Earlier this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognised burnout as a legitimate medical diagnosis. It was a breakthrough moment for me. As an entrepreneur who had previously struggled to manage an international business due to stress, burnout and anxiety attacks, I felt validated, and more than that – knew others would start seeking support.
Once, burnout was a colloquial term for being unable to cope in high-stress situations. Now, it’s a recognised medical issue. And since my recovery, I’ve been dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs, businesses and their teams to nurture their mental health and well-being. My organisation, Calmer, provides a whole host of support in dealing with stress and burnout while climbing the career ladder, or building a business. It’s incredibly rewarding to provide a service that I wish had existed when I went through my own mental health challenges.
How to prevent burnout
If you are finding yourself dealing with long periods of stress, or episodes of burnout, Calmer is here to help. Across The Reignite Project, the free course we set up to support anyone to reduce stress and burnout, I provide a number of strategies to put out the fire of burnout in your work and life, and reignite your passions. While there are more than 40 ways to experience stress, there are a few options you can try to lessen the effects of burnout, and learn to prevent it from affecting you in the future.
Here’s five ways you can start supporting yourself, and reignite your passion for life and work:
1. Check in with your mental health on a regular basis
Mental health problems affect 1 in 4 people, and for UK entrepreneurs, over 60% report experiencing stress and burnout. But how many of us take the time to check in with our mental health?
Take some time each day, or every few days, to acknowledge how you feel. If you feel stressed or anxious, see if you can accept that without any self-judgement. After checking in with yourself a few times, see if you can pinpoint where your most common stressors lie. You may find it easier to identify these, and address them accordingly.
2. Set working hours, and stick to them
It is evident that the UK has an increasingly concerning workaholic culture. Yet studies show that the more hours we work, the less productive we are.
Wherever you are on your career path, give yourself clear working hours, as well as clear downtime. This simple action will enable you to work more efficiently, and achieve better results in less time.
If this is difficult to implement within your workplace, you may wish to address your workplace culture through training, or simply start talking about mental health at work, within your team or with your manager.
3. Maintain a healthy lifestyle
Nurturing good mental health is very similar to achieving good physical health. It takes time, training, and a focus on what we eat and drink. Put simply, maintaining a healthy lifestyle can play a key part in achieving good mental health.
When you’re next feeling fuzzy-headed or tired at work, try asking yourself:
- How much water have you had today?
- What food have you eaten today?
- When was the last time you did exercise?
Take some time out to address the problem areas, and you may find you achieve better clarity at work, as well as a more positive approach, and enhanced creativity.
4. Join ‘The Reignite Project’ for free
If you’re looking to beat burnout once and for all, I recommend creating your own personalised burnout prevention strategy. It’s the core aim of The Reignite Project, the free 10-week course we created for Calmer. The aim of the project is to support 600,000 professionals in preventing burnout – that’s 10% of all small businesses and freelancers in the UK.
If you work alone, you can follow the entrepreneur course, and if you’re in a team environment, invite everyone to take the business team course. We hope to support you in nurturing a happy mind and a happy business.
Tania Diggory is the founder and director of Calmer, and author of This is Calmer.
