) Exercise: Your work can take over your life if you don’t schedule some time to exercise. Remember, you are responsible for taking care of yourself and your employees. The best way to do this is by having a healthy body.
4) Leave Work at Work: It’s easy to bring work home with you but resist that temptation as much as you can. Make sure you leave whenever it’s time to leave and give yourself a break.
5) Have Fun: It’s important to enjoy what you’re doing and not become so driven by success that you forget about why you do what you do in the first place. By having fun with your colleagues and team members, not only will they enjoy themselves more too – this will help them perform better, and it will help you as well.
As a business leader, you need to find the right balance between work and life. If you’re under pressure or stressed out, you must recognize this before burnout takes hold of you. And when it does become a problem, take the necessary steps to tackle it head-on.
