Managing work/life balance after experiencing burnout
Strategies to avoid falling back into the pitfall that got you into that mess in the first place
Burnout is a common experience amongst many high-performing professionals who are motivated by purpose, mission, professional progress, financial progress and many other drivers. It’s only once you experience burnout and its detrimental effects on your health and wellbeing that you realise, not only is it a slippery slope back into that grey dreary pit of frustration, anxiety and exhaustion, but that it can end up costing you diversity of experience in your life.
Hear me out on this.
One of the reasons I experienced burnout, was my loss of social commitments due to COVID-19 that would have otherwise occupied my personal time outside of work. In a regular pre-COVID-19 world, some of my personal time would have been occupied with social catch-ups ranging from weekend brunches to weeknight dinners with friends and family that would have prevented my inner workaholic from over-committing at work. Once social distancing and lockdown laws came into effect, those commitments either ceased or became much less frequent. Being the type-A overachiever that I am, I saw absolutely nothing wrong with committing to 1000000000 (ok maybe a few less) projects at work despite not having sufficient hours in the day to work, sleep and eat.
I’ve since finished up those projects, taken some time off work, done a bucket-load of reflecting and am determined to change my mindset and habit systems that led me down that dark road to burnout. If you’d like to read about what I’m doing at work to ensure I’m productive, but reasonable in my commitments, check this out. Keep reading below for some ideas to manage your life outside of work to maintain diversity in what occupies your time.
Be fiercely protective of your personal time
My personal time, now starts at 6pm at least four days per week; I give myself a one-day grace in case something urgent comes up, however, I draw a line there. Before, it was a wishy-washy, ‘6:30pm-ish-but-could-be-midnight-if-you-really-need-me-to-finish-that-report’. If you can draw a hard line in the sand (or your diary) to mark the end of your work day, you’ve won half the battle, now use that to inform the workload and the deadlines that you commit to.
Actively estimate how long it will take you to finish tasks, put your head down and work intensely to get them done in that time, and, flag early if you realise you overestimated your speed. This should buy you a bit more time in the week to get your work done. If, however, you’re finding consistent unmovable deadlines that eat into your personal time, it might be time for a change of scenery (well, workplace).
Book personal time into your diary wherever possible. I like to schedule chunks of time after 6pm for yoga, reading, blogging, and catching up with friends and family. This makes these commitments as serious as my work meetings and if I find myself moving them too many times, I use this as a red flag that indicates I’m overdoing it.
Remember, your personal time is sacred and should be defended. It is the time that allows you to rest and recover so that you can perform at your best the next day. Sacrificing this consistently, is like expecting to drive a car forever, without ever stopping to fill up the tank, take a powernap or a bathroom break…it’ll end in tears one way or another.
Create other priorities outside of work
What else would you like to accomplish aside from fabulous client feedback on your last project? What about finishing an online course? Or starting a side hustle? Or blogging on Medium?
I learnt that my idea of success and accomplishment could not rest solely on my achievements at work. So many of the outcomes we expect at work (e.g. promotions, pay rises, bonuses) are dependent on factors outside of our performance and control (e.g. business profitability) and external factors (say, a global pandemic) can easily sway these outcomes despite our ongoing efforts to climb the next rung of the ladder.
Having other priorities outside of work softens these blows and allows you to put these experiences in perspective. Missing out on a pay rise or a promotion when you have an exciting side hustle, interesting course or upcoming social event won’t sound like the end of the world, and instead, might help you build the resilience to try again.
Nurture your relationships outside of work
I can’t stress this enough. Put in the effort. Call your friends, make dinner reservations, and organise that zoom board games session if you’re still in lockdown. Missing social connections because I was overwhelmed with work was a double whammy. Not only was I exhausted, overworked and frustrated, I also didn’t make the time to vent about this to my friends and family, nor did I make the time to listen to them about how they were going during this tough time. This in turn, meant I didn’t have an opportunity to get out of my own head.
Sounds exhausting doesn’t it?
Having strong relationships outside of work is another way to diversify your life, if you’re having a tough time with a manager or peer at work, it won’t feel like the sky is falling if you can vent about it to a friend and come up with a coping strategy.
I like to tell myself that my employer can replace me in a week should I step out into the path of a bus, my friends and family, however, couldn’t, and that’s where my priorities lie during my non-working hours.
Build back those healthy habits that were let go
If you’ve ever experienced burnout, have a think about what happened to your diet, exercise and other well-being related habits. For me, I found myself becoming tempted by multiple food-deliveries every week, not exercising and not meditating/journaling/doing anything nice for myself in months.
All of these habits are integral to building up your resilience for when sh*t hits the fan. Compromising on these habits and developing unhealthy ones means you’ll be in far worse shape (physically and psychologically) to deal with those challenges when they arise. Do it for yourself, as cringe-y as that sounds. Go on and prepare that healthy lunch the night before and commit to going for that run.
One of the best pieces of advice I was ever given was ‘you build a rod for your own back’. This loosely translates to ‘you are responsible for setting appropriate boundaries for your work and personal life, and if you’re struggling to do this, it’s time to shake things up or pay the price by experiencing severe burnout or worse’.
Please note, this article is for educational and awareness purposes only and does not replace advice from a registered medical practitioner.
Eresha is a health and wellbeing consultant who is passionate about professional development and improvement. She recognises the inter-relatedness of self-improvement and wellbeing and is constantly looking for new ways to save time, learn, develop, and improve her overall health, wellbeing, and quality of life.
Eresha also offers 1-on-1 virtual professional development coaching for early career professionals, enquire by emailing Eresha.Abenayake@chiefexecutivegirls.com.au
The views expressed in this article are my own and do not reflect any organisation for which I work or volunteer.
You can find more professional development inspiration from Eresha on Instagram (@chief_executive_girls).
