Burnout Symptoms: How to Recognize Job Burnout and Take Action

Let’s be honest for a moment. Running a business is tough! And sometimes so is recognizing and addressing burnout symptoms.

You have the day-to-day running of your business to keep up with along with the needs of your customers and your employees. And then, after work, you have your home life and the relationships with your family members that you have to tend to.

As a consequence, your to-do lists might be longer than you would like. You might be forced to work overtime on a regular basis. And you might be suffering from work-related stress and emotional exhaustion.

Business burnout is an all-too-common problem amongst entrepreneurs who, quite simply, suffer. Work-life doesn’t pause at 5 pm and wait to start back up at 8 am the following day. Workplace stress is a 24/7 problem and can lead to mental health issues and other health problems.

For the benefit of the long-term health of you, your business, and your family, you need to find ways to protect yourself from experiencing burnout. Here are three tips to help.

#1: Know the signs and physical symptoms of burnout

Recognizing burnout symptoms can sometimes be difficult, but if you’re experiencing any of the symptoms below, you might be close.

You feel physically and mentally exhausted on a regular basis.
You become ill-tempered towards yourself, your employees, your family, and the other people in your life.
Your performance drops because of your tired state.
You struggle to sleep at night, perhaps because of stress and thoughts about your business.
You experience the negative health effects of burnout on both a physical and a mental level.

Step one is realizing the signs and symptoms of job burnout. Once you’re aware, you can start to be proactive with changes to your life and work environment.

#2: Make changes to put a stop to burnout symptoms

You will continue suffering from burnout if changes aren’t made. Therefore, think about what you can do to make life easier – especially at work.

You could outsource some of your most time-consuming tasks, such as those pertaining to your accounts, payroll management, and marketing.
Consider delegating some of your responsibilities to those staff members who have the time and ability to take them on.
Take steps to avoid those common time-wasters in business, as this way, you would be more productive during the day, and have little need to consider overtime.
Embrace the power of saying ‘no’. After all, you probably don’t need to attend every meeting in town or take on every project that comes your way, even if you are tempted to do so. Your health does need to come first. Saying ‘no’ is one of the hardest lessons we have to learn as entrepreneurs, but it’s arguably one of the most important.
You could automate some of your business duties. You will spend less time getting caught up in manual processes, and you will have more time to get through your to-do lists.

So, do you need to make such changes within your business? Even if you aren’t dealing with burnout syndrome now, you might still follow the steps above to prevent any chronic stress and other health conditions in the future.

#3: Live a healthier lifestyle

The healthier you are, the less prone to burnout you will be. So…

Make every effort to sleep well. After following the steps in the last point, you might be in a better position to do so.
Unplug often. It’s a challenge to shut the laptop or turn off the phone, but giving yourself a mental break from technology on a regular basis will significantly help you achieve a better work/life balance.
Exercise regularly. The fitter you are, the healthier you will be. And with a healthier mind and body, you might be able to get a perspective on your stresses and work more productively.
Eat well. A diet of caffeine and sugar isn’t going to do much for your energy levels, so stick to healthy options when going through your working day. You will feel better if you do, and your performance at work should rise.

If you’ve noticed signs of burnout over a long time or if it’s something new you’re struggling with. You need to consider making changes to your daily routines to improve your overall well-being.

Stress and burnout are common with highly driven and motivated individuals. We don’t know when to turn off and not work. But one thing we can recognize is our energy levels and the quality of our work. Being proactive with recognizing and addressing burnout symptoms isn’t just self-care. It’s also self-care for your business. You want to be the best you can be at work and at home.