Holding a leadership role in any industry is hard work. You are responsible for different people with various tasks and then on top of that, your daily responsibilities. When striving to create a great work environment as a leader, it can be easy to fall into burnout. Here are some signs and ways to avoid burnout as a leader.
Leaders Feel The Weight
Everyone can experience the weight that comes along with the stress of a job. When you begin to feel as if you can never catch up, don’t feel motivated or inspired, and need more than a typical weekend to recover, you probably are experiencing burnout. When a leader works a schedule that does not allow for adequate recovery time, there will be burnout. Leaders often treat themselves as a machine that doesn’t require maintenance. They do not know when to take care of their mental health in a way that will lower the chances of burnout. Leaders need to understand what is the cause of their burnout and work to reduce these stressors or learn how to manage them properly.
Ways To Avoid It
- Protect Who You Are
Many leaders get caught up in the day to day needs of their job so much so that when they get home, they can’t even think about anything else. One way to combat this problem is to ensure that you are spending time on yourself. When experiencing burnout it is easy to forget why you liked your job, or anything else, to begin with. Take the time to dive back into your interests. Join an intramural team or practice guitar again to ensure that you are carving out time for yourself. Rediscover what makes you happy and what is a motivating factor for you. Without a good sense of your self-identity, it can become extremely easy to fall into patterns of negativity as a result of stress, which in turn could begin to impact your team and other colleagues. Protecting your sense of self is imperative to avoiding burnout because it can preserve your confidence and improve your overall mood.
- Take Time For Wellness
A significant factor for our wellbeing is our wellness. Physical and mental health is imperative to improving your outlook and preventing burnout. It is easy to fall into unhealthy patterns, but it is essential to make an effort and take the time to exercise and eat well. These two things will not only help improve your physical health but will also boost your mental health. Another big part of this is sleep patterns. In today’s digital world it can be challenging to unplug at the appropriate time to ensure that you get the best sleep. Instead of reading your timeline before bed stick to reading a book, listening to music, or meditating to properly wind down, slow your thoughts and anxieties that are residual from the day. Getting a good night’s rest, and keeping up with your diet and exercise, will improve your state of mind and help to create a better working environment for you and your coworkers.