Tips to protecting yourself from burn-out

Trying to have it all? Great job, relationship, home life? Be careful of the cost when it comes to burning out. Author and podcaster Jordan Lee Dooley knows from personal experience and she joined us this morning with tips on protecting yourself.

Dooley says four overlooked Red Flags that you’re heading for physical or mental burnout include:

• You become disinterested in things that once excited you.
• You begin to feel cynical and increasingly negative.
• You feel sluggish during the day but struggle to sleep at night.
• You feel disillusioned and dissatisfied with your work.

She says burnout doesn’t only come from overworking but can also come from grief and significant life events or changes such as moving, or getting a new job. 

“If you have experienced one, or more than one of those things for the last year, or couple of years, because you might be on the verge of burnout,” said Dooley.

Dooley suggests reframing priorities and settings goals so that you can be successful without burning out.

One tip to prevent burnout is to permit yourself to say no to things. Dooley says you can’t have everything all at the same time. She suggests focusing on the right things to say yes to and put all of your energy into.

She also recommends asking for help when trying to achieve your goals and to remember that you don’t have to accomplish everything at once.

“It’s okay to grow slow,” said Dooley. “It is actually good to grow slow, especially in those areas that we have more control over such as our health journeys or our career journeys…you do have time to get to where you want to go, that doesn’t mean slack and doesn’t mean to be lazy, it means give yourself the time it takes and don’t believe the lie that everything is a hustle and a hurry up.”