Five ways you can manage burnout without quitting your job

Tired of being always on? Learn to recalibrate your work-life balance for a happier you. Photo / 123rf

After a holiday and a New Year reset, many people return to work wondering whether it’s time to quit their job. That might not be possible or preferable, so here are five tips for offsetting burnout without leaving your job, from stress management expert Georgia Vavasour.

1. Manage stress

Managing stress really requires us to put some effort and time into our nervous system and wellbeing. The general sentiment, especially in Aotearoa, is that one should be able to handle it all. But the truth is that we have potentially the highest number of demands upon us and incoming sensory stimulus in a day, with the least amount of support, of all time. It’s like asking a 60G hard drive to download 180G every day – there’s going to be wear and tear on that hard drive.

Stress is the malaise of modern times. But there are some great ways to reduce it.

Meditation is scientifically proven to be one of the most powerful stress relievers. The nervous system is the key to stress release - we accumulate stress and we become habituated to stress chemistry (cue sleep issues). With a small time investment, there’s a massive payoff in terms of the restoration of the nervous system and the extra download space for the brain. If you’ve found it difficult to meditate on your own or haven’t got the results you’ve heard about, I encourage seeking out an expert and investing in being trained. It can make a huge difference.

Other modalities that support the body can be beneficial as well – acupuncture, massage, breathwork, time in nature. The real key is consistency. If you’re feeling burned out, then meditating or getting a massage once a month isn’t going to cut it. Finding a technique that works for you and practising it regularly (every day) throughout the year is one of the best ways to offset burnout, train the body out of “fight or flight” biochemistry and rinse stress out before it can be accumulated.

2. Assess your work-life balance

Are you working most of the time, feeling so stressed or exhausted that you don’t have much energy for your family, or haven’t had any time to yourself? When was the last time you played? Really rested? Did something for yourself? As we enter a new year, it’s a good time to consider how much of our life energy is going into work and whether that’s sustainable, or how we want to be living.

Perhaps you could benefit from letting go a little more, creating boundaries for yourself around phone usage or what time you finish work in the evenings.

That “fight or flight” chemistry we experience when we’re stressed has us feeling that it’s not safe to stop, to rest, to play. It’s worth recognising this and leaning in the direction of consciously making time for the things that fill your cup back up – time alone, time in nature, a walk with a friend in the morning or team sports. We actually operate better at work and in life when we feel good, energised and renewed, so addressing this balance is key.

3. Renegotiate your workload or work hours

It may not be that you need to (or can) leave your job altogether, but perhaps what’s needed is an adjustment at work. Have you been covering the workload of multiple people? Are you finding that the number of hours you’re working to complete the work required of you is causing you to feel burned out? Perhaps you’re starting to feel that reducing your hours would be worth the financial trade-off. It’s worth having a frank discussion with your employer and sharing where you’re at to see what’s possible.

4. Prioritise sleep

Burnout is a result of a nervous system that has been stressed for so long that it’s reached exhaustion point. Naturally, one of the methods for recovery is rest. Switching off work earlier and allowing some wind-down time before bed can help. It’s also important to aim to sleep for those crucial recovery hours between 10pm and 2am and to use the weekends to catch up on rest as you recover. If you’re managing stress through techniques such as meditation, you’ll also find that sleep improves, and in the case of some techniques such as Vedic meditation , you’ll recover faster with the added deep rest.

5. Invest in mentorship or therapy

Feeling supported contributes significantly to our overall wellbeing, and a mentor or therapist can support you in uncovering your own blind spots and navigating the pathway back from burnout.

Georgia Vavasour is a Vedic meditation teacher and conscious mentor. gvmeditation.com