10 Mindful Tips to Help Prevent Burnout in Our DIY Era
“Burnout is what happens when you try to avoid being human for too long.”
DIY everything seems to be the trend these days. With the help of easy-to-use apps, online courses, YouTube videos, and now the help of AI, people have more resources than ever to accomplish what they want on their own, with little or no help from others.
There are many upsides to this empowering and often cost-saving movement. Other than the previously mentioned two, you can save time and not be at the mercy of someone else’s schedule. There is also a sense of pride and satisfaction to be able to accomplish something on your own while learning a new skill in the process.
There is a downside, however, which can be detrimental to our health. Living in the DIY era means the rise of pressure and stress as well. People are expected more than ever to handle many different types of tasks on their own, in a short amount of time. Job descriptions often combine responsibilities that would have been covered under two or three jobs years ago into one. This recent article shows a statistic that 79% of people in the workplace experience burnout at their current job.
Home and personal life are no exceptions. According to this 2020 article by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 66% of households with children are dual income, which means parents have to divide their time and energy between their jobs and taking care of their household and children. It is no wonder everywhere we go, we see stressed out people. This article from Harvard Business Review even suggests that people have come to accept burnout being the norm.
Is this how we really want to live? Is this how we want to be? Is this the quality of life we have worked so hard for?
Burn·out
noun
The reduction of a fuel or substance to nothing through use or combustion.
The failure of an electrical device or component through overheating.
Physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress.
Even though only the third definition applies to the health of our human body, all three definitions translate well to me, because I think of everything in terms of energy — burnout is a depletion of energy. Without an appropriate amount of energy, we feel drained and unable to focus on what's in front of us. We are counterproductive at best.
Can burnout be prevented?
Even if you are facing tremendous pressure from both your job and home situations, there are still mindful ways to prevent burnout. Aside from the usual self-care routines you may have already adopted, such as massages and vacations, having the right mindset is most important before you begin any course of action. Without it, you will likely allow yourself to be vortexed back into the cycle of burnout repeatedly. Here are a few reminders why burnouts are unnecessary and can be prevented:
The hidden costs of burnout are your mental health, physical health, and relationships.
There will be lots of jobs but you only have one body.
No one benefits from a burnout, not even the company you work for.
You are the one in charge of your life and your stress level.
Any small change you make toward wellness creates a ripple effect.
While you can’t control what others ask of you, there is still plenty you can do to help set boundaries and tend to your own needs:
1. Delegate when possible
Quite the opposite of DIY. To delegate is to pass the appropriate tasks off to someone else who is either better at it than you, or is more efficient. An expert delegator knows how to maximize time and effort by putting a better person on the job, and sometimes, that person is someone other than you.
At work, let go of control and trust your team or direct reports to handle the overflows from your task list. You have nothing to gain by proving you can do it all. You will show not only your trust towards them but possibly be giving them an opportunity to learn through experience. This can also encourage collaboration within your department.
At home, instead of trying to do it all to save money, hire a trusted professional to get it done faster and better. Assess what it really means to live within your means — your health and sanity is not as expendable as money in the long run.
2. Take frequent breaks
Set a recurring alarm to take short breaks every day (I have an app that sends me a soothing chime reminding me to take a 3-minute pause every 3 hours). This may not sound like much but through this daily practice, you will begin to disrupt stress and tension and be more accustomed to relaxation.
3. Ask for help
Work up the courage to ask for help. It doesn’t make you look incapable, it makes you look trustworthy. Those who are honest about needing help are confident individuals who are not afraid to admit they don’t know how to do everything. You are also letting other people in by asking for their help. They can’t know you are overwhelmed if you don’t show any signs.
4. Learn to say “no”
Not everything needs your attention or deserves your attention right there and then. You don’t have to jump to everything everyone asks of you. Prioritize and assess what is actually required from you or fits your skills and say “no” to the rest. You can take on more if you have the time and energy to do so; if not, then the task can wait or go to someone else.
5. Set and enforce your limits
This goes hand in hand with saying “no.” It’s helpful to get to know yourself and identify your limits so you know when to best say “no.” Since everyone’s threshold is different, you will need to pay attention to your own and not compare yourself to others. For example, your coworker might seem perfectly okay working 10-hour days or your neighbor is able to juggle a full-time job, cook dinner for her family and run a cookie business on weekends. Don’t let their choices interfere with your needs and your decisions to take care of those needs. Be sure to stand by your wellness needs and verbalize them when necessary.
6. Avoid working long hours in a row
This one may sound a bit redundant after stating numbers 3, 4, and 5, but working long hours actually has a far more serious effect. While pausing daily trains your mind and body to recenter, and saying “no” applies to any excessive and unnecessary demands, working long hours without breaks especially depletes you and should be avoided no matter what. The International Labor Organization released a report that found working long hours, defined as more than 55 hours a week, was responsible for 745,000 deaths from stroke and heart disease in 2016 — a 29% increase since 2000.
Our culture promotes success that’s built on passion and hard work. There are often stories about people who kept two jobs and worked all night just to launch their business. Those stories glorify monetary success but seldom talk about the health costs of working that way.
7. Avoid having to rush or procrastinate
Sometimes, slow and steady is the best way to avoid burnout. A little patience goes a long way in our stressful way of modern life. We’ve become conditioned to expect everything to happen faster, better, and cheaper, and those expectations are killing our mental and physical health.
Ask yourself if there is a good reason to rush through something. What would happen if you paced yourself and finished the task in an easy manner, or asked if the task could wait until tomorrow? Set aside plenty of time to plan, think, and carry out the task without pressure. By giving yourself extra time to finish a job, you allow for room to be creative, look into other resources, and bring in outside help if needed.
8. Don’t make vacations stressful
If you ever came back from a vacation feeling that you need another vacation to recover from it, then you know what I’m talking about. Vacations are meant to be a break from your daily stresses and not to create additional stress. Adding large groups of family and friends, many vacations become another project with tight deadlines and people to have to manage.
So when it’s time to plan your next vacation, remind yourself what you truly want out of your getaway. Simplify as much as possible so you don’t end up more stressed than before you took your vacation. Sleep in if you feel like it and join a tour group so you don’t have to think. Make your next vacation a real vacation.
9. Exercise regularly
You already know exercise is good for your body. You most likely already know that exercise is good for your brain, too. Getting your body moving on a regular basis does wonders for your energy and mood. Exercise is a natural stress-buster that leaves you feeling great all around. Incorporating a healthy exercise routine creates an environment in which burnout is less likely to occur.
10. Join a meditation group
Last but not least, meditation is scientifically proven to reduce stress, help you sleep better, and improve memory and cognitive functions. This ancient practice will serve as a foundation to your overall wellness. As a result, you will feel more calm, self-aware, and make good decisions for your life.
Meditation can be as easy and as difficult as you make it to be. If you’re a beginner or have yet to try meditation, getting started can be as simple as taking three long deep breaths twice a day. Joining a local meditation group, whether virtual or in person, can help support your practice.
While some of us are more prone to burnouts than others, our society has been cultivating increased productivity and decreased attention span for decades now, causing burnouts to become more prevalent than ever. To stop the cycle of grind, burnout, recover and repeat, it’s up to each one of us to be more mindful about our own well-being. If we can see ourselves as more valuable than a cog in a wheel, then perhaps we can prevent ourselves from becoming one.
