Five Ways to Prevent Burnout

Burnout can affect anyone, including athletes, those with ADHD or autism, employees, and students.  Avoiding burnout during academic studies is crucial.  So, take breaks, prioritize self-care, and seek support when necessary.  Burnout is no fun.

I can testify.  I’ve recently overtrained with exercise while working, studying, cleaning, and committing to projects.  I’ve been getting some guidance from ChatGPT lately to figure out how to prevent burnout.  The responses given are okay, but I’m still feeling burnt out.  So, I’ve made five lifestyle changes that have proven incredibly helpful so far in preventing burnout.

Change #1: Take reading and relaxation breaks throughout the day.  I came across a free book on time management for ADHD on Kindle Unlimited, and even though I don’t have ADHD, I found it fun and helpful.  During my five-minute break, I like to lie down and read it.  Another great way to schedule breaks is by using the Pomodoro method.  Remember to choose something relaxing to do during our breaks!

Change #2: Tidy up our study area for a better environment.  Removing unnecessary items can help, according to the book I mentioned, which is called Time Management for Adults with ADHD.  So, remove everything off our desks and only return what we need.  Try giving away, selling, or throwing away the rest.  Cleaning up our space every night can improve our mental well-being.  And help us bypass burnout.

Change #3: Beautify our workspace.  The same book on time management for ADHD said to beautify our workspaces.  I want to display goals and add some nice pictures but avoid plants as they attract bugs.  Whatever we love, place it where we work and study.  It’ll help prevent burnout.

Change 3: Physical activity is crucial, but paying attention to our body’s signals and avoiding crashing is important.  Lately, I’ve been experiencing extreme fatigue following my weightlifting routines due to taking shorter breaks between sets.  Consequently, I’ve taken a few days off and plan to ease myself back into my workouts gradually.  It’s natural to feel tired after exercising, but if we’re completely exhausted, we must rest and recuperate.  It’s important to be fit, but don’t crash and burn.

Change 4: If we feel like a task is too much to handle, don’t worry, there are ways to make it easier.  For instance, I’m working on getting my sales designation and creating a sales course, but I realized I needed help balancing my workload.  So, I decided to build the sales course after the designation.  This way, I won’t feel too stressed out or confused.  Remember, setting realistic deadlines is key to achieving success!

Change 5: Eat more, sleep more, and prioritize.  When we overtrain with exercise or get physically exhausted in other ways, we want to eat and sleep.  That’s because we have no energy for anything else.  But a rule when we’re physically exhausted is to eat more healthy food like fruit, get more sleep, or reduce the physical or mental workload.  Reducing the mental workload doesn’t necessarily mean eliminating tasks.  After all, we might be passionate about all our goals.  It just means focusing on our priorities first.

So, those were five ways to prevent burnout.  Burnout is not something that can completely stop us.  We must take a break and fuel up before continuing on the right track.  Taking two trips instead of one can help, too.  But our ultimate destination is still—and always will be—paradise!