Burnout Buster: 10 Strategies to Revitalize Your Work Life

The pandemic catapulted work-from-home, challenges of work-life boundaries, labor shortages, heavy workloads, job insecurity, higher costs, high level of pressure, zoom fatigue, uncertainty, stress, isolation, and burnout. Implement these burnout busters: 10 strategies to revitalize your work life.  These strategies can improve employee well-being, engagement, and productivity and decrease the risks of psychological or medical conditions. 

What is Burnout?

It is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon caused by an individual (mindset, coping, values, personality traits) and organizational factors (workload, support, lack of recognition). Burnout is on the map!  It has been recognized by World Health Organization (WHO) as a work-related issue. Also, it was included in the International Classification of Disease (ICD) as an occupational phenomenon. ICD defines occupational burnout as psychological stress “characterized by exhaustion, lack of enthusiasm and motivation, feelings of ineffectiveness, and also may have the dimension of frustration or cynicism, and as a result, reduced efficacy within the workplace.”

Burnout Buster: 10 Strategies to Revitalize Your Work Life

1. Time Management

  • Create to-do lists.
  • Prioritize and manage essential tasks first.
  • Estimate and allocate time blocks in the schedule for each task.
  • Break down large tasks into smaller action steps.
  • Eliminate multitasking and focus on one task at a time.
  • Remove distractions from the workspace.

2. Stress Management

  • Locate and address the source of your stress.
  • Practice mindfulness or relaxation techniques: observe your breath, meditate, guided imagery, progressive muscle relaxation, stretch, yoga, tai chi, etc.
  • Exercise: break a sweat, take a forest bath, and walk in the woods.
  • Eat balanced and nutritious meals.
  • Laughter: humor and laughter defuse tension and reduce stress.
  • Sleep adequately.
  • Schedule pleasurable events, and take a mini or standard vacation.
  • Lean into social support.
  • Engage in extracurricular activities and hobbies.

3. Taking Breaks

  • Schedule breaks to refuel and recharge.

4. Setting Boundaries

  • Set boundaries and say “no” at times.

5. Delegating Tasks

  • Delegate lower-priority tasks.

6. Building or Attending a Wellness Program

  • Mindfulness-based stress reduction program. 

7. Cultivating a Sense of Meaning and Purpose with Your Employees

  • Connect work to a larger mission or goal.
  • Align value-congruent goals.
  • Build mastery, meaning, and purpose.
  • Seek out opportunities for growth and development. 

8. Building Connections

  • Developing relationships with colleagues build a sense of camaraderie. 
  • Team building activities.
  • Establish digital coworking.
  • Virtual collaboration and relationship building.

9. Recognizing Employee Contributions

  • Acknowledge, value, and reward employee contributions.

10. Gathering Metrics

  • Surveys and Focus-groups to inquire about and address work remote challenges.

Conclusion

Implement burnout buster: 10 strategies to revitalize your work life. These burnout busters include time management, stress management, taking breaks, setting boundaries, delegating tasks, building wellness and resilience programs, gathering metrics, cultivating meaning, purpose, and connections, and recognizing employee contributions. These strategies can improve employee well-being, engagement, and productivity and decrease the risks of psychological or medical conditions.  

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Recommended Reading 

A Two-Minute Burnout Check-up by Chris Bailey 

Inc.com ‘Harvard Researchers Show the Best Way to Beat Burnout. It’s Even Better Than Vacation’ by Kelly Main

Inc.com ‘If You Want to Fix Burnout, You First Have to Understand Its 6 Main Causes’ by Jessica Stillman.

 

Meet Jodie, your Culture & Transformation Captain. With over twenty years helping people change, facilitating team discussions, building cultures, designing, implementing and teaching classes, your organization is in good hands.