We’re here for episode 32. Burnout. Depending on how you’re feeling about your business when you listen to this, this topic can resonate in a few different ways.
Either you’ll feel validated and it will resonate. Or it won’t necessarily apply now but you’ll have the beneficial information to help you through if you do experience signs of burnout down the road.
Burnout by definition is a syndrome resulting from chronic work-related stress. It’s characterized in three ways:
- Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion
- Increased mental distance from your work and
- Feelings of negativity or cynicism related to your business.
Are you feeling any of these? Maybe you know full well that you’re dealing with a serious case of burnout.
It’s also possible you didn’t know you were experiencing burnout but listening here today has you wondering if you might be.
Lastly, if you’re full of energy for your work, fully engaged and present with your work, and expressing all the good vibes of positivity, go ahead and feel confirmed you’re not experiencing burnout right now. Wonderful. Enjoy! And keep listening so you have this info to help someone else, or your future self, if the need arises.
If, however, you do recognize yourself with a serious case of burnout I know it can feel like it will never end. That you’ll be stuck here forever.
You won’t. At least you don’t have to be.
Burnout for high-achievers in Direct Sales can show up a few different ways. It can look like avoiding meetings and people when you formerly did not find yourself doing this.
It can show up as procrastination for hours, days, or even weeks on different activities for your business.
It can also show up as rationalizing and justifying the reasons why you’re not meeting certain benchmarks or goals with your business.
It can also come with feelings or being perceived as temperamental, moody or distant. Feelings of self-doubt, significant lack of motivation, or a decreased sense of fulfillment and accomplishment.
It can also be that certain things you once enjoyed, looked forward to or even had fun with, now feel like a total energy drainer, like your social media, for example.
These are just a few of the most common.
Now, it’s normal to feel or experience any one of these at any given time and not be experiencing burnout. Totally normal.
Burnout, however, is typically when all or most of these are experienced at the same time or at different times within the same season of business.
Business-related burnout can also start impacting how we show up in other areas of life.
Maybe you recognize some point in your past when you were experiencing burnout.
If you’re currently navigating a case of burnout, the risk is that the level of burnout gets so difficult that you just want to throw in the towel, walk away from your business, at some level, and be done with it all.
Let’s not let that happen. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Know burnout can be temporary. You won’t always be in this space. You will not always feel this way.
But what do you do about it?
One of the first things that can provide the biggest benefit is to take a break. I know that can sound scary and feel impossible. Because I know burnout can feel like a trap. Like you’ll never be free of this place you’re stuck in and the feelings that come with it.
I know it can feel as though if you do take a break, you may never want to come back. And that can feel scary.
Here are my four strategies to address burnout and bounce back.
First, you’ll pre-determine how long of a break you’ll take. Maybe it’s half a day or a full day and that will be enough for a milder case of burnout. It can be a place to start.
Maybe you need a few days or even a few weeks. Determine how long of a break you will take. Maybe not how long of a break you need, but how long of a break you will take. These can be different timelines, for sure.
Next, you’ll determine what, if anything, you need or want to do for your business while you’re taking a break. Are there a few people you need to stay in touch with? Are there a few meetings you need to, or want to still participate in or lead, that will make it easier to take a break?
Third, pick a time or a date you will come back. Be very specific with this. If it’s half a day, choose the time you will re-engage. Noon? 3 pm?
If your break is a full day, what time the next day will you be back at it? If your break is more than a few days or a few weeks, choose a date AND time you’ll be back to business.
Lastly, identify three specific tasks you’ll do when you’re back in it. Here are some ideas.
Have a call already on your calendar with your mentor.
Check your numbers.
Go live on one of your social media platforms and let your audience know when you’ll do this and what the topic will be before you start your break. Your burnout and taking a break could be your topic! Just a suggestion.
Schedule a strategy session with me. Schedule this before you start your break.
Schedule a team training or team power hour. Schedule this before you take your break.
Do you hear the level of accountability with a few of these ideas?
This is how you successfully take a break and also eliminate the fear that you won’t want to come back. Certainly, the successful business you’ve built provides its own level of accountability with the need to return.
What else? I know there are ideas coming to you that you’ll need to or want to do right when you’re back after your much-needed break.
The only other recommendation I have for you in this episode is that while you’re taking a break, you’re disciplined and truly not engaging with your business. You don’t talk about your products or services. You don’t engage, answer questions, answer your phone, or return a text. Nothing related to your business. You need a break! So, take it. I promise, you’ll come back feeling refreshed, but only if you allow yourself to disengage.
Trust in your plan to return. And you will.
In the meantime, click on over to Instagram @yourcrazybigdreams and share what you’ll do on your break. I can’t wait to connect. The best is yet to come! Always.
