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Have you ever find yourself to this position ? You try to give the best of you everyday , you work hard , you are dedicated , most of the time you are thinking about your tasks and your projects but in the end you feel something’s missing and you don’t get the reward you were expecting . Let’s face it “burnout ” is a phenomenon of the contemporary societies .But how to avoid reaching this point ? Let’s discuss this matter below .

If you happened to feel mental , physical and emotion exhaustion , and you suffer from excessive and prolonged stress , you are probably dealing with burnout .Additionally if you begin to lose the interest and motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place and your productivity and energy has been reduced you are already overworked .But how the steps you have been taking led you to this point so far ?

Normally , when you begin new things or the job of your dreams , even you are a freelancer or not , you are enthusiastic , full of energy and ideas , you see the big picture , that of the recognition of the hard work you are willing to do . You are young and lack of sleep , skipping meals or eating junk food doesn’t affect you , dedication for you is the most important in the road of success even if you have to sacrifice the carefree moments with your beloved ones or the hobbies and activities that you used to enjoy before .

Burnout is a gradual process , if you are able to spot the signs and the ringing bells you may prevent a major breakdown .But to reverse the situation you need to first recognize it and then build your resilience . Balance is the key every time , as the ancient Greek philosophers used to say “Everything in moderation ” . Lately , we are facing a pandemic and many of us are forced to work from home but there are people that were already doing so , and this can even been convenient and flexible or lead you to work in an excess degree without following any program .

However having a program and having a routine are not always synonyms . Following a schedule means to adjust to the needs and demands of each day ,knowing where to stop and where to begin , fulfil your tasks on time ,have some proper rest and taking quality breaks , in addition keeping a schedule on your sleep and meals included .On the other hand routine stands for repeating the same day like nothing changed from the previous one ,following a pattern of behaviour that becomes habitual , doing work in a monotonous and unchallenging way which lack of surprising .

And even if you happened to have one or two random successes amid this condition you may again feel the lack of motivation for your career and by extension for your personal life too . Finding yourself caught in a trap , returning back to the hard work and your old patterns , ending feeling that your effort is unvalued . But how once we are in the deep water we can find the way back ? By changing the frame and reconsidering our strategy .

Images Panagiotis Kadigkos

Let’s see some options we have in order to reverse it

• Re-examine the object of your profession ,maybe it’s not yourself to blame but the nature of your occupation that doesn’t satisfy you anymore ,maybe it’s time to switch field of work
• If you used to love your job try to remember the days that you were” on fire” and thriving, you need to restore that feeling back and the manners you followed
• Write down at least for a week a diary , what time you wake-up ,sleep ,work, eat ,your tasks and deadlines , then examine it thoroughly and spot what doesn’t work in order to discard it
• Be realistic and objective , ask help from your colleagues or closed ones or if it’s possible take a distance and take a look of your manners as an external observer
• Plan new strategies and apply them until you have the one that works better
• Less is more , is a fashion quote but can find its application in many fields , work less hours but focus on specific projects ,by this way you can increase your productivity
• Take some time off , for vacations , your loved ones , let yourself indulge in delights
• Keep a balanced diet and exercise on a weekly schedule , even if you go only for stretching your body will be thankful of it

To sum up , in case that you are dealing with issues like those I’ve just mentioned , motivate yourself to take the steps that can relieve stress and burnout. I am not an expert ; however my article based on observation of people in my environment and the observation of my patterns and forms too . Believe me I used to be the queen of procrastination , even though I knew the solution in issues that I was facing I find it hard to take decisions or force my self to organize and follow schedules . But eventually , I abandoned some of my old habits and replace them with more productive ones . As Rolling Stones sing “old habits die hard ” but once you break them and substitute with more efficient for you , you will never go back .

Hope you ‘ll find it useful , if you have any personal experience on the matter , please share your advices with us .Till next time .

Eleni Kadigkou Xx