If you've ever experienced prolonged periods of feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and exhausted, you're not alone. Burnout is a common issue that can affect anyone, from students and teachers to employees, entrepreneurs, and executives. Focusing on occupational burnout, let's examine what it means to experience burnout and some effective coping strategies to overcome it.   

Read to the end for an inside look at the emotional journey of our next Flourish+ Talks speaker, Dr. Susan Biali Haas, who has championed burnout after facing a critical moment with her mental health.  

How to Know if You’re Experiencing Burnout 

Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress. *It can affect your work, relationships, and overall quality of life and can lead to a range of symptoms, including:  

• Fatigue  
• Insomnia  
• Irritability  
• Anxiety  
• Depression  

Burnout is not only about managing a stressful job. It also concerns how your job is carried out and impacts your lifestyle and sense of self. Many factors can contribute to burnout, including:  

• A heavy workload  
• Long hours  
• A lack of control over your work  
• Poor work-life balance  
• A lack of social support  

If you're feeling any of the above symptoms, along with an overall sense of dread towards your work and an extended sense of stress that isn't tied to one specific goal, then you may be experiencing occupational burnout.  

Strategies for Overcoming Burnout  

Although burnout can feel overwhelming, frustrating, and hopeless, it is not permanent. There are many ways to recharge and overcome it. Practicing these simple yet effective strategies will help you restore your energy and help you maintain a balanced lifestyle to avoid getting burnt out again.  

Take a Break

When everything becomes too much, sometimes you need to take a step back and give yourself the break you need.  

Practice Self-Care

Acts of self-care are essential for preventing and overcoming burnout. These include getting enough sleep, nutrition, and regular exercise. Self-care also includes making time for the things that bring you joy, whether reading a book, listening to music, or spending time with friends and family.  

Set Boundaries

Figuring out your workload's boundaries is crucial to maintaining a sustainable work-life balance. Learning to set boundaries, saying no to things that don't align with your priorities, and asking for help when needed can relieve overwhelming feelings and create more opportunities for breaks and self-care.  

Seek Support

Don't be afraid to reach out to family, friends, or a mental health professional for support. Talking to someone about your feelings can help you feel less alone and provide valuable insight, resources, and advice.  

By taking these steps, you can overcome burnout and feel more energized, productive, and fulfilled in your work and personal life. Remember, burnout is a common problem, but not a permanent one. With the right strategies and support, you can overcome burnout and thrive!  

Creating a Positive Work Environment  

Individual strategies are great, but creating a positive work environment is also essential for creating an efficient and energized team of employees. If you're in a leadership role at your work, here are some ways you can improve your workplace atmosphere and help your employees overcome and prevent burnout:  

Provide Support

Employees across every field need support to prevent and overcome burnout. Support can include ensuring access to mental health services, professional development opportunities, and peer support networks.  

Reduce Workload

Reducing workloads through streamlining administrative tasks, providing adequate planning time, and limiting extracurricular responsibilities can all contribute to more efficient work and an improved work-life balance for employees.  

Encourage Self-Care

Self-care is essential for preventing and overcoming burnout. It's important to encourage and support employees to engage in self-care practices that will help improve and maintain their well-being. These practices include taking breaks, especially to rest, eat and exercise.  

Foster a Positive Work Environment

A positive work environment can help prevent burnout by promoting teamwork, collaboration, and open communication. Encourage a culture of support, recognition, and appreciation for the daily hard work that employees do.  

Supporting the well-being of those around you is vital to ensuring that we all flourish and thrive together. Teachers Life's new Member benefits program, Flourish+, is our initiative to go beyond the ordinary and provide newly enhanced, meaningful, complimentary healthy living benefits, rebates, awards, and give back for mental health. Flourish+ Talks is just one of our many Member benefits, focused on well-being for life.  

Exclusive Insight from Dr. Susan Biali Haas  

Ready to feel inspired? We’re bringing the incredible stories from Canadian mental health keynote speakers to the stage through our new virtual wellness speaking events. These quarter-annual Ted-X style talks allow our Members to come together as a community as we create conversation and a sense of empowerment for our Members around the topic of mental health. Our first virtual talk event featured Humboldt Bronco crash survivor, Tyler Smith, who created a meaningful impact.

Sign up today for our next event on preventing burnout, featuring Dr. Susan Biali Haas on May 30^th, 2024, at 4:00 – 5:00 pm EST! 

*Disclaimer: The information in this article is not professional clinical or medical advice. Please talk to your doctor if you are experiencing critical mental or physical health issues or call 911 if you are in immediate crisis.