Who’s had job burnout before? Ever hit complete rock bottom in complete physical and mental exhaustion? I have recently. See my scary story a few paragraphs below…

This industry has a lot of the competitive, ‘overachiever’ types (** raising my hand now **). This post is for you/us. This is also for the folks who are just plain workin’ really, really hard to make ends meet. This post is about just keeping yourself afloat while churning your engine. To be at our best at work we cannot ignore our non-work self. Here are three things to prevent burnout, and strengthen yourself through mind and action.

MENTAL: REALIZE YOUR CHOICE, AND WHAT GOES WITH IT

If your normal week is 45 hours, you choose to accept doing 70. Business may be demanding your increased output and productivity, and sure, you may put in those extra hours when needed. But don’t let it control you. Moreover, don’t let it dehumanize you. It’s one thing to be a hard-working professional. It’s another to not feel like you anymore; to feel like you’re just a robot. Or worse: what if it really sinks in that you’re feeling like you’re not a good wife, husband, or parent anymore? Stay in control and empowered throughout. Because, you do have a choice.

And remember: when you give extra, you sacrifice somewhere else. Your job and your business might be satisfied, but is your partner? Are your kids? Are you and your overall health? Is that enough for you to change? It’s very easy to forget about all your priorities when in the moment, we naturally concentrate on what work needs to get done instead of what will be affected to get that work done. Acknowledge it, make a calculated decision, and set limitations so you can complete your goal and then rebalance. If you’re working harder than you’d like to make ends meet for your family – and you feel like you don’t have a choice – you are, in fact, being a strong parent, partner and provider. Despite being pushed and stretched, you are staying empowered.

MENTAL & PHYSICAL: LISTEN TO YOUR INTUITION & YOUR BODY, AND DON’T IGNORE

If your body – through weight gain, headaches, crying spells, increased alcohol, high blood pressure, etc. – is telling you it’s time to recharge, don’t be stubborn and ignore it. (I am frequently guilty of this). When your car’s gas light illuminates, you refill your car before it stalls-out, right? It’s not the norm to stall on the interstate.

Quick & scary story about hitting rock bottom: I have a lot on my plate (much of which is my choice). I’m a business owner; I work in the stressful recruiting industry; I’m a new, sleep-deprived parent to our 7-month old and a husband and co-parent to a wife who’s working harder than me; my roof needs replacing and my house has 300 holes in its siding after a hail storm; and the inside of our house looks like a junk yard. (Yet still I feel fortunate, as I realize that having a roof over my head is more than many have right now). But alas, a few weeks ago, I was so stressed and sleep-deprived that I violently fell down our entire 2nd floor stairs. I was walking around in an emotional and physical daze, and slipped and lost my grip on the railing. I’m talking about complete feet-over-head, shoulders smashing the railing, tumbling to a floor-smacking thud (ask my wife how loud it was). It was at that moment when I realized that I should have been working less and taking better care of my self 2-3 phases earlier, as to never get to that point in the first place. I sat up after coming-to for a couple minutes, realizing that I could have been paralyzed, or perhaps suffered a traumatic brain injury that would have made me a much different person for the rest of my life.

Since that moment, I’ve thanked my lucky stars and adjusted things. I’ve experimented with a new approaches to ‘working smarter not harder’ and yes, I have scaled back my work hours. I still work a lot, and perhaps I miss a new piece of business here and there. But guess what? I’d miss a lot more if I were in the hospital, or going through a family separation because of me being a workaholic. Lesson learned . . . by way of the stairs. I should have listened to my body; burned a day off to rest; not logged-in and worked after we put our daughter down for her first leg of sleep. Don’t get me wrong; I’m very competitive and want to be the best recruiter out there. But I also want to be the best father, husband and human being I can be. And if that means that at the present moment I need to accept giving my career 100% instead of my usual overachieving 110% (or even just 95-99% right now – gasp!) . . . holistically, I’m still batting 1000. I’m prioritizing. If you feel like you could stand a prioritizing ‘refresh’ in your life, step back and look at everything, hit the reset button, and have at it. Cut out TV or Facebook for a week…it’s GREAT!

MENTAL & PHYSICAL: CRAVE THE JOY CHEMICALS

Without exceptions or excuses, make time for small-scale joy a few times a week. Of course you can’t always take off on vacation. But you can go for a 2-mile run, sing in choir (or just belt-out in the car), re-read Harry Potter for 20 minutes, meditate, take a soothing shower, cuddle with your pet, go to your place of worship, hit the batting cages on the drive home, extend a friendly gesture to a stranger, be with your partner, whatever floats your boat. All that stuff produces oxytocin, endorphins and/or serotonin, and you will feel better. It will get you through the stress. It needs to happen…no exceptions.

Remember, you’re not just your profession (or whatever you focus much of your time). You are a human being with different sides to you, special talents, certain passions and various responsibilities. With so much occurring around us that’s difficult to control, let’s at least take control of ourselves however we can.

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